The Undisputed Era implodes: What's next?
It all began on 19 August 2017 at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III. This was the day when Adam Cole, Kyle O'Reilly, and Bobby Fish joined hands to form arguably the greatest faction in the history of NXT - The Undisputed Era. The addition of Roderick Strong in 2018 further bolstered the group. However, all good things must to come to an end.
After 1276 days of dominance, accolades, championship reigns, and historic factional feuds, The Undisputed Era finally imploded at NXT Takeover: Vengeance Day.
Upon the conclusion of the NXT Championship match between Finn Balor and Pete Dunne, The Undisputed Era came in to save Balor from the post-match beat down from Pete Dunne, Oney Lorcan, and Danny Burch. However, Adam Cole "shocked the system" by attacking Finn Balor and later his own teammate, Kyle O'Reilly. Notably, Roderick Strong stood in the ring in shock and seemingly conflicted by what had just transpired.
The Undisputed Era has been portrayed as a closely knitted group over the years. Moreover, Adam Cole and Kyle O'Reilly have a long history together. During their time at Ring Of Honor, they were initially a tag team under the name 'Future Shock' and later went on to have a long-standing feud. This continued until O'Reilly left the company in January 2017.
Considering the entire context, WWE has a ready-made emotional rivalry in its kitty, and it would most certainly be the hottest feud for NXT leading up to WrestleMania weekend.
Will we see a "civil war" within The Undisputed Era?
As noted earlier, Roderick Strong's stance on the situation is still unclear. Hence, once Bobby Fish makes his return from injury, WWE may want to explore an angle where they portray a civil-war kind of situation within The Undisputed Era: Adam Cole and Bobby Fish v/s Roderick Strong and Kyle O'Reilly. This combination has the potential to produce an epic clash between the former teammates.
Later on, Finn Balor and the NXT Championship can be integrated into the feud as well. Adam Cole remains the longest reigning NXT Champion ever. Uncharacteristically, he has remained on the sidelines of the championship feud for some time now. WWE is expected to explore his desire to win back the championship as part of the storyline. Meanwhile, Kyle O'Reilly has made two valiant yet unsuccessful attempts at winning the NXT Championship in recent months.
Adding to both of these parallel storylines, WWE may possibly book a Triple Threat NXT Championship match between Finn Balor, Adam Cole and Kyle O'Reilly. Once again, considering the talent which these three individuals possess, we can assume it would be an epic encounter with the potential to feature in the WrestleMania weekend, or even on one of the two nights at WrestleMania 37.
Whichever way WWE intends to drive this storyline, it is expected to be full of drama, emotions and wrestling action that will keep the audience hooked for the coming months.