| The Undisputed Era | |
|---|---|
 The Undisputed Era in April 2018. | |
| Stable | |
| Name | The Undisputed Era |
| Combined billed weight | 400 lb (180 kg) |
| Former members | Adam Cole (leader) Kyle O'Reilly Roderick Strong Bobby Fish |
| Debut | August 19, 2017 |
| Disbanded | March 24, 2021 |
| Years active | 2017–2021 |
The Undisputed Era was aprofessional wrestlingstable consisting of leaderAdam Cole withKyle O'Reilly,Bobby Fish, andRoderick Strong. The group is widely known for their time inWWE'sNXT brand. The stable is widely regarded as one of the greatest factions in WWE history.[1][2][3][4][5]
The stable originated as the trio of Cole, Fish and O'Reilly on August 19, 2017 atNXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III, although Fish and O'Reilly had already been atag team since 2012 under the namereDRagon. April 7, 2018 atNXT TakeOver: New Orleans marked a turning point for the Undisputed Era: during the event, Cole became the inauguralNXT North American Champion, he and O'Reilly won the2018 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic and successfully defended theNXT Tag Team Championship, and Strong joined the stable at the end of a lengthyfeud against the three. As a quartet, they came to gain unprecedented dominance over NXT, with three NXT Tag Team Championship reigns, including one as four co-champions under theFreebird Rule, and Cole winning theNXT Championship, the brand's top title; from September 2019 to January 2020, The Undisputed Era simultaneously held all male titles on NXT, a feat never achieved before by any faction.
In 2010,Adam Cole andKyle O'Reilly debuted inRing of Honor as a tag team that would later be named "Future Shock", but the two split up in 2012 and began a longstanding rivalry against each other. In December 2012, O'Reilly formed a new tag team withBobby Fish known asreDRagon, with the two winning theROH World Tag Team Championship on three occasions, while Cole would form his own stable in 2014 known asThe Kingdom. In the summer of 2015, reDRagon entered into a feud with The Kingdom, and began teaming with Cole after he seemingly had a falling out with his teammates and left the group. However, Cole's exit from The Kingdom was revealed to be a hoax when he attacked O'Reilly during his match for theROH World Championship atAll Star Extravaganza VII on September 18. Their reignited rivalry continued until January 2017, when O'Reilly left Ring of Honor to sign withWWE. Cole and Fish would follow suit, with Cole leaving in May and Fish in June.[6][7] During their years in Ring of Honor, Cole, O'Reilly and Fish each had several matches against, and occasionally teaming with, fellow ROH wrestlerRoderick Strong.
On July 12, 2017, episode ofNXT, Fish made hisNXT debut, losing toAleister Black. On the August 2 episode ofNXT, O'Reilly made his NXT debut, also losing to Black.[citation needed]
The Undisputed Era during their WWE run has been compared toD-Generation X andEvolution, both of whichTriple H, the founder and producer of the NXT brand, was a member.[8][9]
AtNXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III on August 19, Fish and O'Reilly debuted as a team, attacking the newly crownedNXT Tag Team Champions,Sanity (Alexander Wolfe andEric Young), as well as their opponents for the night,The Authors of Pain. Later that night, the two aligned themselves with Adam Cole and attacked newly crownedNXT ChampionDrew McIntyre.[10] The following month, the trio of Cole, Fish and O'Reilly was officially dubbed "The Undisputed Era".[11]
On the October 11 episode ofNXT,Taynara Conti interfered in a triple threat match betweenNikki Cross,Peyton Royce andLiv Morgan on behalf of the Undisputed Era, preventing Cross of Sanity from winning.[12] AtNXT TakeOver: WarGames, the Undisputed Era defeated Sanity and The Authors of Pain andRoderick Strong in aWarGames match, the first of its kind in 20 years.[13] On the December 20 episode ofNXT, (taped on November 29), Fish and O'Reilly defeated Sanity (Eric Young andKillian Dain) to capture the NXT Tag Team Championship, marking their first title win in WWE.[14] On the January 10, 2018, episode ofNXT, Fish and O'Reilly were scheduled to defend their titles against Sanity in a rematch, but assaulted them backstage, rendering them unable to compete. Later that night, they were forced to defend their championships against Black and Strong by NXTgeneral managerWilliam Regal, and successfully retained their titles after Cole interfered and distracted Black.[15] AtNXT TakeOver: Philadelphia, the Undisputed Era defeated The Authors of Pain to retain the titles. On March 4, Fish suffered a torn ACL and MCL in his left knee at an NXT live event.[16]
On April 7 atNXT TakeOver: New Orleans, Cole became the inauguralNXT North American Champion in aladder match also involvingEC3,Killian Dain,Lars Sullivan,Ricochet andVelveteen Dream.[17] Later in the night, O'Reilly and Cole (in place of the injured Fish) successfully defended the NXT Tag Team Championships in the finals of the2018 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic against The Authors of Pain and Strong andPete Dunne after Strong turned on Dunne to allow O'Reilly to pin him, joining the faction and turningheel in the process and allowing the group to win the tournament despite not being in it originally.[18] With Strong joining the group, he was also recognized as part of the NXT Tag Team Champions via the "Freebird Rule". AtNXT TakeOver: Chicago, O'Reilly and Strong successfully defended the titles againstDanny Burch andOney Lorcan.[19]
