Killian Dain Discusses NXT Ladder Match, Not Wanting To Go Butt First Through A Ladder Again

At NXT TakeOver: New Orleans in 2018, the first-ever NXT North American Champion was crowned in a ladder match featuring Adam Cole, EC3, Killian Dain, Lars Sullivan, Ricochet, and Velveteen Dream. 

It’s arguably the best ladder match in NXT history and helped showcase the debuting EC3 and Ricochet to the NXT audience. 

Speaking on the All Night Long podcast, Dain discussed his role in the match and how it was structured. 

“The NXT ladder match, the praise we got after that was awesome. We all put our bodies on the line. It was the first time I had to get therapy on my shoulder after that. Some of the moves were insane, stupid, probably. It was Ricochet’s first match and we had to make a big deal there. EC3, we had to try and make him — he wasn’t a moves guy — but it was his debut and we had to make it important, which is different because he’s a character and great on the mic. We tried to get his personality across early and get moments for him to shine where he’s an asshole. Lars Sullivan was the monster and we had to balance things. That was a little harder because there were different pressures. Everyone was so willing to take from everyone. We had an idea and we tried to think of ways it would suit everybody. We tried not to make it so obvious, but just making cool moments and not making it too over the top or too planned. We did our best and were blown away by the positivity after. It’s a testament to everyone in the match. I watched it back and was like, ‘Oh my God, I’ll never do that again.’ [Laughs]. Would I do a ladder match again? Absolutely, no problem. I don’t know if I would go butt first through a ladder again. That was insane,” he said.

Cole was victorious in the bout to become the inaugural NXT North American Champion. 

Elsewhere during the interview, Dain discussed competing in the first-ever NXT WarGames match and his original idea for the bout. You can find his full comments by clicking here. 

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