Ranking the participants in order of who should win the Four-Way Iron Man Match for the NXT Championship
Karrion Kross had the unfortunate distinction of relinquishing the NXT Championship last Wednesday, a title he won just a few days prior. His separated shoulder will keep him out for an undetermined amount of time and it was serious enough for him to have to let go of the title he fought hard to win.
NXT General Manager William Regal announced that four former NXT Champions would battle it out on Tuesday in a four-man 60-minute Iron Man match. The competitors include Finn Balor, Johnny Gargano, Adam Cole, and Tommaso Ciampa.
Each performer is a former NXT Champion that had varying amounts of success as the face of NXT. Cole is the longest-reigning NXT titleholder while Balor was one of the names most synonymous with the brand during his tenure. Ciampa won his NXT Championship from Aleister Black through nefarious means but was forced to relinquish it due to a neck injury. He never lost it. Gargano has been attached at the hip with both Ciampa and Cole but he had a shorter reign.
So now that four men who have previously held the belt will fight it out in a first-time match on NXT, which one should prevail? There are reasons for and against each man becoming NXT Champion once more. Here are the rankings of the challengers ranked from who should win the least to which star should win the most.
#4 Adam Cole
While Adam Cole and the Undisputed Era have been the face of NXT for the last three years, Cole lost the title about two months ago. Keith Lee won the belt in a 'Winner Takes All' match. It briefly left Cole without a title direction as he faced non-wrestler, Pat McAfee, at TakeOver: XXX.
Giving the title back to Cole wouldn't be a mistake but of the four men on this list, he is the last one to have been NXT Champion. He had an extremely long reign and shouldn't be propelled back to the title so soon.
The leader of the Undisputed Era doesn't have much left to do in NXT other than turn face. Is that something that Triple H or Cole would want or is the next logical option to move up to RAW or SmackDown? The faction is still a heel group as they attacked Drake Maverick last week. Cole winning the belt and getting turned on could also work but of the four men in the match, the others are better options to win.