Bengaluru, December 17: Buildups around NXT’s New Year's Evil has began from this week's NXT where the potential main event of the pay-per-view was announced along with many more matches.

Kyle O'Reilly will challenge WWE NXT Champion Finn Balor on that night for the latter's title. It will mark Balor’s title defense after a gap of more than a couple of months.

The title match was made official on the latest weekly episode of NXT having a solid number-one contender's match. O'Reilly defeated Pete Dunne in that match to secure the challenger's spot to the reigning WWE NXT Champion Finn Balor.

O'Reilly blocked a Bitter End from Dunne and hit him back with a suplex from the apron to the floor. Dunne was put back at the ringside in a way where he was draped over the bottom rope with his face down to the mat. O'Reilly headed to the top ropes and nailed a flying knee drop to smash Dunne's head. O'Reilly covered to get the pinfall win.

Afterward, WWE confirmed Dunne vs. Balor with the NXT title on the line for the first NXT episode of 2021, which is being introduced as NXT New Year's Evil. It will be a rematch from the "TakeOver: 31" event on October 4, where Balor retained in a 30-minute lengthy spectacular main event match.

Another match featuring the former NXT Champion has been booked for the New Year's Evil edition. Karrion Kross will compete against Damian Priest in a one-on-one encounter.



Last week, Kross returned from an injury after almost five months to immediately pick up a feud with Priest. He attacked the former NXT North American Champion and put him on the shelf, temporarily. Kross made his in-ring return, this week, getting an easy win over Desmond Troy in a singles contest. Once the match was over, Kross sent a warning to Priest by looking into the camera where he was seen mouthing "your a** is mine."

The host for NXT New Year's Evil has also been named. Dexter Lumis will be the presenter of that episode. The announcement came after Lumis made appearances on this week’s episode from time-to-time. WWE is likely to use him just like Shotzi Blackheart's act as the Halloween Havoc host back in October.



Lumis disclosed the NXT New Year's Evil logo on a platform inside the Capitol Wrestling Center while the head of NXT, Triple H also announced, with a tweet that Ghostmane's "Lazaretto" single will be the official theme song for the show that is coming within three weeks of time.

WWE previously used to host the gimmick-based show named New Year's Revolution back in the Ruthless Aggression Era that is being rechristened as NXT New Year's Evil, airing, live on the USA Network on Wednesday, January 6 from the Capitol Wrestling Center at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. The current match card for the show is given below.

• Host: Dexter Lumis

• NXT Title Match: Kyle O'Reilly vs. Finn Balor (c)

• Karrion Kross with Scarlett vs. Damian Priest