NXT's North American Title Tournament: The Contenders
Sophia Bowman
As is often the case in professional wrestling, someone has decided that it is not fair for one wrestler to hold two titles at the same time. Never mind when Seth Rollins did it, or Becky Lynch. Hell, Bayley is doing it right now! Ultimate Warrior had to give up the Intercontinental Title the night after WrestleMania VI, and this week, Keith Lee relinquished the North American Title after having won the NXT Championship. With that, William Regal revealed there will be a ladder match at NXT TakeOver XXX to crown a new champion. A series of qualifying matches for TakeOver will take place in the coming weeks. Here are the frontrunners to become the next North American Champion.
RELATED: Keith Lee Relinquishes North American Title
Bronson Reed
It makes sense to start with the only man to have qualified for the ladder match so far, right? That man is Bronson Reed. Reed defeated Johnny Gargano and Roderick Strong on Wednesday night. Going into the match, he would have been most people's last pick to win considering the other names in the ring. NXT heads have been subtly building this Australian behemoth, and that build may culminate in a title win at TakeOver.
Finn Balor
Finn Balor returned to NXT in 2019 and he is yet to win a championship. Although he would likely love nothing more than to be NXT Champion for a second time, winning a title that didn't exist during his first run with the black and gold brand has to be an aim of his too. Balor's triple threat match takes place next week, and he will have to overcome Timothy Thatcher and Dexter Lumis to qualify.
Timothy Thatcher
Speaking of Thatcher, he has been getting a lot of TV time recently. Plenty is being made of his ability to make his opponents tap and chances are he will make someone do exactly that next week. The trouble is, submission holds will only get Thatcher so far in a ladder match. Fans of his know all too well that he has a violent side though, and that is exactly what he'll need to become North American Champion at TakeOver.
Killian Dain
It's not often NXT underutilizes a talent, but Killian Dain might well be an example of just that. Granted, Dain's move to the main roster as a part of Sanity played a big role in that. For the last couple of weeks, Dain has been reluctantly drawn into the Robert Stone brand. Stone can't fail forever, right? At the very least, we're expecting Stone to get Dain a qualifying match. If he wins and then goes on to become champion, he will have Stone to thank for getting the wheels in motion.
Dominik Dijakovic
During Lee's ascent to the top of NXT, his greatest rival has been Dominik Dijakovic. The two traded wins back and forth, but Dijakovic never won gold along the way. Their rivalry/friendship reminds us of the one Asuka and Ember Moon had in NXT. Moon never quite had what it takes to defeat Asuka, so she didn't become champion until The Empress had left. Now that Lee has vacated the North American Title, perhaps Dijakovic can finally win it.
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