Finn Balor is back, but we’re not sure where he’s going on Monday Night Raw.
The roster is loaded with great storylines. Seth Rollins continues his war on Triple H by targeting Samoa Joe. Dean Ambrose and The Miz renew their rivalry for the WWE Intercontinental Championship. The Hardy Boyz will defend their tag team titles against Sheamus and Cesaro. Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman are having a high-card feud for dominating supremacy.
Where does that leave Finn Balor? He’s just picking up victories over Jinder Mahal and Curt Hawkins. Both are talented, but they’re not near the level of opponents that Balor has beaten in the past.
He’s taken the NXT title from Kevin Owens and defended it from the likes of Samoa Joe. He became the inaugural Universal Champion when he beat Rollins at last year’s SummerSlam. He shortly vacated that title after suffering a torn labrum and sat out the rest of 2016.
There are many directions Balor can go. Perhaps he can reunite with his Bullet Club buddies in Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows.
That’s not the case. Balor teamed up with Rollins and Big Cass on Raw to take on Gallows, Anderson and Joe. The impromptu team proved to be victorious, and it was pretty clear there won’t be a Bullet Club 2.0 anytime soon.
According to The Inquistr (via Wrestling Observer Radio), Balor’s next big feud could be with Bray Wyatt. That actually makes sense, considering both have a flair for the supernatural. Balor’s demon persona taking on the deranged Wyatt character is exactly what both men need.
The report doesn’t stop there. Balor is owed a rematch for his Universal title. He would most likely take on Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam. It would be quite the magnitude to book the bout between Balor and Lesnar.
However, caution must be thrown to the wind in this potential bout.
Balor has suffered various injuries since his time in WWE, most recently suffering a concussion against Mahal. Lesnar is known to work a high-octane, physical bout when he cares.
Case in point comes with Lesnar’s last world title victory over John Cena at SummerSlam 2014. Lesnar hit 16 German Suplexes on Cena and an F-5 to obtain the title.
Cena allegedly wasn’t supposed to be in that match. According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer, that was supposed to be Daniel Bryan.
Bryan was the world champion after WrestleMania 30 but had to vacate due to neck surgery. He wanted to battle Lesnar, and so did WWE officials. Lesnar was supposed to give Bryan the beat down instead of Cena, but plans changed.
This brings us to the concern for Balor and rightfully so. He’s suffered two major injuries since he first appeared on the main roster. We’re not even counting his ankle injury he suffered during his reign as NXT champion.
Lesnar is also the type of guy that can legitimately hurt people if he wanted. Just ask Randy Orton from last year’s SummerSlam confrontation.
The potential SummerSlam bout (if true) between Finn Balor and Brock Lesnar would indeed be a massive encounter in terms of style and money. However, it only works if Balor is healthy and if Lesnar is game for the summer.
We’ll have to wait and see if this comes to fruition. Because as we all know, plans change.
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Sebastian Maldonado
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