Adam Cole's NXT Championship Defences Ranked From Worst To Best
8. Pete Dunne (Survivor Series 2019)
A great-not-outstanding match had no right to even be that after weeks of the pair giving far more of their bodies than typical to the frantic WarGames/Survivor Series dual build. Unfortunately, the beatings they'd recently taken didn't factor in to a match short on the story it desperately needed.
Pete Dunne had earned a shot at Adam Cole's strap one night earlier thanks to an NXT TakeOver: WarGames triple threat victory over Damian Priest and Killian Dain, shortly before the titleholder himself was flung off a cage through a table by his real biggest threat Tommaso Ciampa.
In spite of what should have been a significant physical disparity between the two, the match instead tried to sell an unexpected title win for the 'Bruiserweight' rather than permitting the former UK Champion to pick apart his prey.
Survivor Series was a busy, busy show and this was one of only three matches on the card to have those all important brand bragging rights on the line. It had more, but the work never removed the sensation that this was a lesser-than affair.