Adam Cole Beats Matt Riddle, Retains NXT Title; Finn Balor Appears After Win

Adam Cole defeated Matt Riddle to retain the NXT Championship on Wednesday night on NXT TV on USA Network.

The match was a show-stopping affair that had the Full Sail crowd in an uproar, as Riddle came within milliseconds of winning his first NXT championship. 

It didn't take long for Cole's next opponent to seemingly arrive. Finn Balor made his triumphant NXT return to challenge Cole for the championship he previously held before being called up.

On last week's episode of NXT TV, Riddle defeated Killian Dain in a street fight to earn the No. 1 contendership for the NXT title.

After The King of Bros won a hard-fought battle against Dain, Cole came to the ring to talk some trash. Riddle showed how sudden and dangerous he could be by locking Cole in an armbar before getting run off by the rest of Undisputed Era.

Cole beat Johnny Gargano for the NXT title at NXT TakeOver: XXV before retaining in a 2-out-of-3 Falls match at NXT TakeOver: Toronto. With Cole in possession of the NXT Championship, the rest of Undisputed Era went to work.

Kyle O'Reilly and Bobby Fish beat The Street Profits for the NXT Tag Team Championships on a recent episode of NXT TV, while Roderick Strong defeated Velveteen Dream for the North American Championship two weeks ago on the debut episode of NXT on USA Network.

With Undisputed Era holding all the gold, Cole entered Wednesday's show with supreme confidence, even though Riddle was perhaps the biggest threat he had ever faced.

While Undisputed Era was on its conquest for gold, Riddle was involved in a long-term feud with Dain. He lost a match to Dain before fighting him to a no-contest in a street fight and then finally beat him last week to become No. 1 contender.

Riddle is one of NXT's most skilled and popular Superstars, but he entered Wednesday's show having never held a title for the brand.

The match between Cole and Riddle was a huge deal for several reasons, including the fact that it headlined NXT's first show that went head-to-head against AEW Dynamite on TNT.

For that reason, it was of utmost importance for Cole and Riddle to deliver a memorable bout. Not surprisingly, they did and solidified the notion that NXT could be the best wrestling product in the world.

With Cole retaining, there is no end in sight to his much-deserved reign as the face of the black and yellow brand.

Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below (warning: some language NSFW).