NXT TakeOver 31 results: Finn Balor and Io Shirai retain titles

NXT TakeOver came to fans from the Capital Wrestling Center in front of a live audience with four titles on the line.

NXT TakeOver may not have come with a lot of build before the show, but there was still a lot of anticipation heading into the card. Four titles were on the line and other important grudge matches were expected to occur from the specialized Capital Wrestling Center on the WWE Network.

The NXT North American title was up for grabs first, with Damian Priest defending his belt against former, multiple-time champion Johnny Gargarno. Priest attempted to use his power early to overwhelm the former champion, which looked like it would work.

Gargano would find the advantage when he started attacking Priest’s legs after pulling him off of the ring apron. Priest took over and was rolling, but didn’t do enough to put Gargano away. They would end up fighting outside the ring where Priest would hit the Razor’s Edge on Gargano on the ring apron. Gargano continued to counter and battle back, attempting to become the first ever two-time NXT North American champion.

That would not happen as Priest countered the One Final Beat, into the Reckoning to pin Gargano and keep his title.

Kushida didn’t wait until Velveteen Dream was done with his ring entrance, jumping his opponent from behind to get things started. Kushida used that opening to ground Dream with his grappling skills, but Dream was eventually able to get going with his own offense. It ended up to both men standing in the middle of the ring slugging each other back and forth.

Things got extremely vicious when Kushida started attacking Dream’s arm, slamming it into the ring posts and smashing it with the steel steps. Dream would not quit fighting back, hitting the Dream Valley Driver and the Purple Rainmaker but could not pin Kushida. The end came when Kushida locked in an avalanche Hoverboard Lock, but would not let go of the hold even after Dream caught him for another Dream Valley Driver. Kushida kept the move in place to force the submission.

The cruiserweight title was up for grabs in the next match. Santos Escobar and Isiah Scott are 1-1 heading into this match and the title was on the line in their third meeting. Escobar may be trying to build respect for Lucha libre, but Scott is well versed in that style. Scott took to the air frequently to start this match and it looked like he was beating Escobar at his own game. Scott even slowed the match down with some grappling techniques to show he can put on a show there as well.

Escobar wasn’t going away without a fight. He slowed the match down, taking control and talking smack to Swerve while doing so. But that would only fire Scott up into a second run that saw him almost defeat the champion. The rest of Legado del Fantasma hit the ring to provide a distraction for the champion. Scott brought his own backup to run off the others, leaving Scott and Escobar in the ring alone. Scott landed the House Call and a 450 splash but Escobar would not stay down, kicking out of the pin again.

The finish came when Scott hit his head on the ring post and was put away with Escobar’s finisher to keep the title around his waist.

Candice LeRae was looking for an opportunity to take the NXT women’s championship from Io Shirai at NXT TakeOver 31. LeRae and Shirai are very familiar with each other and that showed through the early portions of this match. LeRae slowed down the pace to keep Shirai grounded, punishing her with stomps in the corner and other dirty tactics.

Shirai got control of the match, fighting back from underneath, but LeRae would not let her get any space to get the victory. LeRae accidentally hit the referee who was jettisoned from the ring soon after. LeRae hit the Wicked Stepsister but there wasn’t a referee in the ring. Gargano ran down to the ring with a referee’s shirt on but still, Shirai kicked out again.

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LeRae even tried to use the title on Shirai while Gargano distracted the referee, but that wasn’t enough to get the win either. But what did occur is that Shirai hit a Spanish Fly from the top and immediately followed up with the Moonsault to keep the belt and get the win.

The main event of the evening featured Finn Balor against Kyle O’Reilly in a one-on-one match. O’Reilly took the match to the ground early, keeping Balor on the mat, attacking his limbs with strikes and submission holds. Not only did O’Reilly show that he had the advantage there, but he was also controlling much of the action when both men were on the feet as well.

Balor landed a nasty kick to O’Reilly’s ribs that knocked the challenger off his feet and changed the tone of the match. Balor continued to attack O’Reilly’s midsection but nothing would put the challenger away. Balor would even hit the 1916, but even then he could not get a pinfall. O’Reilly continued to attack the champion’s knee, but Balor fought out of every position, refusing to tap out.

Balor eventually laid O’Reilly down with his patented combo of the push drop kick into the Double Stomp from the top to get the victory and keep his title.

NXT TakeOver 31 results

• Damian Priest defeated Johnny Gargano via pin fall
• Kushida defeated Velveteen Dream via submission
• Santos Escobar defeated Isiah Scott via pin fall
• Io Shirai defeated Candice LeRae via pin fall
• Finn Balor defeated Kyle O’Reilly via pin fall