WWE NXT "Takeover: XXX" To Feature Adam Cole Vs. Pat McAfee?, Beth Phoenix Explains Commentary Angle

By Marc Middleton

It looks like we could see Adam Cole vs. Pat McAfee at the upcoming WWE NXT "Takeover: XXX" event.

Tonight's NXT show closed with a pull-apart brawl between the two, which ended with McAfee, a former NFL punter, delivering a punt kick to Cole's face, leaving him laid out on the floor.

WWE announced earlier in the day that McAfee would be appearing on NXT to confront Cole after their recent incident on The Pat McAfee Show podcast. The storyline was that McAfee, who was just married on Saturday, was leaving his honeymoon to come to NXT to talk with Cole. Shortly before NXT hit the air, Cole and McAfee tweeted photos of how they buried the hatchet at the show, agreeing to disagree and move on. McAfee later did commentary for the main event, which saw NXT Tag Team Champions Marcel Barthel and Fabian Aichner of Imperium retain their titles over Kyle O'Reilly and Bobby Fish of The Undisputed Era.

McAfee took several shots at Cole while on commentary, which Cole picked up on from ringside. This led to Cole confronting McAfee at the announce table, and a shouting match between the two. Cole threw water at McAfee and McAfee fired back with more insults at the leader of The Undisputed Era. McAfee ended up taking advantage of the chaos in the pull-apart, and put Cole back down with the punt kick. McAfee was asked to leave the building as he ranted about how NXT is unprofessional.

WWE also did an angle on commentary where WWE Hall of Famer Beth Phoenix left the show early due to McAfee's behavior. Phoenix explained her earl exit from commentary on Twitter after the show.

"The truth is, there is a lot that Pat said behind the scenes too, that I choose not to repeat. I'd heard enough. @PatMcAfeeShow was disparaging toward @AdamColePro on a level that was unprofessional. Pat shaming Cole in such a way is not acceptable. Shame on you Pat. #WWENXT," she wrote.

Cole and McAfee began their rivalry back in 2018 at a NXT live event. They've had a few minor run-ins and back & forth over the years, but things picked back up and escalated during the recent podcast taping. Now it looks like McAfee could be making his in-ring debut at Takeover on August 22 during WWE SummerSlam Weekend.

Cole has not tweeted on the incident as of this writing, but McAfee took to Twitter after the show and fired more shots at the leader of The Undisputed Era.

"How much was I supposed to take from this beta who is a MANIAC? Blows up on my show, breaks s–t, pushes Ty. Then..I take time out of MY HONEYMOON, so we can hug it out. Then he LOSES HIS MIND AGAIN.. assaults me w/ a bottle & I'M THE 1 THAT GETS KICKED OUT? How's that fair?," McAfee tweeted.

Stay tuned for updates on Cole vs. McAfee. Below are several shots from tonight's angle, along with the full tweets from McAfee and Phoenix:

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