Finn Balor Trashes NXT Roster, Attacked by Matt Riddle

One of the most surprising additions to the NXT roster ever since it began airing live on the USA [...]

By Nick Valdez

One of the most surprising additions to the NXT roster ever since it began airing live on the USA Network each Wednesday was Finn Balor. Balor returned to the NXT brand following his leave of absence after his loss to The Fiend Bray Wyatt, and he came back fiercer than ever. This chip on his shoulder has been more pronounced with each passing week, and this culminated in a promo in which he called out how much the roster has changed since his time.

After trashing NXT mainstays like Johnny Gargano, Tommaso Ciampa, and Matt Riddle, he wondered who would step up to challenge him next. He soon got his answer when Riddle came to collect with a quick and vicious beatdown.

Surprisingly attacking Balor from behind, Riddle managed to land several strong blows worthy of the King of Bros. Balor made some successful hits of his own, but he was quickly caught up in the pace that Riddle had set. Eventually running away after this beatdown, Riddle looked victories at the end of the day -- even calling Balor a "putz."

But before Riddle could chase down Balor even further, the Undisputed Era swooped in and circled around him like a pack of hyenas. They are eager to take down Riddle, but before they made their move Riddle was backed up by Tommaso Ciampa and Keith Lee. This standoff was tense for sure, but it was clear that Adam Cole would not be making any significant moves following his latest tears through both Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown.

Roderick Strong decided to get in the ring in Adam Cole's stead, and while this began as a brawl between Finn Balor and Matt Riddle, it quickly bled into an official non-title match between Keith Lee and North American Champion Roderick Strong. So while Balor came out swinging with a biting promo that trashed much of how the NXT roster had changed since he had made his first mark on it, the end of the whole ordeal quickly showed how much strength the roster has just waiting to be unleashed.

But with Balor so involved in with the core group of fighters confirmed for NXT TakeOver: War Games 2019, it's now begging the question of where he'll be fitting into the upcoming pay-per-view event before the even more crucial Survivor Series featuring Raw vs. SmackDown vs. NXT.

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