NXT TakeOver: New York Johnny Gargano v Adam Cole

History will be made, and a new NXT Champion will be crowned when Johnny Gargano battles Adam Cole in a 2-out-of-3 Falls Match for the newly vacated title at TakeOver: New York.

Gargano was originally earmarked to challenge arch-rival Tommaso Ciampa for the NXT Title at TakeOver, but a neck injury forced Ciampa to relinquish the coveted championship, necessitating a change of plans for New York.

In light of that development, WWE COO Triple H revealed on March 20 that the NXT Championship would instead be decided in a match between Gargano and the winner of a Fatal 5-Way Match held later that night between Cole, Ricochet, Aleister Black, NXT North American Champion Velveteen Dream and Matt Riddle, which The Undisputed ERA leader won. To ensure that TakeOver: New York’s main event has a definitive outcome, Triple H additionally announced that the match will be contested under 2-out-of-3 Falls rules, meaning the first Superstar to claim two falls will be the victor.

Capturing the NXT Title would truly be a fairytale ending for Gargano, whose tumultuous history with The Blackheart resulted in numerous crises of conscience. Through it all, however, Johnny Wrestling proved to be the valiant hero he always claimed to be. The only hurdle remaining between the beloved Superstar and the NXT Championship — the one title that Gargano has yet to win on the black-and-gold brand — is Cole.

Cole, meanwhile, began 2019 with the bold promise that he and his Undisputed ERA cohorts will all be champions this year. A victory against Gargano at TakeOver: New York — inside the very building where Cole made his shocking NXT debut two years ago — would put The Undisputed ERA back on track to accomplish their goal, as well as in control of the top prize in the land.