Finn Balor became the new NXT Champion on Tuesday, defeating Adam Cole to win the vacant title.
Balor was in this position due to Karrion Kross, who won the title at NXT TakeOver XXX from Keith Lee, having to vacate the title due to a shoulder injury. Balor knows something about winning a title for the first time and immediately having to vacate it due to a shoulder injury as he was in the same position when he won the WWE Universal Title at SummerSlam 2016, but vacated it the following night due to an injury.
"When I heard the news about what happened to Karrion Kross, I had so much sympathy for his situation," Balor told Scott Fishman of TV Insider. "It was almost an identical scenario we’ve been through. We’ve had conversations and discussed how it will affect you and can affect you. I’ve shown you can come back. I think a lot of people think giving up the title is the hardest part. That’s not necessarily the fact because at that point when you’re hurt and can’t perform, the focus is on getting healthy. The hardest part for me was when you get healthy and all the doctors tell you you’re cleared. There is the self-doubt of thinking, 'Am I good enough now? Can I still perform? Will I be as good as I used to be? Will the people want to see me?' There are all these internal questions you ask yourself when you’re about to come back. That was the hardest moment for me. We’ve discussed that. He has to learn from this experience and come back stronger than ever and better than ever and more mentally focused. As the NXT champion, that’s the match I want. I was in his situation where I had to relinquish the title and wanted a match. He should want this match. I want him to have this match. I feel he needs to beat me to reclaim his championship. I need to beat him to claim that I am the champ. That’s the match we need to get to."
It is unknown how long Kross will be out of action for due to his shoulder injury. Following the injury, he said he didn't believe he would miss much time. You can find his full comments regarding his injury by clicking here.
