Finn Balor Turns Heel On WWE NXT (Photos, Videos)

By Marc Middleton

The closing segment of this week's WWE NXT episode saw Finn Balor turn heel.

Tonight's main event saw Roderick Strong retain his NXT North American Title in a hard-hitting Triple Threat over Keith Lee and Dominik Dijakovic. After the match, the rest of The Undisputed Era (NXT Champion Adam Cole, NXT Tag Team Champions Kyle O'Reilly and Bobby Fish) hit the ring to celebrate with Strong and attack Lee.

Advertisement

The beatdown stopped when the music hit and out came Tommaso Ciampa with his crutch. Ciampa stood in the ring and faced off with The Undisputed Era until Johnny Gargano came out next to join him. DIY reunited to face off with The Undisputed Era until Balor's music hit and then he came out to an even bigger pop. Balor, Gargano and Ciampa faced off with The Undisputed Era in the middle of the ring until Balor turned heel out of nowhere and dropped Gargano with an overhead kick.

The crowd and the announcers were stunned as the rest of The Undisputed Era attacked Ciampa and beat him down while Balor watched from the corner. Cole traded a quick stare with Balor, then dropped Ciampa with a running knee to the back of the head. Balor then left the ring, to a mixed reaction, and dropkicked Gargano into the barrier. Balor pulled Gargano over to the bottom of the ramp after that, and spiked his head into the steel.

Advertisement

At first it looked like Balor was joining The Undisputed Era but that was never made official. After Balor dropped Gargano on the ramp, he pointed down at Gargano and looked up at The Undisputed Era, as if he was offering Gargano to the group. The group stood in the ring with their signature poses while Balor offered the beaten Gargano to them. This may have been an indication that Balor turned heel without joining the group. Balor then marched up the ramp and went to the back as his music played, with an angry look on his face. NXT then went off the air with The Undisputed Era standing tall in the ring.

As we've noted, Balor returned to WWE TV a few weeks back after taking personal time off following his SummerSlam loss to "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt at SummerSlam in August. Balor was officially moved to the NXT roster after that, and made his in-ring return this past weekend at NXT Road Trip live events in the Pacific Northwest. Recent happenings on NXT TV indicated that Cole would be entering into a NXT Title feud against Balor and Ciampa, who also returned to TV on the same night as Balor, but it looks like that is not happening now, at least not with Balor working as the top babyface.

Advertisement

Stay tuned for updates on Balor and the NXT main event scene, and if he's with The Undisputed Era.

Below are photos and videos from the end of tonight's main event and the post-match angle at Full Sail Live:

Advertisement

Comments

Recommended