WWE: The time is now for Keith Lee as NXT Champion

NXT has this whole “smart booking” thing down pretty well don’t they? The third WWE brand has been on major cable television now for over two months and we haven’t seen a hint any on-air divorces, adultery, pregnancy, or other stories fit for a Jerry Springer program. How have they survived?

The tongue is firmly in the cheek there, but the true answer to “how have they survived” is easy to define. WWE NXT has consistently presented their key stars within logical character arcs and storylines with competitive stakes as the end game. For three acts those stakes and arcs come to a head on Wednesday night.

Finn Balor, Tommaso Ciampa, and Keith Lee will compete in a triple threat match to determine who will face Adam Cole for the NXT Championship on Dec. 18.

For months, all three men have revolved around the championship at a distance, but now have the official opportunity at the title shot they covet. WWE is notorious for using triple threat matches as a booking crutch, but they laid the groundwork nicely here.

Balor, Ciampa, and Lee regularly had confrontations with Cole and each other with each flexing their muscle and alpha-male tendencies to angle for the shot. When the announcement came, the match felt like a logical step to determine a challenger rather than a rushed, Band-Aid fix to cover up for booking missteps along the way.

Balor, Ciampa, and Lee are important cogs in the NXT machine, but bring different pros and cons to the table as the next number one contender to the NXT Championship.

When Tommaso Ciampa returned to NXT, he proclaimed “Daddy ‘s home” and looking back at what he’s done since, it feels that way. Ciampa is symbolic of NXT’s roots and history. He’s seen and done it all for the brand and sweats passion that the NXT faithful can feel and engage with.

Ciampa winning the triple threat match on Wednesday and becoming the number one contender would certainly make for a feel good story, but the business side of his victory is cloudy. We’ve seen an NXT with Ciampa as champion.

Sure, it would be fun for a while, but that fun is also saddled with a feeling of  “been there, done that.” With the future of NXT on the horizon, giving Wednesday’s victory to Ciampa is an ode to the past that takes away from other key talent that needs an important boost like this in the immediate present.

Finn Balor can lay claim to being the father of NXT as well. Like Ciampa, he’s got history to deal with, but comes off as fresh since he’s a newly turned heel and on a roster that looks exponentially different than when he was a part of it.

What does a Balor win mean for the future of NXT though? As a heel champion he could feud with a nice handful of babyface stars like Matt Riddle, Ciampa, Lee, and Johnny Gargano, but to what end? Those feuds would be placeholders to get to the final act of putting the NXT Championship around the waist of its future flag bearer.

Plus, at this point, a heel Adam Cole putting over that next top babyface means more than Balor doing the job given Cole’s meaningful run as champion and consistent work in the ring.

That leaves Keith Lee.

Timing is everything in pro wrestling. The Austin 3:16 promo, CM Punk’s pipe bomb, Hulk Hogan in the 80’s and the nWo are just a handful of examples of industry changing angles that came together because the timing was right. Strike when the iron is hot and Keith Lee’s iron is hot right now.

Amongst the messy build to brand warfare at Survivor Series, Lee made himself into a star after a standout performance in the men’s elimination match at Survivor Series. There, he shined opposite a who’s who of WWE stars, including Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns.

The NXT crowd reaction has been on his side ever since. It’s growing and getting louder. That type of momentum needs to be fed. This win for Lee is the food that will continue to elevate him. It’s a worthwhile win in that it capitalizes on crowd reaction and in turn, creates a new star that the audience chose organically.

With Keith Lee as the number one contender, why not go all the way with him? Momentum is a funny thing in wrestling. Anything from a loss, poor judgment outside of the ring, or silly social media comments can derail it at any moment. As Seth Rollins. Lee isn’t a young star so the time is now or never. Lee needs the belt.

A title run at this moment makes sense. In three months, it may not. NXT needs to recognize and harness the moment to milk the most out of Lee’s rise to the top of the brand. The run ending with a championship loss ruins the allure that Lee has built as a credible and likable contender.

Right now, Lee winning is simply more impactful and important to the brand than Adam Cole losing. Cole dropping the championship to the right guy freshens up his act too and gives him a new arc to follow into 2020.

Amidst the Wednesday night wrestling wars, NXT has set itself up well heading into the Christmas holiday and has three very viable top stars heated up and ready for the top spot on the brand. How many wrestling promotions can say that? WWE main roster – are you taking notes?