Finn Balor Beats Pete Dunne, Retains NXT Title at TakeOver: Vengeance Day

Finn Balor defeated Pete Dunne at NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day on Sunday to retain the NXT Championship.

Not surprisingly, Dunne targeted Balor’s hands throughout the match, and the champion’s fingers were so mangled by the end he was unable to hold the belt to place it around his own waist.

Unfortunately for Dunne, Balor still had full use of his lethal feet. After removing the challenger’s mouthpiece, he connected with a running dropkick and followed up with Coup de Grace. Wanting to leave nothing to chance, he connected with 1916 as well to keep Dunne down for the three count. 

The seeds were planted for a rivalry between Balor and Dunne in December when Balor returned from a broken jaw suffered during his successful title defense against Kyle O’Reilly at NXT TakeOver 31.

Balor was confronted by O’Reilly, Dunne, Damian Priest and Scarlett on behalf of Karrion Kross as all of them made it clear that they wanted a shot at the NXT Championship.

That led to a No. 1 contender’s match between O’Reilly and Dunne, which O’Reilly won, setting up a rematch against Balor on the Jan. 6 New Year’s Evil edition of NXT. Balor won the match and retained the title, which put Dunne next in line for an opportunity.

At the conclusion of a recent episode of NXT, the trio of Dunne, Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch was about to attack Balor, but Undisputed Era came to his aid.

Balor was booked in a tag team match against Lorcan and Burch, and he chose O’Reilly as his opponent. Dunne attempted to interfere, but Balor and O’Reilly still managed to pull off the victory.

After Balor vs. Dunne was made official for NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day, they had an in-ring promo to hype up their impending match.

Edge, who won the 2021 men’s Royal Rumble match, then arrived on the scene and told both Balor and Dunne he was intrigued by the NXT Championship and would consider facing the winner of their match at WrestleMania 37.

While Edge is far more likely to face Universal champion Roman Reigns or WWE champion Drew McIntyre on The Grandest Stage of Them All, his statement added even higher stakes to Sunday’s bout.

Adding more to the intrigue was the fact that Balor and Dunne had never wrestled before Sunday, meaning it was a match many fans have wanted to see for a long time.

With Balor retaining over Dunne, the stage may be set for a Balor vs. Karrion Kross rivalry as Kross has spoken openly about his desire to regain the NXT title he was forced to relinquish due to injury.

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