Samoa Joe crowned new NXT champion after defeating Finn Balor in non-televised house show

Does this mean Balor is now heading to the main WWE roster?

James Orr
Friday 22 April 2016 02:27 EDT
Comments
Samoa Joe lifts the NXT title after his victory over Finn Balor
Samoa Joe lifts the NXT title after his victory over Finn Balor (WWE.com)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Samoa Joe has been crowned the new NXT champion, after beating Finn Balor at a non-televised house show in Lowell, Massachusetts.

The loss for Balor only furthers speculation that he is heading to the WWE's main roster soon.

Balor, from Bray in Ireland, had held the title for a record 292 days. He had won it on 4 July 2015, when he beat Kevin Owens.

An injury spot took place towards the finish of the match, and at this time it remains unclear whether or not it was legitimate. The spot involved Balor seemingly rolling his ankle. The referee then threw up the 'X' sign, which signals one of the superstars is injured and needs assistance. The match then ended very shortly after with Joe being crowned the new champion.

WWE's next pay-per-view is Payback on 1 May, with Balor's former stable the Bullet Club now with the company and set to interfere in the main event of Roman Reigns vs AJ Styles, will we finally see the first appearance of Balor on the main roster?

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in