Ranking Every 2-Out-Of-3 Falls Match In NXT Ever

6. Sami Zayn Vs. Leo Kruger: January 1, 2014

After falling short of beating Bo Dallas for the NXT Championship in November 2013, Sami Zayn had to start working his way back up the card and was forced to face several obstacles en route to challenging for the championship again, including Leo Kruger.

Best described as a deranged mercenary, Kruger targeted Zayn in the final few weeks of the year and looked to make an example out of the promotion's most beloved babyface.

By this point, however, the Kruger character was on its last legs. As excellent of an in-ring competitor as he was, the gimmick just wasn't getting over the way officials hoped, so this program marked the end of Leo Kruger on NXT TV. Thus, it was only fitting to blow off the feud in a 2-out-of-3 Falls match on the premier NXT episode of 2014.

Zayn had already competed in a 2-out-of-3 Falls match months earlier against Cesaro, so he had the experience advantage over his adversary. It isn't fair to compare the contests because Kruger is obviously no Cesaro, but he and Zayn still managed to produce a solid matchup with the future NXT Champion putting Kruger away in two straight falls.

As noted, the crazed Kruger was set to be repackaged into Adam Rose not long after, so his decisive loss to Zayn came as no surprise.