NXT Championship Match Announced For TakeOver: Phoenix
Could it be curtains for Ciampa's championship reign?
NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa will defend his title against Aleister Black at TakeOver: Phoenix on January 29th, as announced by NXT General Manager William Regal on Twitter.
This will be Black's rematch for the championship after he lost it to Ciampa in July due to Johnny Gargano's interference in their match. He was originally meant to challenge at TakeOver: Brooklyn in a triple threat match between the three men in August, but was forced out due to injury.
The announcement followed an in-ring segment on last night's NXT which saw a continuation of the three-way feud. Tensions were high as the former champion confronted Ciampa to inform him that he was invoking his rematch clause, but things really escalated when Gargano interrupted to tell Black that things between the two weren't over yet.
The silver-tongued snake Ciampa saw his opportunity and provoked Black & Gargano into agreeing to face off in a steel cage match in two weeks time before he was laid out courtesy of the Black Mass.
Whether a win for Gargano in the steel cage would lead to him being added to the title match is up in the air, but whatever happens on December 19th, Tommaso Ciampa's NXT Championship reign is under threat at NXT TakeOver: Phoenix.