WWE NXT Results (December 18th, 2019): The decade ends with a new champion, former NXT Champion returns
NXT came out with guns blazing tonight, giving us two incredible title bouts. Adam Cole and Finn Balor opened the show with one of the best NXT Championship bouts of the year, and we finished the night with a tense and emotional brawl for the NXT Women's Championship. Sandwiched between were several fantastic matches that could've main evented any other night.
We kicked off the night with the NXT Championship. Last week, Finn Balor faced Keith Lee and Tommaso Ciampa in an incredible and highly rated Triple Threat match. In what was a jaw-dropping moment, Balor connected with the Coup de Grace on Lee as he planted Ciampa with the Spirit Bomb, narrowly escaping with the title opportunity.
Adam Cole claimed that 2019 would be the year of the Undisputed Era. The Undisputed Prophecy came true a few months back, and the Panama City Playboy hoped to continue their dominant run through 2020. In order to do that, he'd have to face the longest reigning NXT Champion ever, Finn Balor.
NXT Championship Match: Finn Balor vs Adam Cole (c)
Both men jockeyed for position before Balor earned the first real shot of the match, rocking Adam Cole with a dropkick out of a sunset flip attempt. Balor followed Cole around the ring, chopping him in every corner.
Cole escaped to the outside, but couldn't get away from an incredible shotgun dropkick through the ropes. However, as Balor set up for a kick on the apron, Cole took his leg out from under him with a superkick to the shin. Back inside, Cole battered Balor after synching in a full mount. Balor tried to get back to his feet but was trapped in a side headlock in the middle of the mat.
Cole got a two-count following a neckbreaker. Further targeting the neck, he locked in a figure-four neck lock. Balor countered it into a pinfall, but Cole kicked out and followed up with a clothesline. Balor exploded out of the corner with a dropkick and a series of clotheslines.
A reverse DDT almost crowned a new champion, but Cole kicked out. A backstabber from the NXT Champion earned him another nearfall. Balor escaped the Ushigoroshi but responded with a step-up enziguri. Balor hit the slingblade, but was met with a superkick as he rushed in for the shotgun dropkick. Balor kicked out again.
A striking trade saw Cole rock Balor with two boots, but the "Prinxe" responded with the pele kick. Cole fell onto Balor for the pinfall, only for Balor to kick out again. Both men made it back to their feet where Cole set up for the Panama Sunrise. Balor nearly countered into the 1916 but Cole turned it around once again for the Ushigoroshi.
Balor took Cole down with a double leg takedown, following up with a jumping double stomp. The shotgun dropkick bounced Cole off the turnbuckle, setting up the Coup de Grace. Cole knocked him off the top, though, sending him tumbling to the floor below. With Balor in the perfect position, Cole went for an outside Panama Sunrise. Balor countered with a back drop and hit the shotgun dropkick into the barrier.
On the inside, the Coup de Grace missed and Cole connected with the Last Shot. Balor kicked out. A second Last Shot was countered with a discus lariat. Another shotgun dropkick set up for the Coup de Grace, which finally connected.
The 1916 would've hit had Balor not been distracted by the returning Johnny Gargano. The ref turned his back to the action, allowing Cole to hit a low blow and rock Balor with another Last Shot.
Results: Adam Cole defeated Finn Balor via pinfall.
The Undisputed Prophecy was not only fulfilled, but it would continue on into 2020. As Cole left, Gargano rolled in with a steel chair. Balor struggled to regain his composure, but when he looked up, he tried to plead with the man he put on the shelf all those months ago.
Gargano wasn't having any of it, battering Balor with several chair shots. Balor was chased off by Johnny Takeover, who ended the segment triumphantly.