Finn Balor Beats Matt Riddle at WWE NXT TakeOver: WarGames 2019

In his first televised NXT match since 2016, Finn Balor defeated Matt Riddle at NXT TakeOver: WarGames on Saturday night.

The finish saw Balor escape the Bromission, set up The King of Bros for the 1916 and get the clean pin in the middle of the ring.

Balor made his surprise return to NXT several weeks ago after taking some time off following a loss to "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt at SummerSlam. It initially looked as though Balor would be a babyface and join the likes of Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano in their fight against Undisputed Era.

Just when it seemed like Balor was about to back up Ciampa and Gargano during a standoff with Undisputed Era, though, he struck Gargano with a Pele Kick and proceeded to beat and batter Johnny Wrestling around the ringside area.

Balor subsequently cut promos about how he was disappointed in what NXT and its fans had become. He noted that he was back to be the top guy on the black-and-yellow brand, just like he was a few years ago prior to his call-up to Raw.

Most were expecting a grudge match between Balor and Gargano at NXT TakeOver: WarGames, but a neck injury sidelined Gargano and forced NXT's decision-makers to temporarily go in a different direction.

On last week's episode of NXT, Balor called out Riddle during his promo since he attacked Riddle the previous week during a six-man tag team match pitting Ciampa, Riddle and Keith Lee against The O.C.

Balor and Riddle brawled last week, which led to NXT general manager William Regal pulling Riddle from the men's WarGames match and replacing him with Dominik Dijakovic so the former UFC star could face Balor in a singles match instead.

There was plenty of intrigue surrounding the match since it was their first-ever meeting and because of the fact that Balor has teased joining multiple factions since returning to NXT.

Balor responded positively to both Undisputed Era and The O.C. at different points, which left open the possibility that one of those factions could interfere in the match against Riddle.

There is little doubt that Balor needed a strong performance at TakeOver in order to re-establish himself as one of the faces of the brand, but Riddle also needed to shine since he had lost some big matches recently, including an NXT Championship bout against Adam Cole.

Balor's win suggests he is on the fast track to the top of NXT, while Riddle must now regroup and work his way back up the ladder.

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