Finn Balor overcame Kevin Owens in a brutal ladder match at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn to retain the NXT Championship
With a big match awaiting, Kevin Owens came to the ring where he would soon compete to try and recapture the NXT Championship fired up. However, that fire was diminished by a huge appearance by the Demon persona of the champ, Finn Balor:
#TheDemon has arrived in Brooklyn! @WWEBalor #NXTTakeOver http://t.co/UrQZrBGll6
— WWE (@WWE) August 23, 2015
Owens tried to assert his dominance early, but Balor was having none of that and began taking it to Owens with his quickness. However, a big elbow from Owens to Finn changed the momentum in favor of the challenger.
Balor couldn’t be stifled for long, eventually taking the fight to the entrance ramp and involving a ladder for the first time. That ultimately didn’t work in his favor, though, as Owens turned it on Balor and began delivering a beatdown:
The ladder comes into play courtesy of @FightOwensFight... #NXTTakeOver #BalorvsOwens #LadderMatch pic.twitter.com/M3URMW1CKK
— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) August 23, 2015
The beatdown included this instance of Owens being a perfect heel:
Balor tried to fight back as the brawling continued outside the ring, but Owens was too vicious. He sent Balor over the announce table and then clocked the champ with the covering. However, as Owens searched for another ladder, Balor reappeared to deliver a devastating dropkick:
#TheDemon @wwebalor comes out of nowhere to turn the tide on @FightOwensFight! #NXTTakeOver #BalorvsOwens pic.twitter.com/gOgEGW91Zj
— WWE (@WWE) August 23, 2015
The Demon got into the ring with the ladder, but Owens tried to stop him from going any further as he grabbed the foot of the ladder from the outside. That led to Balor going aerial and hitting Owens with a dive to the floor.
The champ looked to climb the ladder to grab his title after that, but Owens came in and started a back-and-forth affair in the ring with two ladders being involved. Owens was able to come out on top of that action, then taking to a brutal assault on Balor, including a big senton to Balor who was laid out on a ladder:
Finn wasn’t done fighting back, though, even mounting another attempt to try and climb the ladder. After that was unsuccessful, Owens got Balor seated up against a ladder. Owens went for the Cannonball, but Balor moved and was able to then hit the Coup de Grace on a stunned Owens:
The champ again tried to climb the ladder for his belt, but Owens recovered quickly and then delivered an unreal Pop-Up Powerbomb off of the ladder that hurt both men:
Owens himself tried to climb for the title, but Balor was able to get the strength to push the ladder down. As Balor was again alone in the ring and Owens on the outside, Balor elected to incapacitate Owens further. That plan backfired, though, when Owens hit him with a Powerbomb, this one with his signature of it being on the apron:
Balor again tried to stop Owens from grabbing the title, but the brutal Owens was ready and instead unleashed a relentless assault on the champ. That culminated with Owens setting up one ladder between the ropes and a stood-up ladder and teasing a spot reminiscent of his Ladder Wars days on the independent wrestling scene. However, Balor was able to counter and knock Owens onto the ladder:
Finn Balor was left atop the ladder, but just out of reach of the title. As a result, he chose to hit a huge Coup de Grace off the top of the ladder:
That ultimately proved to be the right decision as Balor was then able to get up the ladder and grab his championship, successfully defending it in a classic against Owens.