Adam Cole was able to overcome a handful of distractions, many of which came from Johnny Gargano, en route to taking down Akira Tozawa to retain his NXT Championship. The crowd at EVOLVE’s 10th Anniversary show saw a great match, with Tozawa and Cole both giving it their all. At the end of the day, however, Cole walked away with the belt still in his possession, showing the world that it’ll be tough to take him down.
For a full breakdown of the match, check out below, and make sure to follow along with our coverage of the event:
Tozawa kicks Cole in the head and heads up top, but Cole sweeps his legs and Tozawa’s head snaps on the turnbuckles on the way down. Cole hits a neckbreaker and taunts Tozawa, kicking him in the back of the head before claiming he’ll be NXT Champion forever. Tozawa gets Cole on his shoulders and hits a sitout slam, then follows with a seated kick and a tope suicida into the barricade. Tozawa goes for one more but Cole walks away, but Tozawa sees it coming and ends up redirecting and hits a senton, but his leg gets stuck in the guardrail.
Cole gets Tozawa back in the ring and hits a lungblower for two, then Tozawa connects with an enziguiri and fakes Cole out and hits a delayed punch. Cole comes back with some strikes and gets his title, but Johnny Gargano comes out and taunts him, leading to Tozawa getting a near fall. Tozawa hits a suplex and a 360 enziguiri, then he heads up top and goes for a senton. Cole gets his knees up and hits Panama Sunrise, then hits the Last Shot for the win.
.@TozawaAkira looks to take advantage of the moment against the #NXTChampion @AdamColePro as @JohnnyGargano makes his way to ringside! #EVOLVE131 pic.twitter.com/XdrouePswO
— WWE (@WWE) July 14, 2019
AND STILL your #NXTChampion… @AdamColePro, BAY-BAY! #EVOLVE131 @TozawaAkira pic.twitter.com/mQHqnrB2gv
— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) July 14, 2019
