In the culmination of a two-year rivalry, Adam Cole beat former NFL punter and current sports media personality Pat McAfee at NXT TakeOver: XXX on Saturday in Winter Park, Florida.

Cole got the victory via the Panama Sunrise in a match that delivered beyond all expectations. 

The issues between Cole and McAfee date back to March 2018 at an NXT live event in Indianapolis. At that show, the former Indianapolis Colts All-Pro punter was a special guest, and he prevented Cole from cheating during a match against Aleister Black.

Cole has held a great deal of animosity toward McAfee since that moment, and for the next couple of years after it happened, they often traded barbs and took shots at each other.

Things finally boiled over last month when Cole appeared on McAfee's The Pat McAfee Show podcast. McAfee got under Cole's skin by making jokes about his height and suggesting his success was a product of Undisputed Era.

Cole eventually exploded by yelling expletives at McAfee and then pushing his producer before storming out of the studio.

In an effort to smooth things over, McAfee appeared on a recent episode of NXT as a guest commentator. McAfee was on commentary for the NXT Tag Team Championship match between Imperium and Undisputed Era's Kyle O'Reilly and Bobby Fish.

Cole was outside the ring to support his stablemates, but he heard some of the snide comments McAfee was making, which resulted in his confronting McAfee and throwing water in his face.

NXT personnel, including Triple H and Shawn Michaels, had to get between them to prevent a brawl, but McAfee was able to get away and lay Cole out with a big punt to the head. A furious Triple H pushed McAfee and tossed him out of the building.

Triple H later appeared on ESPN and challenged McAfee to a match on Cole's behalf for NXT TakeOver: XXX, and despite his lack of professional wrestling experience, McAfee accepted.

McAfee likely would have been the underdog against any NXT opponent, but facing the longest-reigning NXT champion of all time and one of the greatest Superstars in NXT history in the form of Cole put McAfee in an even tougher spot.

Although McAfee fought valiantly, Cole came out on top, and he can potentially begin gearing himself up for another run at the NXT title.

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