AEW and NXT Wednesday Night Wars: 3 winners of night #10

Keith Lee

As far as wrestling goes, few visuals have matched the camera shot of a blood-drenched Vince McMahon rising from what felt like the depths of hell to the ring apron whilst gazing perversely at his WrestleMania 19 opponent, Hulk Hogan. Up to that point, no photographs, video, match, or promo had more effectively captured the essence of the Mr. McMahon character than that microscopic snippet of a 20-minute match.

This past Wednesday’s NXT gave fans something on par with that supervillain screenshot:

Add that to the growing list of moments for the ascendent Keith Lee, who started the night fighting off the healthy members of The Undisputed Era and finished it by nearly Spirit Bombing Finn Balor through the canvas and pinning NXT Champion Adam Cole in the six-man main event.

Since his strong showing at Survivor Series, Lee’s stock has risen. Now, he will take part in a triple threat match next week — against Balor and Tommaso Ciampa — to determine Cole’s next challenger for the NXT Title.

Prior to Survivor Series, such an announcement would’ve drawn the expectation of Lee taking the pin for either Balor or Ciampa. But with his recent uptick in momentum, don’t be surprised if Lee ends up getting his long-awaited main event spotlight to bask in.