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

7. Akira Tozawa (EVOLVE 131)

Akira Tozawa Adam Cole
WWE

The first televised defence of Adam Cole's NXT Championship reign didn't even occur on the black-and-gold brand, foreshadowing how his tenure with the title would elevate the belt and the brand. Matches like this one went some way to ensuring that too.

Encapsulating everything good about his working heel act, Cole's inability to put an otherwise-exhausted Tozawa away during a knackering finishing stretch resorted in him trying to throw the match out entirely with a disqualification defeat. That was undone by the arrival of former NXT Champion and future TakeOver opponent Johnny Gargano, who took a weaponised title belt away and forced him to get the job done alone.

Cole managed it the same way he did 10 other times - by actually summoning his vicious smarts. Dodging a double stomp from the Challenger, he wrapped it up with his Last Shot as former and future victim of the move 'Johnny Wrestling' watched from the floor.

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation for nearly 10 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 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 65,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has provided in-person coverage of some of the biggest pay-per-views and Premium Live Events in wrestling history, including WrestleMania, Survivor Series, All In & Double Or Nothing in destinations such as New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, 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.