Finn Balor Suffered a Broken Jaw During His NXT Championship Match at NXT TakeOver 31

Finn Balor successfully defended his NXT Championship on Sunday night at NXT TakeOver 31 against [...]

By Connor Casey

Finn Balor successfully defended his NXT Championship on Sunday night at NXT TakeOver 31 against Kyle O'Reilly. But fans were quick to notice once the match was over that Balor had a noticeably swollen jaw, and Triple H confirmed in a media conference call after the show that he was getting x-rays to determine if it was seriously injured. On Wednesday afternoon Balor returned to social media to confirm that he indeed had broken his jaw in two different places. The champ shared an x-ray of his damaged skull, but then added that he's "Still the CHAMPION," which could mean that he won't necessarily have to relinquish his title as a result. More details on his status as champion will be revealed on tonight's NXT.

Balor won the title after Karrion Kross suffered a separated shoulder at NXT TakeOver XXX and was forced to relinquish the title a mere four days after he won it.

It was reported earlier this week that O'Reilly also had to be examined following the match, though he is said to be okay. According to Wrestling Observer's Bryan Alvarez, the match itself had to be shortened once Balor realized the severity of his injury.

Balor has, unfortunately, seen his championship reigns in WWE end abruptly due to injury before. He famously became the company's first WWE Universal Champion back in 2016 but suffered a torn labrum in his championship match against Seth Rollins, forcing his reign to end after just one day.

It's also unclear whether or not Balor could get drafted to either Raw or SmackDown during the 2020 WWE Draft later this week. Triple H was asked about NXT's involvement in the Draft on Sunday night, but couldn't give an answer.

"When I say 'not knowing what is happening in the Draft' right now, my not knowing probably means, more than likely I would imagine, and just going off of what we've seen with commercials and everything, that we won't be," he said. "Now, that can always change this week. But a lot of talent have come up from the Performance Center... from NXT to Raw, to SmackDown over the last 12 months, I want to say the numbers, well it's in the high teens over the last 12 months. So there's been a lot of movement and a lot of activity. I'm always for what is best for talent.

"So when the conversations are had, we try to have as much advance notice for when talent is coming in or going out, that we can plan for it appropriately both on the exit and the entrance — for all sides," he continued. "But sometimes that can't happen, and sometimes it's short notice. For the most part though, we have a fair amount of advanced notice, and we have time to be able to move on stuff... No matter how it goes, we'll be ready to make it work."

Along with Balor's status update, this week's show will feature a return promo by Ember Moon and Tommaso Ciampa vs. Kushida.

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