How I Would Book Finn Balor's WWE Return

Hello everyone and welcome back to Talk Wrestling World, I hope you are all well and good! Next weekend the WWE will host the two thousand and seventeen Royal Rumble pay per view and as this shapes up to be one of the most unpredictable and stacked Rumble matches in recent memory I can honestly say I cannot wait for this years show. There are so many different rumours and opinions in regards to who will be walking out this year's Royal Rumble winner from the Undertaker to Braun Strowman to even Goldberg and while I still haven't been able to pin point a winner I want to keep the conversation going and in today's blog post we're going to be focusing on one of the biggest talking points in Wrestling today, Finn Balor. Now, you will see in an up and coming blog post that Finn Balor is one of the men I really want to see make a shock return to the WWE during this year's Royal Rumble match. However, the chances of this happening remain slim. In today's blog post I'm going to be talking about how I would book Balor's Return in what will hopefully turn out to be a three-part series with three different suggestions. When reading this try and keep in mind that I worked really really hard on this blog post. I do like writing posts like these but they are so time-consuming and I definitely find them very stressful to take notes for and actually write. Saying that, I'm planning on writing loads more posts like this in the near future especially throughout February. As always any recent blog post will be linked bellow including my WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament review. Finally, you can let me know how you would book Balor's return by leaving a comment bellow or by tweeting me at @TezangiVictoria.

Two thousand and sixteen was originally shaping up to be one heck of a year for Finn Balor. After making history and becoming the longest reigning NXT Champion in history he would compete in some of the best matches NXT had to offer including bouts against Shinsuke Nakamura and Samoa Joe in what was one of the standout feuds of NXT. In the Summer he was finally called up to the main roster when he was one of the first draft picks for Monday Night RAW. Upon his arrival on the red brand, he would make a huge impact on his first night as expected. Picking up two straight victories one in a fatal four way and the other in a big main event against Roman Reigns which would see him go on to face Seth Rollins at the SummerSlam pay per view where the pair went head to head to become the first ever WWE Universal Champion. The match itself was one of the best of twenty sixteen. One that seems to have been forgotten about was actually a match I found myself completely invested in and genuinely excited to see who would walk out the victor and the brand new champion. After what was an epic battle between the two it was Balor who picked up that all important win and would make history becoming the first ever WWE Universal Champion. However, less than twenty-four hours later he announced on Monday night RAW that during that match he had suffered a shoulder injury which meant that he had no choice but to give up the title and take some time out of action to have surgery and recover from his injury. Six months later and Finn Balor is once again a huge talking point. Everyone has started to wonder exactly when he will make his much-anticipated return to the WWE and while it may still be a while before he is ready we all know the return is on its way and with the Royal Rumble pay per view coming up everyone is hoping for a surprise return. So let's take a look at how I would book Finn Balor's WWE Return.

Royal Rumble Pay Per View

The Royal Rumble match is one of the most unpredictable events in wrestling and it pretty much has always been that way and this year we look to have one of the most stacked and unpredictable Rumble matches in recent memory as touched on in the opening. With superstars such as Goldberg, Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, Brock Lesnar, Braun Strowman, Baron Corbin and the Undertaker all announced as entrants in this year's Rumble match everyone has their own opinions on who they believe should leave as this year's winner. Now, in my personal opinion I really do want to see the Undertaker take the win this year however, one of the biggest talking points over the past month or so has been Finn Balor and his much-anticipated return to the ring and with the Royal Rumble infamous for shock returns a majority of fans are hoping to see Balor added to the list of names that have made their shock return at the Royal Rumble pay per view. I understand that this is a long shot. Balor did suffer a serious injury and we now know that over time we learnt that there were more issues than originally led to believe however just take a look at Edge and John Cena for example, to huge names who made big shock returns much earlier than expected and with teasers coming in left right and centre many including myself do believe that the former NXT champion could surprise us all next weekend. While I do plan on sticking on backing Taker for the win I really would love to see Balor make his return at the Rumble. Whether it be last or somewhere towards the end, I do believe that we could really make it work and Balor's involvement will only make this year's Rumble match even more stacked and even more unpredictable. Having him take part and at this stage of the Rumble would also leave everyone thinking twice about who will be taking the win this year.

