{"id":27673,"date":"2016-07-30T23:07:39","date_gmt":"2016-07-31T04:07:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=27673"},"modified":"2016-07-31T06:05:40","modified_gmt":"2016-07-31T11:05:40","slug":"finn-balors-official-nxt-send-off-saturday-night-houston","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2016\/07\/30\/finn-balors-official-nxt-send-off-saturday-night-houston\/","title":{"rendered":"Finn Balor&#8217;s official NXT send-off Saturday night in Houston"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-3668989599\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><p><strong>By James Caldwell, PWTorch assistant editor<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Former NXT champion Finn Balor wrestled his final NXT match Saturday night in Houston, Texas.<\/p>\n<p>Balor teamed with Shinsuke Nakamura to defeat NXT champion Samoa Joe and Bobby Roode in the tag team main event to complete his NXT run.<\/p>\n<p>Balor, who had a break-out week on the main WWE roster, now officially joins the Raw brand after wrapping up his advertised NXT commitments.<\/p>\n<p>Before the main event, Balor was emotional and embraced Nakamura while waiting for Joe and Roode to be introduced.<\/p>\n<p>The match was followed by a &#8220;graduation party&#8221; hosted by Bayley, who talked up Balor&#8217;s work as the leading star of the NXT brand over the past year.<\/p>\n<p>Balor was then joined by other &#8220;graduates&#8221; Mojo Rawley, Carmella, and Nia Jax. The only draftees missing were Alexa Bliss and American Alpha, who got a strong reaction when mentioned.<\/p>\n<p>Balor then closed out the show with a speech recognizing the wrestlers who were part of the NXT: Houston show, the audience, and head coach Matt Bloom, who came out from backstage to be recognized.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-3873434679\" class=\"pwtor-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>Now, Balor looks ahead to facing Seth Rollins for the first-ever WWE Universal Title at Summerslam on August 21 in Brooklyn, New York.<\/p>\n<p>This time last year, Balor headlined the first &#8220;NXT Takeover&#8221; special against Kevin Owens the night before Summerslam, which helped propel NXT to new heights selling out the same building as WWE&#8217;s second biggest PPV of the year.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Special night for NXT. Thank you <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/NXTHouston?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#NXTHouston<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Bayley (@itsBayleyWWE) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/itsBayleyWWE\/status\/759605971723231232?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 31, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">&#39;IF&#39; that was the last one.. It has been a beautiful 2 years. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/NXTHouston?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#NXTHouston<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/ThankYouNXT?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#ThankYouNXT<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/DvN7uNnbrc\">pic.twitter.com\/DvN7uNnbrc<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Finn B\u00e1lor (@FinnBalor) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FinnBalor\/status\/759611333629259776?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 31, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-27673 gallery-columns-5 gallery-size-thumbnail'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2016\/07\/30\/nxt-houston-photo-gallery-balor-nakamura-nxt-champ-joe-bayleys-graduation-party-live-crowd\/img_3448\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2016\/07\/IMG_3448-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2016\/07\/30\/nxt-houston-photo-gallery-balor-nakamura-nxt-champ-joe-bayleys-graduation-party-live-crowd\/img_3447\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2016\/07\/IMG_3447-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2016\/07\/30\/nxt-houston-photo-gallery-balor-nakamura-nxt-champ-joe-bayleys-graduation-party-live-crowd\/img_3446\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2016\/07\/IMG_3446-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2016\/07\/30\/nxt-houston-photo-gallery-balor-nakamura-nxt-champ-joe-bayleys-graduation-party-live-crowd\/img_3476\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2016\/07\/IMG_3476-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2016\/07\/30\/nxt-houston-photo-gallery-balor-nakamura-nxt-champ-joe-bayleys-graduation-party-live-crowd\/img_3475\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" 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height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2016\/07\/IMG_3466-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2016\/07\/30\/nxt-houston-photo-gallery-balor-nakamura-nxt-champ-joe-bayleys-graduation-party-live-crowd\/img_3474\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2016\/07\/IMG_3474-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-741147981\"><div id=\"pwtor-2199132470\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    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Balor teamed with Shinsuke Nakamura to defeat NXT champion Samoa Joe and Bobby Roode <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2016\/07\/30\/finn-balors-official-nxt-send-off-saturday-night-houston\/\" title=\"Finn Balor&#8217;s official NXT send-off Saturday night in Houston\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27674,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,3],"tags":[126,124,3548,71,123],"class_list":["post-27673","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news_nxt","category-news_wwe","tag-finn-balor","tag-nxt","tag-nxt-houston","tag-wwe","tag-wwe-nxt"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2016\/07\/NXTmic_3x2Houston.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27673"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27673\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27755,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27673\/revisions\/27755"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}