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WWE ‘NXT TakeOver: New Orleans’ Results: First North American Champion Crowned In Ladder Match

By Matt Couden
Published on: 13:16 PST, Apr 7, 2018

Saturday night kicked off the action for WrestleMania weekend with the WWE’s NXT TakeOver: New Orleans results. History was made with just the first match of the evening as the inaugural NXT North American Champion was crowned. To determine who would be that first champ, a ladder match featuring six superstars dazzled and amazed the fans in attendance, as well as those watching on WWE Network from their homes.

As reported by Pro Wrestling, the ladder match opened the NXT TakeOver event at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. Competing for the right to be the first-ever NXT North American Champion were EC3, Velveteen Dream, Killian Dain, Lars Sullivan, Ricochet, and Adam Cole. A number of those stars are relatively new to NXT, making it almost like a major debut for EC3 and Ricochet. However, one superstar in the match was ready to achieve his first title since joining WWE and NXT.

This first match on the NXT event’s card certainly didn’t disappoint as the action was fast and furious from the get-go. EC3 ducked out of the ring to let the other five competitors go at it. However, he soon found himself trapped between the behemoths Dain and Sullivan outside of the ring. Not long after, a brawl broke out on the outside between all of the competitors to get things going.

Multiple ladders came into play as weapons of mass destruction. Bodies were flung across them or smacked by them. In one spot, Ricochet was backdropped hard onto a ladder set up in the corner. In another spot, Dain grabbed EC3 and with Velveteen Dream already laid out on a ladder on the apron, Dain jumped to hit Freak Accident slamming EC3 on top of him, crashing through a ladder. Bodies were strewn around the outside of the ring.

Ricochet also showed off his ability to flip and leap with some huge spots. At one point he was up on a ladder which was being tipped toward the ropes. Ricochet turned it into a positive by backflipping off the ladder out of the ring onto two of his opponents. In another spot, fans watched as EC3 was laying on the mat under a ladder and got crushed by a leaping Dain move with one of the other competitors.

Toward the close of the match, fans watched in awe as all six superstars ended up battling on three ladders set up under the hanging belt. EC3 and Adam Cole were knocked off, but soon Dream, Dain, and Sullivan all were taken down in different spots. Ricochet was still on the ladder, but Cole shoved him off. Eventually, everyone was down with the exception of the Undisputed Era’s leader. Adam Cole climbed up the ladder with no other superstars in sight to knock him off and retrieved the NXT North American title belt.

With that, The Undisputed Era adds yet another title to their accomplishments with Cole now holding onto the brand new NXT North American title belt, and his tag team of Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly holding the tag titles. Of course, that could change as the tag titles were also set to be defended later in the night with Cole working double duty.

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