New NXT North American Champion Crowned At TakeOver XXX
Who emerged from NXT's latest insane ladder match victorious?
Damian Priest is your new NXT North American Champion, defeating Johnny Gargano, The Velveteen Dream, Bronson Reed, and Cameron Grimes in a TakeOver XXX ladder match to score the vacant title.
It looked like Grimes was going to take the victory when Gargano scaled the ladder, knocking him off. Gargano was then foiled by Priest, who climbed, grabbed his throat, and fought with him, eventually booting Johnny down after the smaller man had unclipped the belt. This is Priest's first title reign in WWE.
Previous North American Champion Keith Lee vacated the strap shortly after defeating Adam Cole to become NXT Champion at the second part of the Great American Bash TV special. A series of qualifiers for the ladder match then played out, with Reed, Priest, and Grimes winning their original Triple Threats to earn their spots. Gargano and Dream didn't taste victory in those bouts but weren't pinned or submitted either, eventually triumphing in second-chance qualifiers.
Fittingly, Cole, the original North American Champion, also won the vacant belt in a ladder match, defeating EC3, Killian Dain, Lars Sullivan, Ricochet, and Dream at TakeOver: New Orleans in April 2018.