NXT Champion Finn Balor undergoes surgery for broken jaw

By Joseph Currier
Published: 12 Oct 2020, 18:20

NXT Champion Finn Balor has undergone surgery following the injury he suffered at TakeOver 31.

Balor announced on social media today that he underwent successful surgery last Friday after suffering a broken jaw at TakeOver on October 4. “Recovering from a successful surgery with @dr.anuppatel, @dr.edgarsosa and nurse @verolaguera,” Balor wrote. “Last Friday, i underwent surgery for 2 fractures of my jaw, including one going into my tooth. After the tooth was removed, I was wired shut to restore my bite and help align the fractures. Then 3 plates where screwed in to fixate the fractures for a quick recovery. Thankfully no wires were needed after surgery!”

Balor retained his NXT Championship by defeating Kyle O’Reilly in the main event of NXT TakeOver 31. It was noted after the show that Balor was on his way to the hospital to have his jaw X-rayed. Last Wednesday, Balor gave an update and revealed that he suffered a broken jaw in two places. Balor also wrote that he’s still NXT Champion.

A Prime Target epilogue aired on NXT last week recapping Balor and O’Reilly’s match from TakeOver. The video ended with Balor saying that — if anyone questioned whether this NXT Championship reign would be as good as his last — they just got their answer.

Balor has been NXT Champion since defeating Adam Cole for the then-vacant title at NXT Super Tuesday II last month.

Dave Meltzer wrote about the Balor vs. O’Reilly match in last week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter:

The Finn Balor title defense over Kyle O’Reilly was one of WWE’s better matches of the year. It was a strong technical match, in many ways with everything snug and basic. The match was actually similar to O’Reilly’s Best of the Super Juniors final match a few years ago with Kushida. But most of the stuff was basic and everything looked good. The match went 28:31 and was actually cut short by Balor when he got his jaw broken in two places and called for the finish. They had several more minutes to go at the time. Both ended up hurt. O’Reilly was said to be fine but wasn’t cleared for TV and nobody listed an injury. At one point there was a story that he had teeth jammed but he was bleeding from the mouth for the last several minutes of the match. Balor was bleeding a lot from the mouth when he called for the finish.