What's Next for Samoa Joe and Finn Balor After WWE NXT TakeOver: The End?

A blockbuster Steel Cage match between two of NXT's biggest stars ended with fans having more questions than answers about the futures of both Finn Balor and Samoa Joe.

The NXT champion made a successful first defense of his title inside the cage, finally putting Balor away to ensure the Irishman did not regain the title at the first attempt.

But with the futures of both men—as well as the NXT brand—still unclear, let's try to work out what's next for both Joe and Balor after a thrilling main event at NXT TakeOver: The End.

Finn Balor

Finn Balor's destiny and future direction are easier to plot than Samoa Joe's.

Circumstances dictate that Balor is only headed one place, and that's WWE's main roster. He was beginning to look ready for a move to Raw and SmackDown anyway, especially given the last few months on NXT.

Balor dropping the NXT Championship to Joe seemed to be a sign that the end was near, and his loss at TakeOver: The End tells us he has little left to do in NXT.

Balor has been a remarkable servant for the brand over the last two years, but the harsh reality is he's got nothing left to achieve in the brand. He's dominated it for almost a year with the NXT Championship, and he has beaten the best the brand has to offer.

When you factor in the upcoming brand split, it only increases the inevitability of Balor moving to the main roster.

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Winner and still NXT Champion, Samoa Joe! Good match. One wonders where Balor will be headed at this point. Hmm... #NXTTakeOver

— SID VICIOUS (@SychoVicious) June 9, 2016"

Expect NXT to be picked of its best talent in the aftermath of TakeOver: The End ahead of the split, as both Raw and SmackDown will look to compile a roster with significant depth as the company effectively splits in half.

Feuds against the likes of Bray Wyatt and The Wyatt Family immediately jump out as the best options for Balor, but right now, a farewell from NXT will be followed by his move to the main roster.

Samoa Joe

As for Samoa Joe, his future is more difficult to predict.

A stay in NXT seems inevitable given how he still holds the brand's biggest prize, but working out who his next opponent is and when he will move up to the main roster is more tricky.

To address the question of him moving to the main roster first, that does feel like it's still a while away.

There have been some big moves from NXT to the main roster in the last couple of months. First, there was the exodus just after WrestleMania 32, with guys like Sami Zayn and Apollo Crews making the switch.

The brand split will no doubt see another group move on, with stars like American Alpha, Balor and maybe even Bayley leaving NXT in the next few weeks.

So Joe has to stay and become the brand's flagship star, which raises the question of who his next competitor will be for the NXT Championship.

There are a few leading contenders, and the unannounced arrival of Bobby Roode during a segment with William Regal on TakeOver: The End hints that he could be set for a big role in the new-look NXT.

Austin Aries' defeat at TakeOver probably dropped him down too much to be pushed up into the role of NXT Championship contender, but the most likely candidate is his opponent at the event, Shinsuke Nakamura.

With his win over Aries, Nakamura continued his hot streak since joining WWE. The plan looks to be to build The King of Strong Style up into a realistic and credible challenger for the title, and it makes sense to have him and Joe collide.

It would be a real clash of styles, but the chemistry the two would generate inside an NXT ring could make an exceptional rivalry.

It could even become WWE's standout rivalry of the summer if given the proper airtime. Nakamura vs. Joe is likely where both men are headed over the next couple of months, and there's every opportunity the feud will throw up a Match of the Year contender along the way.