NXT TV Tapings Suggest Finn Balor Being Called Up To WWE Main Roster Soon, Former ECW Star Also Returns
NXT superstar and former NXT champion Finn Balor may be headed to the WWE main roster sooner rather than later.
The rumor that Finn Balor would be headed to the main roster has been going around for quite some time now. Many thought that he might be called up following WrestleMania 32, but that came and went. Once Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows finally debuted in WWE and joined up with AJ Styles in “The Club,” it became very easy to speculate that Finn Balor would soon be added to that mix given his ties to that particular group in Japan. NXT Takeover: The End seemed like the perfect time for Balor to finish up his NXT career. His feud with Samoa Joe had come to an end following their historic steel cage match and obviously the title has been off of him for a while now. But following that event, he went right into a program with NXT newcomer Shinsuke Nakamura, fueling speculation that a dream match between those two would take place on SummerSlam weekend at NXT Takeover: Brooklyn.
However, that match came has come sooner than expected as Balor and Nakamura met on Friday night as part of the NXT television tapings that took place at Full Sail University. NXT taped three shows on Friday, the first of which will air on July 6. WrestleZone is reporting that while the Balor vs Nakamura match was billed as the “main event” of the tapings and went on last, it will actually air as part of what would be the second of the three episodes, meaning that it will air on the WWE Network on July 13.
Related Articles
WWE News: Update On Why Finn Balor’s Main Roster Call Up Has Continued To Be Pushed Back
WWE News: Plans For Shinsuke Nakamura In NXT And On WWE Main Roster
Finn Balor And Bray Wyatt Tease ‘WrestleMania 33’ Matches In Epic Twitter Exchange
Reports from the tapings are saying that following the match, Balor received the kind of sendoff that usually accompanies a farewell. The former NXT champ was said to have thanked fans for all of their support and even had a toast and pose-off with Nakamura in the ring following the match. Images that hit Twitter on Friday night certainly back up those reports.
Best $10 you can ever spend is for a @WWENXT event! I was there for @ShinsukeN vs @wwebalor #NXTFSLive pic.twitter.com/Mtwnw0hMLv
— rich schellhase (@richschellhase) June 25, 2016
Thank you @ShinsukeN and thank you @wwebalor #FinnvsShin #WeAreNXT #NXTFSLive pic.twitter.com/n8hKp1FBEv
— Will Henderson (@willh94) June 25, 2016
If this is goodbye, it was amazing. #NXTFSLive#ThankYouFinn#ThankYouNakamura@wwebalor@ShinsukeNpic.twitter.com/rpbrc7nVTE
— Kenji @ AX 2016 (@EarlofFujoshi) June 25, 2016
The timing of this is only going to further fuel the speculation that Finn Balor has wrestled his last match with NXT and will be on his way to becoming a full-time WWE roster member very soon. With that match airing on July 13 and the upcoming WWE Draft set for the first live Smackdown on July 19, expect the Finn Balor rumors to heat up in the upcoming weeks.
Another big piece of news from the NXT tapings was the return of former ECW and WWE superstar Rhyno. During the taping of the first episode, he interrupted a match between Blake and Murphy and The Hype Bros, destroying all four competitors in the process. During the second episode, Samoa Joe was cutting a promo about the Finn Balor vs Shinsuke Nakamura match, saying that the winner didn’t necessarily deserve a title shot. Rhyno came out to interrupt, saying that he should get a shot, which ultimately led to a match between the two in the third episode which will air on July 20.
[Image via WWE]
