Finn Bálor is a well-respect wrestler who is now in his 40s. For some reason though, it still feels like Bálor is yet to have the appropriate accomplishments to his name – at least in the WWE. Within the WWE, Bálor was the inaugural WWE Universal Champion. He has also held the WWE’s NXT Championship a record-tying two times and is a two-time WWE Intercontinental Champion. Seems quite impressive but one could argue that Bálor deserves all that and more.
Bálor became popular during his NJPW tenure (as Prince Devitt) and his accomplishments within the promotion are extensive – not to mention that he is the founder of the notorious Bullet Club stable. In 2014, it was reported that the revamped NXT had signed the Irish wrestler. Devitt would make his debut and be known as Finn Bálor – an appropriate homage to Irish mythology. Less than a year after his debut, he captured the NXT Championship and his reign was the longest in the title’s history. His reign ended after 292 days, and his record has since been broken by Adam Cole.
In 2016, Bálor was drafted to the Raw brand as the 5th overall pick in that year’s draft. He very quickly found himself in the SummerSlam match-up against Seth Rollins for the brand new Universal Championship. He won that title, and consequentially became the first ever Universal Champion, but was forced to relinquish the title just a day later due to injury. That injury saw a massive decrease in The Demon’s momentum and, even after his return, he wasn’t quite that big a deal anymore.
The back-end of 2019 saw Bálor make his return to the black & gold brand. His second stint at NXT also allowed Balor to recapture the NXT Championship and create a bit of a resurgence in his career. He eventually dropped the title and just recently made his return to the main roster. The return of live crowds also saw Bálor make his comeback – this time, to the blue brand. He attacked Sami Zayn, which looked like a typical mid-card feud brewing but then actually challenged current Universal Champion Roman Reigns to a title match at SummerSlam. Surprisingly, the Tribal Chief accepted this challenge. At the July 30th episode of SmackDown, a contract signing between the two was scheduled. Baron Corbin got involved and took Bálor out before he signed the contract – allowing John Cena to take his place instead. At SummerSlam, Roman Reigns will now be defending the Universal Championship against his initial challenger in John Cena.
Looking at the Reigns/Cena feud, that was a brilliant way to set-up the match between the pair but where does this leave Bálor? There was always a general belief that Cena would be the one to challenge Reigns at the hottest party of the summer but Bálor’s inclusion in the storyline made things seem a bit unpredictable. There even started being speculation that maybe the match would be set up to be a triple threat. Now, WWE are promoting Reigns/Cena as the match set for the event. Cards are subject to change, however, it’s unlikely Bálor will be added to this match.
For many Bálor fans, there’s the fear of The Demon finding himself on the mid-card – or even the lower card. That’s not a bad place to be but it just feels like Bálor, with all his experience and accomplishments in the entire wrestling industry, deserves more. As fans, we can only hope that, even at mid-card, Bálor manages to shine and put on display his impressive wrestling ability.
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