Over the next few weeks, McIntyre began a feud with Andrade "Cien" Almas, that led to general manager William Regal scheduling a championship match at . The night before that event, McIntyre successfully defended his championship against Adam Cole, with Shawn Michaels as the special guest referee at a house show in San Antonio, Texas. The title defense would eventually air on the WWE Network on 3 January 2018. On 18 November, at the NXT Takeover: WarGames, McIntyre lost the NXT Championship to Almas, marking his first loss in NXT. After the match, it was revealed that McIntyre suffered a torn bicep towards the end of the match.