Adam Cole's NXT Championship Defences Ranked From Worst To Best

10. Seth Rollins (Monday Night Raw, 4th November 2019)

Seth Rollins Adam Cole
WWE.com

Inferior to the SmackDown equivalent it had to follow, a Monday Night Raw clash with dead-in-the-water babyface Seth Rollins was partial evidence against Adam Cole ever being called “up” to the main roster.

The match was so aggressively just fine that it actually suffered for it. There’s a point where Raw Rolls On(TM) in the middle because this is what happens on the red brand, with Cole so suddenly reduced to just another a warm body to break up the Monday monotony.

It didn't have a finish, which too felt fitting. Adam Cole matches almost always have them, even if they're loaded with Undisputed Era run-ins. Here, they rushed the ring when Rollins looked like he might have had a shot at winning. This didn't feel right at all - the NXT Champion stewards a brand that has tried to rebuild a that lost. Watching a title defence getting temporarily sucked into that vortex didn't make for a happy ending.

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 30 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz", Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 50,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett