Finn Bálor is the New NXT Champion

NXT superstar Finn Bálor is the new NXT Champion after defeating former NXT Champion Kevin Owens on July 4. Bálor, real name Fergal Devitt, won his first title in WWE during the July 4 WWE Network “Beast in the East” special event in Tokyo, Japan.

It was previously reported that Devitt would be facing one of his boy-hood idols, Chris Jericho, at the WWE Live Event in Tokyo. However, this was changed when Owens was moved onto WWE’s main roster, and the company wanted to have him drop the NXT title to someone during a WWE Network special.

Owens is in the middle of a heated program with John Cena over the United States Championship, where the two will fight for the third time (first time for the US strap) at WWE “Battleground” on July 19. It’s believed that WWE executives wanted Owens to go into the “Battleground” match having lost the NXT Championship, giving him a fire that propels him over Cena, crowning him the new US Champion.

This meant Owens had to lose the NXT strap to someone on the NXT roster, and with both Hideo Itami and Sami Zayn out with shoulder injuries, Devitt was next in line. Devitt as Finn Bálor earned the No. 1 Contender spot after defeating Tyler Breeze at the “NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable” event in May.

It is unclear as to who will play heel to Bálor’s babyface champion character moving forward, but that question should be answered soon during “NXT” television tapings.

Editor’s Note:

Devitt spent eight years in Japan honing his craft before arriving to WWE, so his title win happening in Tokyo was a big deal. Congratulations to the Demon King Bálor!