Karrion Kross Beats Keith Lee to Win NXT Title at WWE NXT TakeOver: XXX

Karrion Kross beat Keith Lee at NXT TakeOver: XXX on Saturday to win the NXT Championship for the first time in his career.

After Lee fought out of the Kross Jacket, both superstars wound up on the top rope. Kross reversed the champion's attempt at a big move by hitting a suplex off the top to get the pin and the title.

Lee and Kross have been two of the most dominant forces in all of wrestling over the past several months, and it was only a matter of time before they eventually crossed paths and clashed with the biggest prize in NXT hanging in the balance.

The bout first became a real possibility when Lee beat Adam Cole in a winner-take-all match for the NXT and North American Championships on the Great American Bash edition of NXT.

Lee relinquished the North American Championship in order to focus on the NXT title and give other Superstars an opportunity, but it was Kross who wanted to seize the NXT Championship.

After Lee beat Dominik Dijakovic in his first title defense, Kross made his presence felt by sending out Scarlett to fire a warning shot and make it clear to Lee that he was firmly in Kross' crosshairs.

Kross then targeted Dijakovic in an effort to capture Lee's attention even more. Kross brutalized Dijakovic in a match on NXT TV, and though Lee attempted to step in and prevent Kross from doing further damage, Dijakovic refused.

That resulted in Kross putting Dijakovic to sleep right in front of Lee's face, and it was obvious at that point that Lee wanted to get revenge on Kross for injuring his friend.

NXT general manager William Regal didn't initially grant Kross a title match, so Lee took matters into his own hands by forcing it into existence and hand-delivering the contract to Kross following Kross' victory over Danny Burch.

Kross signed the contract to make it official, but when he handed it back to Lee, a fireball blew up in Lee's face and left him temporarily blinded.

An enraged Lee was taken to the hospital to be evaluated, and it was determined that he would be fine, but the incident added to Lee's disdain for Kross and gave him even more incentive to beat the sinister Superstar.

There was a great deal of intrigue surrounding Saturday's match because of the notion that neither Superstar could afford to lose, and that made for a match that was difficult to predict.

Ultimately, the NXT decision-makers moved forward with Kross' monster push, which now puts the onus on them to figure out a way for Lee to bounce back and recoup any of the momentum he lost in Saturday's defeat.

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