text: On the November 4, 2015 episode of NXT, Joe turned on Finn Bálor by attacking him after a match against Apollo Crews. In December 2015 at NXT TakeOver: London, Joe unsuccessfully challenged Bálor for the NXT Championship. Writing for the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Kyle Johnson described Joe as "leaner, focused, motivated, and completely revitalized [...] as hungry as he had been in 2003-05 when he was still making his name in Ring of Honor and TNA." After defeating Sami Zayn in a two out of three falls match to become the number one contender on the March 9 episode of NXT, Joe challenged Bálor once again at NXT TakeOver: Dallas in April 2016, losing after suffering a large laceration to his right cheek minutes into the match. Later that month at a NXT live event in Lowell, Massachusetts, Joe finally defeated Bálor to win the NXT Championship. In his first title defense, Joe defeated Bálor in a steel cage match in June 2016 at NXT TakeOver: The End, marking the end of their feud.
  Joe then engaged in a feud with Shinsuke Nakamura, who defeated him in a title match on August 20 at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn II, ending his reign at 121 days. During the match, Joe suffered a legitimate dislocated jaw. On November 19 at NXT TakeOver: Toronto, Joe defeated Nakamura in a rematch to win back the title. However, he lost the title back to Nakamura on December 3, 2016, in Osaka, Japan, ending his second reign at 14 days. Joe's feud with Nakamura ended on December 8, 2016, in Melbourne, Australia when Nakamura successfully defended the NXT Championship against Joe in a steel cage match.
  World championship pursuits (2017–2019)
  Joe debuted on WWE's main roster on the January 30, 2017 episode of Raw, attacking Seth Rollins and aligning himself with Triple H. The following week on Raw, he defeated Roman Reigns after a distraction by Braun Strowman. At Fastlane in March 2017, Joe defeated Sami Zayn by technical submission. At Payback in April 2017, Joe lost to Seth Rollins; he retaliated by costing Rollins a match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship on Raw the following night.