Adam Cole Beats Pete Dunne to Retain NXT Championship at WWE Survivor Series

Adam Cole beat Pete Dunne at Survivor Series on Sunday night to retain the NXT Championship.

Dunne had Cole up for the Bitter End, but the champion countered and hit Panama Sunrise. That was the prelude to the Last Shot, which Cole used to keep his title.

He was the second member of Undisputed Era to walk away victorious after Roderick Strong won a Triple Threat match that included United States champion AJ Styles and intercontinental champion Shinsuke Nakamura.

Earlier in the week, WWE announced Dunne, Damian Priest and Killian Dain would face each other in a Triple Threat match at NXT TakeOver: WarGames to earn the right to face Cole for the NXT title at Survivor Series. With Dunne scoring the victory Saturday, he was instantly vaulted to No. 1 contender status.

In addition to getting a title shot, Dunne had the benefit of facing a softened-up Cole, who had been part of some highly physical matches in the days leading up to Sunday's pay-per-view.

On Wednesday's episode of NXT, Cole faced Dominik Dijakovic in a main event ladder match to determine which team would earn the advantage in WarGames. Cole won the match, but he took a beating and was on the receiving end of some offense from his opponent.

Cole then led Undisputed Era against a team captained by Tommaso Ciampa in a WarGames match at NXT TakeOver: WarGames. Cole is a veteran of such matches, but it didn't prevent him from absorbing a ton of punishment.

Cole's star has risen significantly over the past year, as he fulfilled his prophecy of becoming NXT champion by beating Johnny Gargano. The rest of Undisputed Era followed in his footsteps, as Kyle O'Reilly, Bobby Fish and Strong all won gold as well.

From a mainstream perspective, Cole has been a huge deal in recent weeks. He led an NXT invasion of SmackDown on November 1 and beat Daniel Bryan in the main event of that show.

Cole faced Seth Rollins on Raw, and while the match was thrown out due to interference, he went move-for-move with one of the best wrestlers in the world and proved yet again why he may be the future of WWE.

There was some thought that Cole would be the leader of Team NXT in the five-on-five-on-five men's elimination match at Survivor Series, but he was instead given his own spotlight by competing in a singles match with the NXT Championship on the line.

With Cole retaining at Survivor Series, the focus can now shift toward a likely singles feud with Ciampa over the NXT Championship.

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