NXT TakeOver: Chicago II Aleister Black v Lars Sullivan

With one swift and remarkably powerful kick, Aleister Black flattened every Superstar to cross his path on the way to becoming NXT Champion at TakeOver: New Orleans. Black’s nascent title reign, however, will be in jeopardy on Saturday, June 16, at TakeOver: Chicago when he defends the crown against a mammoth who is unlike anyone else he has faced, Lars Sullivan.

Sullivan made that exact, thunderous point when he ambushed the champion on the May 30 edition of NXT. As Black tried to fight off Sullivan, The Dutch Destroyer uncorked his great equalizer, the Black Mass spinning heel kick. Proving to be every bit as quick as he is powerful, Sullivan shockingly caught Black’s strike before dropping him with the Freak Accident.

The stunning scene was a rare example of Black being unable to decimate a foe with his signature move, and it sowed doubt that The Dutch Destroyer will have any better success against Sullivan when they clash for the title in The Windy City.

Has The Freak — who prides himself on being not only a physically intense juggernaut, but also a thinking-man’s competitor inside the ring — cracked the code of Black? Or will the equally dominant Dutch Destroyer find a way to drop the behemoth — with or without Black Mass — en route to retaining NXT’s top crown?