As noted, Samoa Joe defeated Finn Balor at tonight’s WWE NXT live event in Lowell to become the new NXT Champion.
Prior to the finish of the match, Finn Balor went down with what appeared to be an ankle injury, and Samoa Joe hit the Muscle Buster for the win shortly after the injury took place.
Several fans have noted on social media that it looked like Balor was somewhat saying goodbye to NXT at tonight’s show, and his WWE main roster status has been widely speculated for quite sometime. While Balor’s main roster status has yet to be confirmed, there had been previous speculation that he would join Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows at some point.
WWE has released footage of Samoa Joe’s Title win tonight, and you can check it out below, along with a congratulatory Tweet from GM William Regal and a message from Finn Balor:
It was an honor #NXTLowell
— Finn Bálor (@wwebalor) April 22, 2016
Congratulations to the new @WWENXT champion @SamoaJoe.@wwebalor is a true warrior of the canvas wars and was an excellent champion.
— William Regal (@RealKingRegal) April 22, 2016