After developing a rivalry withBritish Strong Style (Dunne,Trent Seven andTyler Bate), the two factions faced off on the first day of theWWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament event, where the Undisputed Era lost.[20] On the second day of the event, O'Reilly and Strong lost the NXT Tag Team Championship to Seven and Bate.[21] However, O'Reilly and Strong regained the titles just two days later (aired on tape delay on July 11).[22] With the win, O'Reilly and Strong became just the second team in NXT history to win the titles more than once (the other beingThe Revival (Dash Wilder andScott Dawson). AtNXT TakeOver: Brooklyn 4, O'Reilly and Strong retained their titles against Bate and Seven. After the match, O'Reilly and Strong were attacked by the debutingWar Raiders (Hanson andRowe).[23] On the same night, Cole lost the North American Championship toRicochet.[24]
On the August 29 episode ofNXT, Cole and Strong defeated Ricochet and Dunne and attacked them along with O'Reilly after the match. However, the War Raiders came to the ring, chasing the Undisputed Era away.[25] On the October 10 episode ofNXT, Ricochet defeated Cole and Dunne in a triple threat match to retain the North American Championship.[26] On the October 17 episode ofNXT, O'Reilly and Strong retained the NXT Tag Team Championship against the War Raiders by disqualification after Fish returned from injury and attacked Hanson and Rowe.[27] On the October 31 episode ofNXT, Cole and Fish were scheduled to face the War Raiders. However, Hanson and Rowe attacked the Undisputed Era during a backstage promo. The brawl ended up in the ring, where the Undisputed Era got the upper-hand. Ricochet and Dunne entered on the War Raiders' behalf as the brawl progressed to even the odds. While the groups were fighting, general manager William Regal announced that the Undisputed Era would face the team of the War Raiders, Ricochet and Dunne in aWarGames match atNXT TakeOver: WarGames.[28] At the event, the Undisputed Era were defeated after both Ricochet and Dunne pinned Cole.[29] AtNXT TakeOver: Phoenix, the Undisputed Era lost the NXT Tag Team Championships to The War Raiders.
All four members competed atNXT TakeOver: XXV. Strong lost toMatt Riddle in the opening match.[30] Fish and O'Reilly were unsuccessful in a four-wayladder match for the vacantNXT Tag Team Championship.[31] In the event's main event, Cole defeatedJohnny Gargano to win theNXT Championship.[32] The win made Cole the secondTriple Crown winner in NXT history (behind Gargano). On the August 15 tapings ofNXT, O'Reilly and Fish defeatedStreet Profits (Angelo Dawkins andMontez Ford) for the NXT Tag Team Championships, making O'Reilly the first wrestler to become a three-time NXT Tag Team Champion.[33] On September 18, 2019, during the debut episode ofNXT on theUSA Network, Roderick Strong defeatedVelveteen Dream for the NXT North American Championship, marking Strong's first singles title in WWE, and making the Undisputed Era the first group to hold all male championships on the NXT brand; theWWE Cruiserweight Championship became the NXT Cruiserweight Championship on October 9, therefore elevating the number of male NXT titles to four.
In the build-up for theNXT andNXT UK co-branded pay-per-view,Worlds Collide, the Undisputed Era began feuding with Imperium (WWE United Kingdom ChampionWalter,Alexander Wolfe,Fabian Aichner andMarcel Barthel), which was further intensified during the closing moments ofNXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool II on January 12, 2020, where the group attacked Imperium following Walter's successful title defense againstJoe Coffey.[34][35] At Worlds Collide, Imperium defeated the Undisputed Era despite being outnumbered 4-3 after Wolfe suffered an injury early in the match.[36]In the midst of their rivalry with Imperium, Strong lost the North American title toKeith Lee, while Fish and O'Reilly took part in the2020 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, defeatingNXT UK Tag Team Champions Gallus (Mark Coffey andWolfgang) in the first round and losing toGrizzled Young Veterans (James Drake andZack Gibson) in the semifinals thanks to a distraction fromImperium.[37][38]
AtNXT TakeOver: Portland, Cole successfully retained his title againstTommaso Ciampa after receiving assistance from the rest of the Undisputed Era andJohnny Gargano, who attacked Ciampa with the belt, turning heel in the process.[39] However, Fish and O'Reilly lost the tag team titles to Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic winners The BroserWeights (Matt Riddle andPete Dunne), leaving the Undisputed Era with only one title for the first time since August 2019.[40] On the April 22 episode ofNXT, Velveteen Dream andDexter Lumis (replacing Keith Lee, who was attacked byDamian Priest before the match) defeated Cole and Strong in a tag team match, where Dream pinned Cole. This led to an NXT Championship match on the May 6 episode ofNXT where Cole successfully retained his title against Dream and again atTakeOver: In Your House on June 7 in a last chance Backlot Brawl match, due to the stipulation at the event where if Dream lost he can no longer challenge for the NXT Championship again while Cole was still champion.Roderick Strong then entered a feud withDexter Lumis. On the June 17 episode of NXT, Roderick Strong underwenttherapy to get over his fear of Lumis. On the June 24 episode of NXT, Strong and Lumis faced each other but Lumis won viacountout after Strong refused to fight Lumis.
