11 Biggest Untelevised WWE Matches
Latino Heat and The Deadman only went one-on-one when the cameras weren't rolling.
Just when you thought that untelevised WWE events were pointless, along comes NXT with a result that absolutely nobody saw coming.
At a seemingly innocuous house show in Lowell, Massachusetts Samoa Joe won the NXT Championship, pinning Finn Balor clean in the middle of the ring.
This was an unprecedented move by WWE's developmental brand. We're forever seeing the smaller championships change hands at untelevised events before finding their way back to the original champ before the next television taping, but for one of the bigger world titles in the wrestling world to find a new owner away from the cameras is completely foreign to this generation - that last time it happened was when Diesel defeated Bob Backlund For The WWF Championship in 1994.
That being said, don't think that house shows and untelevised events are barren when it comes to big matches that we simply won't care about. Heck, we've just had Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn at a WrestleMania Revenge Tour show in Newcastle a few short nights ago
After all, if you don't have a couple of big names/meaningful matches on the card, who is going to pay their hard earned cash to come see your show?
However, there were those times when WWE showcased matches on house shows and after shows as dark matches that simply deserved better. The following matches wouldn't have looked out of place on a WrestleMania card yet they only took place when no cameras were rolling.
11. Shinsuke Nakamura Vs. Samoa Joe - NXT Live Event 15.4.16
I know this one is destined to happen in the not-too-distant future, but the fact remains that Shinsuke Nakamura and Samoa Joe's first meeting in a WWE ring took place when the cameras weren't rolling.
The pair faced off at a house show in Orlando not so long ago. Obviously the thinking behind this would be to fine tune any issues the pair had while working together before their first televised match, but I can't be the only one who would have preferred to see their first meeting at a NXT TakeOver special.
Seeing their first interactions in a WWE ring through a grainy YouTube video just might have taken the shine off what will be a stunning spectacle when the pair meet.
For those of you that are interested, Nakamura got the win after hitting Joe with a Kinshasa.
Maybe now Joe's champion, Shinsuke will be his first challenger. There's very little else to choose from on the roster that will captivate the NXT Universe.