Adam Cole

Adam Cole beat Velveteen Dream at NXT TakeOver: In Your House in a Backlot Brawl on Sunday to retain the NXT Championship, meaning Dream cannot challenge for the title again as long as Cole holds it.

Cole didn't come away from the bout unscathed. Dream pushed him off a ladder and onto the windshield of a car.

Still, he remains the champion after delivering Panama Sunrise onto a pile of steel chairs.

The match was among the most unique bouts in NXT history as the two men did battle outdoors inside a ring, surrounded by NXT Superstars and with their vehicles' lights shining brightly on the two combatants. The only rule was that the pinfall had to occur inside the squared circle.

Cole and Dream have been embroiled in a rivalry for the past couple of months over the NXT title, and Sunday's match marked their second meeting with the belt on the line. They previously had a match on NXT TV on May 6.

The match devolved into chaos when Bobby Fish, Roderick Strong and Dexter Lumis all got involved, and Lumis inadvertently cost Dream the match, allowing Cole to retain the title.

NXT general manager William Regal expressed his belief that Dream deserved another title shot based on the way the first match went down. Cole wasn't happy with the decision, but he agreed under the condition Dream not be able to challenge for the title again in the event of a loss for as long as he holds it.

Regal agreed to that stipulation and then added one of his own by promising that the spotlight would be on two of the most egotistical Superstars in NXT history.

Dream is a former North American champion and one of the most popular NXT performers ever, but he entered TakeOver: In Your House having been unable to win the big one. Meanwhile, Cole had a yearlong title reign hanging in the balance.

While Cole is an elite talent, there is no question that his Undisputed Era stablemates played a significant role in helping him hold the title for more than a year. Because of that, there was some expectation that they would get involved Sunday.

Lumis has also had a hand in the rivalry between Dream and Undisputed Era as an unofficial ally of the former, so one of the big storylines entering Sunday's match was what role he would play.

Amid all the bells and whistles, Cole retained the belt yet again, which means Dream must now find his purpose in NXT without being able to challenge for the NXT Championship until the titleholder loses it.

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All eyes in the wrestling world will be on NXT TakeOver: In Your House this Sunday, as it will mark the first TakeOver event since the coronavirus pandemic started.

Fans of the black-and-yellow brand have eagerly anticipated a TakeOver for the past couple of months, and WWE is preparing to deliver one that could go down as one of the best ever thanks to matches such as Charlotte Flair vs. Io Shirai vs. Rhea Ripley, Tommaso Ciampa vs. Karrion Kross, and Adam Cole vs. Velveteen Dream in a Backlot Brawl.

The matches should be great, and the angles coming out of them should be compelling as well. With that in mind, here are three feuds that could come to fruition in the days and weeks following NXT TakeOver: In Your House.

Charlotte Flair vs. Chelsea Green

Charlotte is scheduled to defend the NXT Women's Championship against Shirai and Ripley at NXT TakeOver: In Your House, and the rules of a Triple Threat match could open the door for some shenanigans to take place.

On the penultimate episode of NXT before TakeOver, Charlotte chose a mystery tag team partner to face off against Shirai and Ripley. Flair went with Chelsea Green, and the pairing was victorious in the match, which led to Green firing manager Robert Stone.

Now that Green is calling her own shots, it wouldn't be at all surprising to see her get involved in the NXT Women's Championship match in some capacity.

When it comes to the NXT women's division, there is no bigger fish to pursue than Flair. She is a two-time NXT Women's champion and is already the most decorated female Superstars to ever set foot in a WWE ring.

Costing The Queen the NXT Women's title would be akin to Green firing a shot across the bow and making it clear that she wants to use Charlotte as a stepping stone in order to reach the next level in NXT.

In such a scenario, Ripley and Shirai could branch off and feud over the NXT Women's Championship, with Flair and Green providing fans with a quality secondary storyline in the women's division.

The ideal endgame would be to have Green beat Charlotte in a Loser Leaves NXT match, which would allow Flair to go back to Raw on a full-time basis and establish Green as a true title contender for the first time in her WWE career.

Velveteen Dream vs. Dexter Lumis

Velveteen Dream has had something of an unspoken alliance with Dexter Lumis over the past several weeks, as Lumis has helped even the odds during Dream's rivalry with NXT champion Adam Cole and the rest of Undisputed Era.

