Adam Cole

Johnny Gargano defeated Adam Cole in a 2-out-of-3 Falls match at NXT TakeOver: New York on Friday night to fulfill his destiny and become NXT champion for the first time.

Cole won the first fall with the Last Shot, and Gargano evened the score by making Cole tap out in the Gargano Escape.

Cole's fellow members of The Undisputed Era remained bystanders for most of the match. When it looked like Gargano was on the verge of victory, though, they arrived ringside to tip the scales in Cole's favor.

Even facing a massive disadvantage, Gargano somehow fought off Roderick Strong, Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly. He even kicked out of a second Last Shot by Cole.

When Cole went to put on the finishing touches, Gargano ducked and countered into the Gargano Escape. Cole was inches away from the bottom rope before Gargano rolled the move back into the middle of the ring. Cole held on for a few more moments before tapping out.

It initially looked as though Gargano was set to face longtime rival Tommaso Ciampa for the NXT title, but that changed when a neck injury requiring surgery forced Ciampa to relinquish the championship after 238 days. To determine Gargano's new opponent, a Fatal 5-Way match was held.

Cole outlasted a star-studded field that included Matt Riddle, Velveteen Dream, Ricochet and Aleister Black to win the match and take one step closer to his goal of Undisputed Era taking over NXT by winning the NXT Championship.

While Cole has long coveted the NXT title, this tweet from Gargano in 2017 suggests becoming NXT champion was the one thing missing from his remarkable resume:

Before Ciampa's injury, Johnny Wrestling had masterfully put all the pieces in place for a decisive match against Ciampa in New York after their memorable series of matches last year. That included Gargano beating Ciampa in an unsanctioned match at last year's pre-WrestleMania TakeOver.

Gargano and Ciampa had reformed a loose alliance that saw them help each other at times with Ciampa holding the NXT Championship and Gargano holding the North American Championship. After Gargano dropped the North American title to Velveteen Dream, he and Ciampa even reformed their DIY tag team.

Ciampa called for DIY to get back together and take part in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, which Gargano agreed to, much to the chagrin of his wife, Candice LeRae.

DIY fell to Black and Ricochet in the semis of the Dusty Classic when Gargano seemingly suffered a knee injury. Ciampa and LeRae helped Gargano walk to the top of the ramp, but Ciampa attempted to throw Gargano into the video board, which is how DIY broke up in the first place.

Johnny Wrestling stopped on a dime, though, and revealed that he wasn't really injured before throwing Ciampa into the video board and then laying him out with a superkick.

That seemed to be the perfect setup for a match between them at TakeOver: New York, but the conclusion of their rivalry will have to come at a later date.

Instead, Gargano and Cole clashed in a classic match, and Gargano finally secured his place atop the black and gold brand. Considering Cole's strength in numbers with Undisputed Era, however, it seems likely that their feud is just beginning.

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February 3 was a big day not only because it's the date of this year's Super Bowl, but also because it marked the return of WWE Halftime Heat for the first time in 19 years.

WWE knows some people don't care about the musical portion of the year's biggest football game, so it decided to offer an alternative on WWE Network in the form of a six-man tag team match featuring some of the biggest stars in NXT.

Let's take a look at what happened on the return of Halftime Heat.

Aleister Black, Ricochet and Velveteen Dream vs. Tommaso Ciampa, Adam Cole and Johnny Gargano

The last time WWE had a match on Halftime Heat, we saw The Rock battle Mick Foley in an empty arena. The company opted to go a different route this time by featuring six NXT Superstars instead of two of the biggest names on the main roster.

The spark that lit the fire took place after NXT TakeOver: Phoenix. Aleister Black, Ricochet and Velveteen Dream got into a brawl with Tommaso Ciampa, Adam Cole and Johnny Gargano, but it was quickly broken up by Triple H.

Ricochet and Johnny Takeover got things started with a spirited exchange of counters and takedowns. When it was time to tag in a partner, Gargano opted to bring in Cole instead of Ciampa.

This was the definition of a fast-paced match. Everyone was using all of their most exciting moves, and the crowd was responding with constant chants of "This is awesome" and "Fight forever."

Unfortunately, using such a quick pace led to a few noticeable mistakes. Nobody botched anything big, but there was no hiding a few missteps.

The action was outstanding and all six guys looked great, but they sacrificed story in the name of choreographing as many multiple-man spots as possible. It was fun but hollow. 

