Finn Balor Replaces Injured Travis Banks, Beats Jordan Devlin at NXT UK TakeOver

WWE Superstar Finn Balor emerged as a surprise replacement for Travis Banks at NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool on Saturday and beat his protege, Jordan Devlin, with a Coup de Grace.

Devlin attacked Banks prior to their scheduled match, which led to NXT UK general manager Johnny Saint and assistant Sid Scala introducing the Raw star as Devlin's new opponent.

The live crowd erupted when Balor's music hit, and their cheers filled Empress Ballroom.

NXT UK star Ligero tweeted about the reception the Irishman received:

As seen in the following tweet courtesy of NXT UK, Balor and Devlin had a tense staredown prior to the start of their match:

Both Balor and Devlin are Ireland natives, and Balor trained the 28-year-old Devlin when he first broke into the business.

After attacking Banks, Devlin got on the microphone and proclaimed himself the best Irish wrestler in the world, which set the stage perfectly for Balor.

While Devlin gave Balor everything he could handle, the WWE main roster veteran managed to emerge victorious in the tightly contested affair.

Although Devlin didn't pick up a win, showing his ability to hang with Balor could go a long way toward propelling him up the ranks on NXT UK moving forward.

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