Lumis stepped in to team with Dream in a winning effort against Cole and Roderick Strong about a month ago, and he has been part of several melees involving Dream and Undisputed Era since then.

When Dream and Cole did battle for the NXT Championship on NXT TV a few weeks back, Lumis tried to fight off Strong and Bobby Fish outside the ring. He inadvertently threw one of them into Dream, though, which cost him the match.

While there is seemingly no bad blood between Lumis and Dream, the seeds of a potential issue were planted in the first title match, and they could manifest themselves Sunday in the Backlot Brawl between Dream and Cole.

Whether Lumis purposely or accidentally costs Dream the match against Cole, it would be a huge blow to Dream's career because of the stipulation that he cannot challenge for the NXT title again for as long as Cole has it if he loses at TakeOver.

The Dream and Lumis gimmicks seem like a perfect fit for a program against each other, and that rivalry would undoubtedly generate a lot of interest coming out of In Your House.

Adam Cole vs. Finn Balor

If Dream and Lumis branch off into a feud following TakeOver, then Cole will be left in need of a new challenger for the NXT Championship.

Potential contenders like Ciampa and Keith Lee may well continue in their current programs after the pay-per-view, which would leave Finn Balor as the most obvious candidate to attempt to end Cole's yearlong title reign.

Balor challenged Cole for the NXT Championship back in December, but a returning Johnny Gargano cost Balor the match. As a result, Balor has some unfinished business when it comes to his rivalry with the leader of Undisputed Era.

Also, Balor was scheduled to face Dream several weeks back in what had the makings of a de facto No. 1 contender match. Damian Priest attacked Balor and rendered him unable to compete, though, so that opportunity went by the wayside.

If Balor beats Priest at TakeOver: In Your House as expected, he will have momentum on his side and could stake claim to a title shot.

Balor never officially turned babyface, but he has essentially been playing the antihero role in feuds against Priest and Imperium. Because of that, he can be the fan favorite in a program with Cole that would undoubtedly capture the attention of the WWE Universe.

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Should Velveteen Dream succeed in dethroning Adam Cole as NXT champion at NXT TakeOver: In Your House, it would be the perfect opportunity to wind down Undisputed Era's historic run on WWE's developmental brand.

With NXT's transition to USA Network last September, many fans wondered if the traditional pipeline from Full Sail University to Raw and SmackDown was shifting. To some extent, that has proved true.

Charlotte Flair is the NXT women's champion, Finn Balor is a member of the NXT roster, and the pair of Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa have probably stayed far longer than they would've before.

Having said that, the hierarchy largely remains the same.

Matt Riddle is moving on to SmackDown, and the Wrestling Observer Newsletter's Dave Meltzer (via Wrestling Inc's Robert Gunier) reported Dominik Dijakovic looks headed to Raw. At a certain point, it's time for some wrestlers to move on.

As a collective unit, Undisputed Era have largely achieved everything they can in the yellow-and-black brand.

Cole has held his title belt for more than a calendar and is the longest-reigning NXT champion ever.

At various points, the stable also held the NXT North American (Cole and Roderick Strong) and tag team championships (Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly). The quartet have enjoyed a reign of dominance unlike any other in NXT, an empire that grew almost from the moment Cole, Fish and O'Reilly debuted at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III in August 2017.

Together, they've done it all, and Cole losing to Dream on Sunday would serve as a symbolic marker of their downfall—at least in NXT—since he's the last member with any gold.

A heel group with a defined hierarchy works best while it sits atop the promotion and lords over the rest of the roster. Once the leader is bested at a major event, some of the magic can start to wear off, compounded by the sameness that settles in over time.

The New World Order is one of the most legendary stables of all time, and even it couldn't maintain its red-hot momentum for more than a few years.

Splintering Undisputed Era off in different directions would be one way to freshen up their on-screen characters, but it would be unnecessary because they remain entertaining and compelling. All they need is a change of scenery, which would allow them to interact with a new set of wrestlers.

Raw and SmackDown are lacking in factions that are more than simply tag teams, especially units that could be considered a credible threat. That list is almost exclusively limited to The New Day, and they've been without Xavier Woods since last October.

