New NXT Champion Crowned, Joins Exclusive Club

History has been made! The NXT Title has gone from a championship that was really just around for the sake of having something to fight for on an internet show. Over the years though, the title became a big deal as a who’s who of wrestlers became champion. After that much time, the NXT Title is a prestigious championship and that made this Tuesday all the sweeter.

Back in August, NXT Champion Karrion Kross was forced to vacate the title a mere four days after winning it due to a shoulder injury. As a result, Johnny Gargano, Tommaso Ciampa, Adam Cole and Finn Balor competed in a four way sixty minute Iron Man match for the vacant NXT Title. The match ended in a draw though as Balor and Cole had two falls apiece. A tiebreaker was needed and that took place this week.

During this week’s NXT, Balor defeated Cole in a singles match to become the new NXT Champion. As a result, Balor becomes the third man to hold the NXT Title twice, along with Samoa Joe and Shinsuke Nakamura. The match ended in a clean finish and Cole congratulated Balor on his title win. There is no word on when Balor’s first defense will take place or whom it will be against.

It was a big moment. Check out the title match plus some of the fallout:

Opinion: I’m not sure if there was another option here, as Cole just ended a year plus long reign and there wasn’t much of a point to having him win the title again. Balor was the best choice of the four as he is a former main roster World Champion and an NXT legend. It makes sense to go with him again, if nothing else for the sake of rebuilding him in NXT until someone new can be found to take over.

What do you think of the title change? Who will take the title from Balor? Let us know in the comments below.

Thomas Hall has been a wrestling fan for over thirty years and has seen over 50,000 wrestling matches. He has also been a wrestling reviewer since 2009 with over 5,000 full shows covered. You can find his work at kbwrestlingreviews.com, or check out his- Amazon author page with 30 wrestling books. Get the latest and greatest in professional wrestling news by signing up for our daily email newsletter. Just look below for “GET EXCLUSIVE UPDATES” to sign up. Thank you for reading!