Samoa Joe is the new WWE NXT champion. SCREENGRAM FROM WWE’s TWITTER ACCOUNT
Samoa Joe finally exorcised his demons and dethroned Finn Balor in shocking fashion to win the NXT Championship at a house show in Lowell, Massachusetts.
Joe captured the title after hitting Balor with the Muscle Buster and scoring the pinfall win.
The submission specialist also ended the Irish’s run as the longest reigning NXT champion at 292 days.
Their rivalry stemmed when NXT general manager William Regal denied Joe an outright title shot after their tandem won the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic on October.
Joe lost in his two previous wars against Balor, failing to capture the belt at NXT TakeOver: London and just recently, at NXT TakeOver: Dallas.
BACKSTORY: NXT TakeOver Dallas: Balor retains title
Though he lost his NXT title, Balor could be well on his way to the main roster.
Speculations are sure to get traction, more so that former New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) partners Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows have made their debut two weeks ago.
Balor created the Bullet Club faction in 2013, which, together with Anderson and Gallows, terrorized and dominated the Japanese wrestling scene during their run.
When the Irish left for the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in 2014, AJ Styles came in and picked up the cudgels until his departure in early 2016, when he also jumped ship.
Conspicuously, Anderson and Gallows attacked WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns on Raw this past week, with Styles denying any knowledge of the ambush.
Styles will challenge Reigns for the WWE title at Payback in May. IDL