The Undisputed Era was fine, until Finn Balor & Kyle O’Reilly became allies. This dangled the NXT Championship in front of Adam Cole again, a championship that he misses sorely. Balor beat him to win the vacant title, and next week Cole has a chance to get it back. But this week, Balor faces Roderick Strong. Earlier in the night, Strong called out Adam Cole but instead got Balor calling him gutless. Balor will now learn how much guts Strong has in this main event match.
Roderick Strong Is Alone Again
Strong hit the ring without the familiar Undisputed Era theme song and gear for the first time in years. It’s like a hard reset came and pushed him back to 2016. Strong is alone again, and will need to figure it out. Balor would lock up with Strong, and they’d sprawl on the mat to start this up. These two are evenly matched in terms of mat grappling, but Balor would get the slight edge in the early going.
Balor made a momentary mistake, and almost ended up in the Strong Hold for it. Strong was unable to apply the hold, and Balor was able to grab an arm lock and keep Strong grounded. Balor would be driven into the corner, and Strong hit his first backbreaker of the match.
Throughout the picture in picture break, Strong would go to work on Balor. He’d hit those heavy handed chops in the corner, and Balor was just unable to match that level of impact. Balor would go back to submission wrestling, and attacking the arm allowed for him to get back on top.
Finn Balor Gets Taken To His Limits
Back from the break, Strong was back in control after a knee strike and some more heavy strikes in the corner. That arm was an issue though, Strong being thrown shoulder first into the mat before Balor went for the arm lock again. He’d just tie it up and yank it down with his legs, trying to separate a shoulder.
Strong fought back to his feet, and was able to use that freaky Roddy strength to pick Balor up and slam him. This was his chance to let off some steam, and he’d nail a backbreaker. Another would follow, but he missed the running high knee, and Balor went for a head & arm choke on Strong to look for a tap out.
Balor hit a running chop after sending Strong across the ring, and Strong came back with a clothesline! The reverse angle slam planted Balor, before a proper one landed. Strong hit the Tiger Bomb, but only got a two count. Balor rallied back with a slingblade out of nowhere, but Strong countered the shotgun dropkick into the Strong Hold, which was tweaked into a pinfall for a two count.
Strong went for another backbreaker, but Balor countered with a double stomp. Balor hit the Pele Kick and Final Cut, before the shotgun dropkick set up the Coup De Grace. 1916 followed, and Finn Balor comes out on top!
Roderick Strong is one of the most underrated wrestlers of his generation, and he showed why once again. This might have not been a title match, but Strong & Balor treated it like one. They treated this like a Takeover main event, especially in the last few minutes. Finn Balor is better than he has ever been, and Roderick Strong might be as well. Match Rating: 4.25/5 (**** ¼)
Can Finn Balor defeat Adam Cole next week? Let us know what you think in the comment section down below.
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