Adam Cole, Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly’s formation of Undisputed Era has been one of the bright spots (among many) in WWE NXT over the past few months.
The trio of former Ring of Honor talent made their mark on the promotion upon Cole’s debut, taking out former NXT champion Drew McIntyre. Since then, Undisputed Era has run through literally every tag team in the promotion, leading to the return of WarGames and eventually the team of Fish and O’Reilly winning the tag titles away from SAnitY.
After successfully defending the titles against the Authors of Pain at NXT TakeOver Philadelphia, Fish and O’Reilly seemed well on their way to a prime spot during WrestleMania weekend.
That was until the weekend slate of house shows, when Fish was apparently injured.
During a tag title defense against Heavy Machinery, Fish went down, clutching his knee. It’s unknown at this time whether it was a contact or non-contact injury, but it was bad enough for the referee to throw the “X” in the air, signalling an injury. Cole reportedly made a run-in, and the match went to a quick finish before Fish was taken to the back.
Hope Bobby Fish is ok. Tweaked his knee & O’Riley had to finish solo against Heavy Machinery. Drake’s mic went out too, but they called an audible and had Cole run out to distract Otis so Bobby could roll him up for the win. Fish had to be helped to the back too #NXTIndy
— Tyler Edwards (@prince_petty_) March 5, 2018
Bobby Fish just got injured ref threw the X up #nxtindy pic.twitter.com/DETeZbGTA4
— Rich Abbott (@RichieAbbottWTF) March 5, 2018
Ref throws up the “X” it appears @theBobbyFish has a knee injury. #NXTIndy pic.twitter.com/dfC2Q2qFiF
— Steven Radmer (@Steven_R) March 5, 2018
@davemeltzerWON bobby fish injured at #nxtindy house show pic.twitter.com/TWJyceMmY3
— ChaserCWE (@ChaserCwe) March 5, 2018
Hopefully Fish heals up, but if he can’t go during WrestleMania season, it should be interesting to see how NXT adjusts. Should Undisputed Era institute the “Freebird Rule,” maybe Cole simply takes over to defend the belts with O’Reilly until their third member is able to return.
There doesn’t seem like a logical spot for Cole right now on the roster other than meaningless feuds with midcard guys. At the very least, taking over one of the tag title spots would ensure he’s got a position on the biggest card of the year. We never wish for injuries, of course, so here’s to hoping Fish comes out on the healthy side of things.
