February 15 (UPI) – NXT Tournament Finn Balor defended his title against Pete Dunne in the WWE NXT main event TakeOver: Vengeance Day.
Balor and Dunne had a very competitive and physical game on Sunday as the two Raiders pushed themselves to the bottom.
Dunne focused on Balor’s left hand by knotting and bending at his fingers. Balor’s strategy involved targeting Dunne’s left leg.
Balor went to the high rope to deliver the Coup de Grace, but Dunne grabbed the champion after he landed and grabbed a choke triangle. Dunne eventually made his finisher the Bitter End, but Balor was able to survive and fight against DDT.
Balor removed Dunne’s mouth guard and confronted him with a dropkick. Balor landed with the Coup de Grace and followed up with the 1916 to win the game and stay as an NXT Champion.
Dunne’s friends, Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch’s NXT Tag Team Tournaments, went down to the ring after that and attacked Balor together.
Former Balor rival Kyle O’Reilly and his Undisputed Era partners Adam Cole and Roderick Strong came to the rescue to fight Lorcan, Burch and Dunne. O’Reilly helped Balor to his feet and congratulated him on successfully defending his title.
Cole, in a horrific turn of events, then brought Superkick to Balor. Cole continued that with Superkicking O’Reilly, possibly marking the end of the Age of Independence. He stood strong in the ring looking non-stop.
Also at WWE NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day, NXT Women’s Champion Io Shirai defended her title in a Triple Danger match against Toni Storm and Mercedes Martinez.
Shirai was immediately attacked by a Martinez who was not waiting for everyone’s inclusion when the match started.
Shirai lived up to the nickname as The Genius of the Sky at the time of the blow by climbing a scaffolding beside the ring to launch herself at Martinez and Storm.
Storm, back in the ring, brought Storm Zero on Martinez but it wasn’t enough. Storm then made a Headbutt with a high rope but Shirai blocked Storm’s pinning attempt with Moonsault. Shirai was then able to pin Martinez to host the NXT Women’s Championship.
The classic Dusty Rhodes Men and Women Tag Team tournaments ended with two finals.
Raquel Gonzalez and Dakota Kai defeated Shotzi Blackheart and Ember Moon to become the all-time winners for the inaugural Dusty Rhodes Tag Women’s Classic Tag Team competition. MSK’s newcomers have been able to defeat the Grizzled Veterans on the men’s side.
Both winning teams received a major prize.
Also on WWE NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day, Johnny Gargano won his North American Championship against Kushida.