Samoa Joe, Finn Balor to Team in NXT Dusty Rhodes Classic Tag Team Tournament

It was announced at “NXT Takeover: Brooklyn” this past Saturday that a tag team tournament would be held in honor of the late “American Dream” Dusty Rhodes, who passed away at the age of 69 on June 11.

Matches will be held over the next several weeks of NXT programming, with the finals airing during the next “NXT Takeover” event on Oct. 7.

One of the early-round bouts (barring a change in format) took place during the “Smackdown” tapings on Tuesday night, with the surprising tandem of NXT Champion Finn Balor and “The Samoan Submission Machine” Samoa Joe picking up a victory over former NXT Tag Team Champions, The Lucha Dragons.

The match was taped between “Main Event” and “Smackdown.”

Stfu.. Balor and Joe are tagging together!!! #WWEProvidence pic.twitter.com/Bdl6wSgFg8

— Juan Rivera (@RiveraJ10) August 26, 2015

Balor & Samoa Joe vs. Lucha Dragons right now live in Providence! #WWE #wweprovidence #mainevent #Smackdown #NXT pic.twitter.com/jOWORqLmn8 — IntheCorner Podcast (@IntheCornerPod) August 26, 2015

Both stars emerged victorious at the “NXT Takeover: Brooklyn” special event, with Balor retaining his title in a Ladder match with Kevin Owens, while Joe picked up a hard-fought win over Baron Corbin.

The aforementioned tag team match will air on an upcoming episode of “NXT” on the WWE Network.