Black kept the heels at bay, while Ricochet hit a springboard 450, and Dream nailed the Purple Rainmaker Elbow on Cole to score the win.

This was a fun alternative to the Super Bowl halftime show, but it's not a match people will be talking about in a month. 

Grade: B

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Notes and Highlights

• WWE chose to film this at the Performance Center instead of Full Sail University.
• It's always nice to have a two-man commentary team. Shawn Michaels and Vic Joseph worked well together.
• Dream's football-inspired gear went over big with the crowd.
• It's always nice to see Jessika Carr refereeing a match. She usually officiates for women, so it's nice to see WWE letting her work with the men.
• Who convinced Vince McMahon to unban the Canadian Destroyer move? Cole is the third Superstar to use it in the past month. 

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe. 

The Revival Set to Leave WWE?

The Revival's time in WWE reportedly could be nearing its conclusion.

According to Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (h/t PWMania.com), a situation occurred on Raw that has left people within WWE with "reason to be very fearful that The Revival are done or finishing up with the company."

Sapp added that it isn't known if Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder have officially asked for their release.

The Revival beat Lucha House Party on Monday's episode of Raw, marking the continuation of a long and fruitless feud.

After enjoying great success in NXT and becoming two-time NXT Tag Team champions, The Revival have struggled to gain traction on the main roster.

With All Elite Wrestling making waves since opening for business on New Year's Day, The Revival could have some intriguing options should they part ways with WWE.

Bludgeon Brothers Close to Returning?

One of WWE's most dominant tag teams may be on the verge of returning to action soon.

According to PWInsider (h/t Marc Middleton of WrestlingInc.com), The Bludgeon Brothers have been cleared to return to action, and they could be back on television as soon as Tuesday's episode of SmackDown Live.

Rowan has been out since suffering a torn biceps in August, while Harper was later seen sporting a cast on his left hand.

The Bludgeon Brothers dropped the SmackDown Tag Team Championships to New Day two nights after SummerSlam following Rowan's injury, thus ending a 135-day reign.

Harper worked a few NXT house shows, but he hasn't been utilized on the main roster since Rowan got injured.

If The Bludgeon Brothers are ready to come back, the already-stacked SmackDown tag division featuring New Day, The Usos, The Bar and newly formed team of The Miz and Shane McMahon is set to become even deeper.

Jericho Discusses McMahon, Signing with AEW

After agreeing to a three-year contract with All Elite Wrestling last week, Chris Jericho discussed the decision to join the company on the latest edition of Talk Is Jericho.

On his podcast (h/t Robert Gunier of WrestlingInc.com), Jericho divulged that he spoke with WWE Chairman Vince McMahon prior to signing with AEW and made him aware of his decision:

"Once again, I still kinda gave WWE the benefit of, 'Hey, listen guys, the train is leaving the station. Are we gonna work together or not?' And to their credit, we talked, and all the way up to a few days before the rally. But there was never really an offer given. And I understand the reasons why and I'm not going to get in to those. I understand Vince's mindset just as he understand mine, but we did leave on amicable terms.

"Vince McMahon is my friend and I respect him so much. He's helped me a lot and we've made each other a lot of money. And most importantly, like I said, we're friends. So the last thing I wanted to do, if I was going to leave the WWE, was do it as a screw job or as a stabbing in the back. I didn't want that. I never wanted it the whole time. I always told Vince what I was doing and he knew before anybody else that I was going to All Elite Wrestling and, once again, once I go there, I'm gone."

Jericho has often spoken about his great relationship with McMahon and previously used to insist that he wouldn't work for another wrestling company outside WWE.

That changed when Jericho did some shots for New Japan Pro Wrestling, and it evolved into him signing an exclusive deal with AEW with the exception of still doing some New Japan dates on the side.

Jericho made it clear that he is done with WWE for at least three years after signing with AEW, but he added that there are no hard feelings on either side.

Free Match of the Day: Aleister Black vs. Adam Cole

With the Royal Rumble and NXT TakeOver: Phoenix just a couple of weeks away, WWE went back into its recent history for Wednesday's free match of the day.

The Extreme Rules match between Aleister Black and Adam Cole at last year's NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia is being featured.

The bout was a brutal and entertaining one that saw Black come away with the victory after being pushed to the limit by Cole.

At NXT TakeOver: Phoenix the night before the Royal Rumble, Black will face Tommaso Ciampa for the NXT Championship.

Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below (warning: some language NSFW).