NXT Breakout Tournament winner Jordan Myles challenges Adam Cole for the black-and-gold brand’s top crown. Video courtesy of the award-winning WWE Network.

For NXT Champion Adam Cole, pride almost came before the fall. Almost.

The Undisputed ERA leader wasn’t just confident at the outset of his NXT Title defense against Breakout Tournament winner Jordan Myles; he was cocky and condescending, constantly berating Myles and letting him know that he wasn’t being taken seriously by The Panama City Playboy.

Cole’s swagger grew as he started picking Myles apart, but as the match drew on and Myles proved to be resilient, the champion’s demeanor radically shifted. After Myles pieced together back-to-back near falls — one off a high-altitude cross body block, and another off a deadlift German suplex — the champion suddenly appeared more concerned. By the time Myles kicked out of Cole’s tried-and-true Ushigoroshi later in the match, Cole was nearly apoplectic.

An exciting, 11th hour rally by the challenger — which featured a high-speed, on-target suicide dive — kept Myles’ championship dream alive. Myles’ feelgood story, however, didn’t extend much past that. Moments after blocking Myles’ Midnight Star 450 splash with a pair of knees to the midsection, Cole unleashed a devastating trifecta of strikes that culminated with the Last Shot, closing the book on another successful, if borderline miraculous, title defense.