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WWE News: Sami Zayn Wrestles Dark Match In London, Returns To NXT TV Next Week

By Dustin Murrell
Published on: 15:58 PST, Dec 16, 2015

WWE’s most recent NXT special — NXT TakeOver: London — aired live on Wednesday from the SSE Arena. With no title changes or extremely controversial endings, perhaps the biggest takeaway from the event was something that didn’t even air on the WWE Network. After a seven-month absense from in-ring competition, Sami Zayn returned to wrestle a dark match for the hot crowd in the U.K. A video that did air during TakeOver: London made the official announcement that Zayn would be returning to NXT television next week.

Airing midway through Wednesday’s event, the 90-second video begins with Zayn explaining what motivates him as a NXT Superstar. Highlights were shown of his NXT debut match, where he upset Cesaro. It also showed clips of his NXT Championship victory over Bo Dallas, the peak of his career. It then showed highlights of his match with John Cena, the betrayal of Kevin Owens, and footage of Sami in the hospital. The video ends with the message that Sami Zayn returns to NXT next week.

As reported by Wrestle Zone, Sami Zayn officially returned to in-ring action as he competed in a dark match after TakeOver went off the air. Later, Zayn would tape his match that will air on the WWE Network next week as part of NXT’s regularly scheduled programming.

The news of Zayn’s return spread quickly, as many fans in attendance posted videos to Twitter, capturing both his speech to the London crowd and some of the action from his dark match.

As verified by Bleacher Report, there were five matches that aired at WWE NXT TakeOver: London. All three of NXT’s championship titles were on the line, supplemented with two highly-anticipated grudge matches.

  • Triple H was in the ring as NXT TakeOver: London began. He gave one of his regular NXT promos, where he talks about how amazing the NXT product is, how great the NXT talent are, and how great the NXT Universe is.
  • In the opening match, Asuka defeated Emma. Dana Brooke accompanied Emma to the ring, but the referee made her leave ringside after she interfered with the match.
  • NXT Tag Team Champions Dash and Dawson successfully defended their titles against Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady.
  • Baron Corbin earned a clean victory over Apollo Crews, a win that will likely put him in position to challenge for the NXT Championship.
  • Crowd favorite Bayley successfully retained the NXT Women’s Championship when she defeated Nia Jax. No appearance by — or even a mention of — “All Red Everything” Eva Marie.
  • In the main event, Finn Balor was able to defeat Samoa Joe to keep the NXT Championship.

As the event aired live on the WWE Network, it actually exceeded the scheduled two-hour time slot by a few minutes.

WWE’s NXT TakeOver: London can be streamed on-demand with a subscription to the WWE Network. Sami Zayn’s return to NXT television will air next Wednesday, December 23, on the WWE Network. It will be available to stream on-demand the following day with a Hulu Plus membership.

[Image via Twitter]

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