Thanks to Undisputed ERA thinking they're smart, Roderick Strong will now have to defend his title against two men instead of one next week.

This week's NXT kicked off with a moment most fans have been waiting for since Tomasso Ciampa was sidelined with injury. The Blackheart's in-ring return to Full Sail. The former NXT Champion has taken just seven months to recover from neck surgery and celebrated his return with a win over Angel Garza in relatively short order.

However, there was no time for Ciampa to celebrate after the match. That's because Undisputed ERA made their presence known. Other than to intimidate Ciampa, the faction had a USB stick on which was a video they wanted the world to see. It showed the quartet stood around a beaten down Velveteen Dream. Roderick Strong was supposed to be defending the North American Title against Dream next week.

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William Regal revealed shortly after that Dream will not be able to compete next week. Instead, Strong would have to defend his title against the winner of Wednesday night's match between Dominik Dijakovic and Keith Lee. As most fans will have likely guessed by the time it happened, Strong made a second appearance to make sure that there would be no number one contender.

Strong should know by now that those tactics don't often work. Before the chaos had even had a chance to settle down, Regal reemerged to declare that Strong will defend his title against both men. That naturally raised the ire of Strong and the rest of UE who proceeded to chase Regal backstage and argue their case. Unfortunately for them, their actions mean the NXT GM's mind was already made up.

It's not the first time UE has used tactics like this and it probably won't be the last. You'd think they'd learn. All Strong can hope is that Lee and Dijakovic's animosity for each other will distract them so much he can somehow sneak a win over the two behemoths. Plus, triple threat matches are no disqualification. Unless Regal throws in an added stipulation between now and next Wednesday, the rest of UE will be able to get involved in the match as much as they like.

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