Aleister Black Beats Lars Sullivan to Retain NXT Title at NXT TakeOver: Chicago

Aleister Black defeated Lars Sullivan at NXT TakeOver: Chicago II on Saturday night to retain the NXT Championship.

Sullivan nearly managed to knock off Black, but the champion was able to keep the belt by hitting the challenger with a pair of Black Masses.

Although he fell short, Sullivan gained plenty of respect from the NXT fans because of the incredible feats of strength he displayed:

Saturday marked Black's first major title defense since winning the NXT Championship from Andrade "Cien" Almas at NXT TakeOver: New Orleans, and he was tasked with facing arguably the hottest Superstar in all of NXT.

Although Sullivan fell short in his attempt to win the NXT North American Championship in a multi-man ladder match in New Orleans, it didn't take long for him to rebound.

Shortly after that event, Sullivan defeated Killian Dain in a hard-hitting No Disqualification match, which sent Dain and his Sanity teammates to the main roster.

The Colorado native followed that up with what was arguably an even more impressive win when he beat Ricochet and Velveteen Dream in a handicap match a few weeks ago.

Although Dream turning on Ricochet aided Sullivan, the win was still a huge accomplishment considering the behemoth beat two of NXT's top stars.

Black wasn't quite as busy as Sullivan after New Orleans, but he did beat Eric Young in a bout for the NXT Championship.

The Dutch Destroyer primarily cut ominous promos and waited for his next challenger to emerge, and that is precisely what happened when Sullivan announced that NXT general manager William Regal named him the No. 1 contender.

Upon making that announcement, Sullivan grabbed Black by the throat and blocked his Black Mass finisher before laying him out with the Freak Accident.

It was the first time in NXT that Black had truly been manhandled, and it became immediately clear that his reign as NXT champion was in serious jeopardy.

Black's previous feuds were against Superstars who were similar in size to him, such as Almas, Dream and Adam Cole.

While Black is among the most physical and dangerous Superstars under the WWE umbrella, Sullivan had a huge advantage in terms of size and strength.

That made for a unique dynamic since Black had the look of an underdog for the first time since arriving in NXT.

Even though he was somewhat overmatched physically, Black left Chicago with the NXT Championship in his possession and left little doubt that he is the face of the brand moving forward.

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