Adam Cole's NXT Championship Defences Ranked From Worst To Best
4. Tommaso Ciampa (TakeOver: Portland)
Dividing the audience between those still awestruck by the NXT main event formula and those that growing exhausted by it, this was a banger ever-so-slightly bruised by that reasonably astute analysis.
"Can you top this?" has always been the theme of TakeOvers during this elite era for the brand (or cringeworthy Triple H creation '#FTMF' if it's going on a t-shirt), with TakeOver: Portland leaning as heavy as ever into the mix of melodrama and explosiveness associated with shows.
An enjoyable match was tempered somewhat by the Challenger's hefty fall from grace since marching into the spot back at November's WarGames. There, both men tumbled from the corner of a cage through a table for what felt like so much more than just a climax to that evening's chaos. Ciampa's inability to stop falling between then and this February title clash sadly diffused the tension around him finally reclaiming 'Goldie'.
Cole himself felt like a spare part by the end of the battle itself, able to capitalise on Johnny Gargano's heel turn to come as close to stealing one in the main roster sense of the word than anybody would ever want from a TakeOver headliner again.