If I was booking the Royal Rumble match I would have Finn Balor make his surprise return entering around number twenty-five just so it gives him time to really make an impact and get a few stories going. When Balor enters the match we have some big names still in the Rumble including the undertaker and Kevin Owens who would have previously lost the WWE Universal Championship against Roman Reigns earlier on in the night. The history between Owens and Balor means that the moment his music hits Owens has a little freakout and the pair go straight for one another with this being a focus point for the next ninety seconds or so. We also in this part of the blog post have to take a look at the Undertaker and Bruan Strowman. Now, last week during Monday night RAW the WWE teased work between the two superstars and while I do believe that there is some potential to build something there eventually I certainly don't want to see a singles match between the two built up for Wrestlemania. Pitting these two against one another is a loss-loss situation and nothing good come out of a match between the pair at this stage. I do, however, want to see them collide at some point in the Royal Rumble next week. What I would love to see take place is a nice little brawl between the two inside the ring. We're going to need to make Strowman look strong and so I would have Owens attempt to eliminate Jericho which causes a little moment between the two and while they're busy bickering Strowman comes along and eliminates them both at the same time; there we get to focus on building up a US Championship feud between Owens and Jericho for Mania. Further into the Rumble match and we see some work between Taker and Strowman something that really is put as a focus point and eventually we do see Taker eliminate Strowman however, this will not be the last we see of Braun. Soon after Strowman makes a huge impact when he comes back out and attacks Taker, dragging him out the ring and beating the living crap out of him. I'm talking a full on beat down and if Taker can take it, maybe even seeing him go through a barricade. Make Strowman look like a beast. Because the beatdown was so bad Taker is then taken backstage and we can focus on what's going on in the ring. Eventually, we are left with two men, Finn Balor and Smackdown's own, AJ Styles. Now, I personally really want to see him keep hold of the WWE World Championship at the Rumble pay per view but for this booking post, we're going to change things up a little. So, in the ring we have these two former Bullet Club members and the pair will actually go at it for a while putting on some amazing spots and really having the crowd on the edge of their seats. We have a couple of close moments and then out of nowhere we're going to have Anderson and Gallows make an appearance who we think are going to take Styles' side but in twist side with Balor and go on to attack their former leader in AJ Style's. However, Balor being Balor pulls them off and tell them he wants to win this on his own and properly. Both Styles and Balor take out Anderson in Gallows so it's just left to the two of them but eventually its Balor who eliminates Styles but just as the celebration begin the lights go out and Taker is back in the ring. We have an amazing moment where the pair just stares at each other. They glance up at the Wrestlemania sign and go at it and while Balor puts up a great fight there's not stopping the dead man who after many close calls eliminates the Demon becoming the two thousand and seventeen Royal Rumble winner.

The Build up to Wrestlemania 

The following weeks after the Royal Rumble are going to be focused on Balor building momentum and working towards earning a championship opportunity. The night after the Rumble I'd love to see Balor come down to the ring to open the show and speak out for the first time since his injury. Here he can address what happened last summer, he's goals for twenty seventeen and of course the WWE Universal Championship. He will without a doubt talk about the fact he never lost the title in a one on one match and deserves a title shot more than anyone else on the roster putting himself at the front of the line. That will then spark the attention of Kevin Owens who alongside Chris Jericho will make their way down to the ring to confront the returning Balor. In this segment, we will see Finn make a few comments about the fact that we saw tensions rise between Jericho and Owens at the Rumble match which will lead to some classic Jericho and Owens moments but eventually we will begin to focus on creating a number one contender and we could even add a few other names to the mix, maybe even Braun Strowman but that would have to be done very very carefully. You could a lot here from several matches to a tournament hat will end at the Fastlane pay per view, anything that works and eventually puts Balor over. Now, I do in this time want to see the WWE focus on building a strong and gripping story between Rollins and Triple H but it would be cool to try and fit Rollins in here also. At the Fastlane pay per view, we could have Balor VS Owens in a number one contenders match with Strowman in the main event but the problem you have there is keeping momentum on Strowmans side. Talking of  Braun for mania I would much rather see him win the Battle Royal. So, after Balor defeats Owens later on in the night we finally see some tensions between Balor and Reigns. With Finn finally the number one contender and heading into Wrestlemania we have some real heat kick start between the two.  In the build up to Wrestlemania, we really do start to see a more intense and driven Finn Balor. He's one and only focus is the WWE Universal Championship. Both Reigns and Balor build momentum as the weeks go by and in the go home show we get to see a contract signing, something I always enjoy watching. 

Wrestlemania

At Wrestlemania this year I want nothing more than to see Finn Balor become a two-time WWE Universal Champion. Now, I do know that we are going to need a bigger story heading into this match. It will be one of the biggest matches on the card of the biggest show of the year and we're going to need more. Now, in a dream world I would love to see Finn turn heel a month or so into his run and I plan on writing a whole different blog post talking about Finn's heel turn and that will involve Anderon and Gallows, AJ Styles and Kenny Omega so keep an eye out for that blog post set to be uploaded in a months time. I would like the WWE to stick to something basic here, storyline's across the wrestling world recently have shown that sometimes the more simple a storyline is the more successful it is and with these two superstars that really will work. We could have Balor cut a few haunting promos in his demon persona but nothing needs to be overly dramatic until Wrestlemania roles around. Of course one of the things I want to see more than anything at this years Wrestlemania is Balor's entrance. That entrance alone could be one of the highlights of the night. We have all spoken about how much the WWE could really go over the top here and have one epic entrance for Balor. As far as the match goes I do believe that Balor and Reigns could put on a fantastic match. Give them enough time and they could very easily put on one of the best matches of the night. 

I'll be honest, this blog post stressed me out more than anything I've written in a long time but I'm finally happy with the end result and I'm excited to continue writing more posts on Balor over the next month. I do have two more parts coming up for this post so keep an eye out for those, for now, you can let me know how you would book Finn Balor's return by leaving a comment bellow or by tweeting me over at @TezangiVictoria.

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