Karrion Kross is still your NXT champion

With talk of Finn Balor moving to the main roster swirling, he was finally given a rematch with Karrion Kross for the title he lost to him at the NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver event back on April 8. Balor took some time off after that defeat before returning with a vengeance and finding himself in yet another main event title match on this week’s episode of NXT TV.

A win would have made Balor the first ever three time champion in the history of NXT, to go along with a 35-8 match record on the black and gold brand.

34-9 it is.

Indeed, despite a valiant effort, Balor simply wasn’t enough, as every time he mounted any kind of offense, Kross simply hulked up and worked his way out of it. That included one hell of a false finish, when Balor had a triangle locked in and the referee was juuuuust about to call it when Kross didn’t appear to respond to an arm check. Except he came alive just as the ref started to signal to end it, physically holding the official and keeping him from calling it.

It wasn’t long until he was returning the favor, only Balor actually did get choked out.

Now, Kross awaits the winner of the triple threat number one contender match scheduled for NXT TV next week, featuring Pete Dunne vs. Kyle O’Reilly vs. Johnny Gargano. Whomever wins that match will advance to NXT TakeOver: In Your House on June 13.

Get complete NXT TV results and coverage of this week’s show right here.