On the July 1 episode ofNXT: The Great American Bash night one, Strong faced Lumis in a strap match, but lost, thus ending their feud. The following week on July 8, which was night two of the event, Cole lost the NXT Championship toKeith Lee in a Winner Take All match, ending his historic reign at 403 days. Though Cole soon turned face after entering into a feud withPat McAfee, Fish and Strong remained as heels. On the September 8 episode ofNXT, Fish and Strong entered into a feud withKillian Dain, withDrake Maverick making the save and the Undisputed Era running off. On the September 16 episode ofNXT, O'Reilly returned to NXT and turned face after savingJake Atlas from a beatdown at the hands ofTommaso Ciampa. On the September 23 episode ofNXT, O'Reilly won a gauntlet match earning him a title match againstFinn Bálor atNXT TakeOver 31.[41] Cole cemented hisface turn on the September 30 episode ofNXT after calling out Austin Theory, who had insulted O'Reilly earlier in the night during a backstage promo. At NXT: Takeover 31, O'Reilly lost to Bálor.[42]
On October 21, Fish and Strong were mysteriously attacked before their tag team title match against Breezango and were replaced by Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch. It was revealed thatPat McAfee was behind the attacks, thus turning all the members of the Undisputed ERA into faces for the first time since the group's inception. AtNXT: Halloween Havoc, Kyle O' Reilly confronted McAfee, Burch and Lorcan. A returningPete Dunne assisted Kyle O' Reilly. However, this partnership was short lived as Dunne hit O' Reilly with a steel chair turningheel in the process and aligning himself with McAfee, Lorcan, and Burch.[43]
On the November 18 episode ofNXT, the Undisputed Era made their return and brawled withPat McAfee,Pete Dunne and TheNXT Tag Team Champions,Oney Lorcan andDanny Burch.William Regal then announced that the two teams would face each other atNXT Takeover: WarGames. AtNXT Takeover: WarGames, Undisputed Era defeated Team McAfee.[44]
Kyle O' Reilly faced Pete Dunne on the December 16th episode of NXT where the winner would face Finn Bálor atNXT: New Year's Evil for the NXT Title. O' Reilly defeated Dunne and earned himself another opportunity at the NXT Title, in which he was unsuccessful. It was announced in late December 2020 that Adam Cole and Roderick Strong would be teaming up to represent the Undisputed Era in the 2021 annual Dusty Rhodes Tag Team classic. They defeated Breezango in the first round, but lost against the team of Ciampa andTimothy Thatcher in the quarter-finals.
AtNXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day, after saving Finn Bálor from a post match assault from Dunne, Lorcan, and Burch, Cole turned heel by superkicking Bálor and O'Reilly.[45][46] On the March 24th edition of NXT, it was announced that the Undisputed Era had officially disbanded. Cole and O'Reilly fought each other in anUnsanctioned match atNXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver, where O'Reilly was victorious.[47] Cole defeated O'Reilly in a rematch atThe Great American Bash.[48] Cole and O'Reilly ended their feud in a2-out-of-3 falls match atNXT Takeover: 36 in a match labeled "The Undisputed Finale", with O'Reilly defeating Cole.[49] After a brief feud with Roderick Strong, Bobby Fish was released from his WWE contract and Adam Cole departed WWE. Both Fish and Cole joinedAll Elite Wrestling (AEW), with Kyle O'Reilly following suit in December. Roderick Strong would also join AEW in April 2023.[50][51]
| * | Founding member(s) |
|---|---|
| L | Leader |
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| Member | Joined | Left | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adam Cole | *L | August 19, 2017 | March 24, 2021 |
| Kyle O'Reilly | * | August 19, 2017 | March 24, 2021 |
| Roderick Strong | April 7, 2018 | March 24, 2021 | |
| Bobby Fish | * | August 19, 2017 | March 24, 2021 |
| Affiliate | Members | Tenure | Type | Promotion(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fish and O'Reilly | Bobby Fish Kyle O'Reilly | 2017–2021 | Tag team | WWE |
1For the Undisputed Era's first reign, Fish and O'Reilly won the title as a duo, with Cole and Strong later being recognized as co-champions under theFreebird Rule.
During their time in NXT, the faction was running the show. Individually all 4 were established stars in the indie. Put together they were well oiled wrestling machine. They elevated the entire NXT roster, anyone involved in a storyline with them were destined to be great.
The greatest faction in NXT history, and by a distance.
No. 9 - Undisputed Era
No. 2: Best - Undisputed Era.
