Something that I enjoyed watching WWE and wrestling in general doing during my childhood was long term booking. Of course, it was easier to do back then when there were only four to five Pay-Per-Views a year. Feuds were able to be spread out more. For instance, Hulk Hogan's feud with Andre the Giant lasted nearly two years. When PPV's started to appear once a month, if not more, it got harder for WWE to book long term, as fans could grow tired of a story quickly. NXT has the luxury of long term booking and I wanted to share an idea I had involving the Undisputed Era. What I'm about to do could be construed as rambling but I must provide context before I get to my point.
At NXT Takeover: Brooklyn III in August of 2017, Adam Cole, Kyle O'Reilly, and Bobby Fish made their NXT debut by attacking new NXT Champion Drew McIntyre. Together, they become known as the Undisputed Era. The group stood tall as the winners of War Games at the next Takeover. Shortly after, O'Reilly and Fish, who had been Tag Team Champions together several times in other promotions, won the NXT Tag Team Titles, as Cole led the group to prominence. They feuded with tag teams like the Authors of Pain and Sanity, while Cole got mixed up with Aleister Black. The group then targeted perennial fan favorite Roderick Strong and ganged up on him every chance they got.
Takeover: New Orleans, the night before WrestleMania this year, was the pinnacle of the Undisputed Era's success, though things looked daunting for them going into the event. Cole was chosen as one of six men to participate in a Ladder Match to determine the first NXT North American Champion. Meanwhile, O'Reilly and Fish were to defend their Tag Team Championships in a Triple Threat Match against the Authors of Pain and the unlikely, yet cohesive team of Roderick Strong and United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne. Things got worse when an injury forced Bobby Fish out. NXT General Manager William Regal gave the Undisputed Era some options. Either Adam Cole would be forced to pull double duty or the NXT Tag Team Titles would be stripped from the Undisputed Era. Cole stepped up and decided to defend the Titles with O'Reilly, as well as trying to win the North American Title.
While The Brian Kendrick's theme says that he's the man with the plan, I'd say that title is reserved for Adam Cole, based on what was about to happen. The opening contest of Takeover: New Orleans was the Ladder Match for the North American Title. Cole bested five other men to win the Championship. However, his night was certainly not over, as he had the task of defending the Tag Team Titles alongside Kyle O'Reilly against two other teams. In a shocking turn of events, Roderick Strong turned on his partner Pete Dunne, allowing the Undisputed Era to pick up the win and remain Tag Team Champions. Then, in front of Cole and O'Reilly, Strong put on the UE arm band and officially joined the Undisputed Era. Up until Cole's loss of the North American Title to Ricochet at Takeover: Brooklyn 4 last month, the group was simply unstoppable. Even today, they remain NXT's most dominant group ever.
Now that I've provided the background, I can begin. Arguably, joining the Undisputed Era revitalized Roderick Strong's NXT career, as he went from a bland babyface to being a successful heel. He was in the underdog role but Johnny Gargano has that character on lock right now. Although Strong has changed direction, I still see him breaking away eventually, becoming a fan favorite once again. However, as I said, it's going to take some long term booking. Recently, I wrote a blog about NXT talents staying in NXT for a while, as there isn't always a plan for these superstars when they arrive on Raw or Smackdown. This all goes hand in hand with my idea for the Undisputed Era.
An example of long term booking in NXT is the blood feud between Johnny Gargano and Tomasso Ciampa, which leads into the one I'm about to write about. I have this theory that Gargano will not wrestle Ciampa again until Takeover next year the night before WrestleMania. In my story, Johnny Wrestling finally finds himself again, wins some kind of Royal Rumble in NXT, and defeats Ciampa for the Championship in the main event of Takeover, before finally ridding NXT of his former best friend turned bitter enemy at Takeover: Chicago III, two years after their breakup. In the mean time, the Undisputed Era will go through some ups and downs. As I mentioned earlier, Adam Cole lost the North American Title to Ricochet. It's only a matter of time before the War Raiders defeat the Undisputed Era for the Tag Team Titles. Along with several others, these men will battle in War Games this November. Soon after, the Undisputed Era will be out of the Championship picture for a while, although the group will be a big part of Takeover before WrestleMania.
At NXT Takeover in Toronto, which will replace Brooklyn as the destination for NXT the night before SummerSlam, Adam Cole will defeat NXT Champion at the time, Johnny Gargano. Meanwhile, Bobby Fish will be back in the ring, as he teams once again with Kyle O'Reilly to win the Tag Team Titles once again. That leaves Roderick Strong, who will win the North American Title. This time around, the Undisputed Era will get all the gold and there will seemingly be nothing to stop them. They'll be even more overbearing and dominant than ever before. Honestly, I wouldn't be bothered with a woman joining the team, winning the NXT Women's Championship, gathering all the Titles around the Undisputed Era. Last year, they teased Taynara Conti joining the team but I think someone else would fit in better.
The second part of 2019 will look bright for the Undisputed Era. For the remainder of the year and into 2020, the group will dominate the Championship landscape of NXT. However, things will start to fall apart, as Roderick Stong loses the North American Title. However, Strong will recover by winning a Royal Rumble at Takeover in January of 2020, getting himself a shot at the NXT Champion at the Takeover the night before WrestleMania XXXVI. The problem here is that the NXT Champion will be Adam Cole. At this point, I see something similar to Evolution dismantling due to Batista choosing to challenge Triple H at WrestleMania or scenarios in which both Lex Lugar and Sting at different times were kicked out of the Four Horsemen for wanting to challenge Ric Flair for his World Championship. I can see Adam Cole trying to manipulate Strong into giving up his Title shot, in fear of losing it.
Just when it looks like Strong is about to give up his Title shot to make sure everything is alright within the Undisputed Era, he turns on them and goes on to challenge Cole for the Title at Takeover the night before WrestleMania in the main event. The fans will gather by Strong's side, as he will takeover Johnny Gargano's role as NXT's favorite underdog. At Takeover, O'Reilly and Fish will lose the Tag Team Titles while Strong defeats Cole for the NXT Championship. Two nights later on Raw, the three original members of the Undisputed Era will make their main roster debut, while Strong continues on NXT as the Champion, at least until his reign is complete. By the end of 2020, Strong will make it to the main roster as well. That's the general direction I'd like to see things go.
If you have any further thoughts on this topic, let me know in comments. Heck, let us all know on The WAR Report podcast, every Tuesday at 7PM EST on YouTube, brought to you by tagmeadate.com, the first and only dating site for wrestling fans. Go to askthewarreport@gmail.com or #askthewarreport. For TagMeADate members, our Android and Apple apps are vastly approaching so stay tuned!
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