10 Recent Star-Making Wrestling Performances Nobody Saw Coming
3. Kyle O'Reilly Breaks The Prince's Jaw Vs. Finn Bálor
At a time when many had started to question whether NXT's ability to create future stars was on the wane, one thrown together Gauntlet Elimination match suggested otherwise.
Outlasting other future stars such as Cameron Grimes, Bronson Reed, Kushida and Timothy Thatcher, none other than Undisputed Era's Kyle O'Reilly scored himself an NXT Championship date at TakeOver: 31 with Finn Bálor.
Even with just a solitary week's worth of build, this contest immediately felt special and, after a rather intense sit-down face-to-face, O'Reilly suddenly went from tag team specialist to a singles performer capable of toppling the newly crowned Prince in the eyes of the NXT faithful.
Delivering on this set-up and then some, O'Reilly successfully beat the living piss out of a star he'd been chasing for years. But he wouldn't escape unscathed, carrying a debilitating liver injury throughout much of a match he would ultimately lose.
It was this ability to fight through the pain, though coupled with a demonstration of his top of the card calibre in-ring skill-set, which helped mark O'Reilly out as a serious potential superstar at the most recent TakeOver event.
The question is: Was this simply a one-off dance in the spotlight? Or will O'Reilly continue his unanticipated quest to truly become Undisputed?