At the end of his successful NXT title defense at TakeOver 31, it was evident that Finn Bálor was banged up. The Prince was bleeding from the mouth, and his face looked swollen. A high knee from Kyle O’Reilly toward the end of the main event looked to have done the damage.
Triple H said after the show Bálor was headed to get x-rays, and there were reports that Finn called an audible to take the match home due to his injury or injuries.
Then we didn’t hear anything for a couple days. Until now...
Broken jaw in two places.
— Finn Bálor (@FinnBalor) October 7, 2020
Still the CHAMPION.
Full story tonight on @WWENXT @USA_Network @btsportwwe pic.twitter.com/9B3eheUFtP
The x-ray is the main thing, of course. It points to a month or two before Finn returns to getting forearmed or kneed in the face, or dropped on his head.
Defiantly declaring he’s still champion is also noteworthy, though. NXT’s last champion (Karrion Kross) vacated the belt due to separated shoulder just days after winning it, and the champ before that (Keith Lee) had a relatively short reign since he was on his way to Raw. Triple H & team probably feel like they can work around the weeks Bálor will need off to avoid another title run for Vacant. Finn’s tweener-ish character also gives them some narratively flexibility as to why his situation is different from Kross’ too... he could claim the contract he signed when he returned to the black-and-gold brand allows for more time between title defenses or some such.
That’s just this guy’s speculation however. We’ll find out how NXT plays it in a couple hours. Find out with us in our live blog.