The Forgotten Sons are still finding their footing, and the combination of Seth Rollins and his acolytes aren't all that imposing right now aside from The Monday Night Messiah himself.

The departures of Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows ended any hopes of a true Bullet Club facsimile with Anderson, Gallows, AJ Styles and Finn Balor. While WWE gave The Club/The O.C. a try, fans understandably agitated for the addition of the Irishman to make things more interesting.

The path forward for Undisputed Era can be relatively easy to chart, and NXT's more limited pay-per-view schedule could be of benefit. After In Your House, the next TakeOver isn't until August 22, leaving two-plus months for the NXT creative team to build toward a big send-off in Boston.

When WWE struck gold at WrestleMania 36 with the Boneyard and Firefly Fun House matches, the risk was that the promotion would start leaning too heavily into the cinematic style.

Now, NXT could end up needlessly hurting what was otherwise shaping up to be an entertaining clash.

Velveteen Dream is challenging Adam Cole for the NXT Championship on Sunday at NXT TakeOver: In Your House. It's a rematch of their May 6 encounter, which Cole won with the help of Undisputed Era.

Last Wednesday, NXT general manager William Regal teased a different kind of approach when he told Cole he was going to find a unique location for the match.

According to Wrestling Inc's Raj Giri, Cole and Dream will face off outside of the NXT arena at Full Sail University "with cars surrounding the area and the headlights being used for lighting."

Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa brawled in what was billed as the final installment of their legendary rivalry during the April 8 edition of NXT. With no fans in attendance, the production team used the opportunity to play off the cinematic style from WrestleMania.

In certain scenarios, going off the beaten path makes a lot of sense.

The Undertaker and Bray Wyatt have characters who thrive in non-wrestling settings. For a long, nuanced dynamic such as Gargano vs. Ciampa, you can treat it like a spectacle separate from everything else on the card.

All Elite Wrestling's Stadium Stampede match at Double or Nothing was great as well because it allowed all 10 men involved to have a moment that was unique to their on-screen character.

Giving that status to Cole vs. Dream doesn't make much sense, though.

The match is already for the NXT Championship and has a notable stipulation. If he loses, Velveteen Dream will no longer be able to wrestle for the title as long as Cole is champion.

Those two factors alone are enough to make the confrontation feel meaningful; there's no need to tack on another layer.

More than anything, this comes off as another example of WWE attempting to build something important without doing the work.

It's no different than when the promotion shoehorns generally lukewarm storylines into Hell in a Cell or Tables, Ladders, and Chairs matches to coincide with the pay-per-views of the same name. Nobody was demanding to see King Corbin vs. Roman Reigns given the full TLC treatment last December. 

Velveteen Dream's history with Undisputed Era spans most of 2020 and even goes back to the end of 2019. His bad blood with Cole specifically is somewhat limited, though. Prior to their title bout last month, they hadn't wrestled a singles match on NXT programming.

To bring back the comparison to Ciampa and Gargano, they had three head-to-head battles at TakeOver before using the Empty Arena stipulation. They probably could've delivered another classic in April, but changing things up was an understandable tactic to provide a fresh take.

Fans haven't really seen what Cole and Dream can do when given a true TakeOver treatment. Instead, they're apparently fighting in a parking lot, where the emphasis will likely be on set pieces rather than actual wrestling.

Should this be Dream's biggest NXT moment to date, seeing him celebrate in a parking lot lit by car headlights will make for an odd visual, too.

Looking beyond TakeOver: In Your House, one has to wonder whether this is a sign WWE will be unable to resist using cinematic matches and risk cheapening the entire concept.

Adam Cole and his fellow members of Undisputed Era rang in the first full year of his reign as NXT champion.

Cole defeated Johnny Gargano at NXT TakeOver: XXV on June 1, 2019. Since then, he has fought all challengers. His most recent title defense came on the May 6 edition of WWE NXT, when he defeated Velveteen Dream.

Through a series of tweets, Undisputed Era reflected on the past year:

Cole and his cohorts shouldn't get too cocky, though. Cole already moved ahead of Finn Balor as the longest-reigning NXT champion. Balor's mark stood at 292 days, from July 2015 to April 2016.

Another matchup with Velveteen Dream beckons at NXT TakeOver: In Your House on June 7, though. Cole might be opening June as the champ, but that may not remain the case when the month draws to a close.