6 Mistakes and Missed Opportunities: Finn Balor
While Finn Balor currently holds the position of Intercontinental
Champion the WWE continue to make rather vital mistakes in his career. Balor’s
journey on the main roster most certainly hasn’t been an easy one but being
such an amazing talent it’s a shame to see the company miss so many brilliant
opportunities. In today's blog post we are going to be taking a look at some of
the biggest mistakes and missed opportunities the WWE have made with Balor
since his arrival on the main roster and you can always have your say by
leaving a comment below or by tweeting me over at @TezangiVictoria.
The Story of Redemption
During the two thousand and sixteen, SummerSlam PPV fans
witnessed Finn Balor make history when he became the first ever Universal Champion
defeating Seth Rollins. The following night, however, Balor was forced to
relinquish the title following an injury and since then he really has struggled
to bounce right back to that position. Upon returning to action what the WWE
should have done was tell the story of redemption. A journey that sees Finn
look to make his way back to the title of Universal Champion, defeating some of
the biggest and best names on Monday Night RAW and eventually becoming champ
once again. Instead, we have only truly seen Balor back in a reasonable position
on the roster this year and even now we are not seeing a fraction of what he is
capable of and he still hasn’t been put back in the main event picture. A
particularly strong rivalry between Finn and Rollins looking back even better
at their history would have been very beneficial.
The Many Faces Of
Anyone familiar with Balor’s work prior to signing with the
WWE will know that he’s character work went further than the idea of the Demon
King. From dressing up as the Joker to exploring his character wherever he went,
Balor was evidently a very charismatic and interesting talent and unfortunately,
we haven’t truly been able to see that during his time with the WWE so far.
When you take away his Demon King angle which in itself has started to lose its
touch, Balor’s character work has become stale. There is a lack of depth and he
is missing that something which allows him to really standout. Focusing only on
the Demon king Character has limited Balor in terms of character work and exploring
an idea that sees Balor switch things up in terms of his image could have
really given him something completely different and exciting.
Balor Club
Arguably the biggest missed opportunity the WWE has faced
when it comes to the career of Finn Balor is fully forming the Balor Club. I’ve
mentioned before that the company has struggled massively with factions in
recent years when you put aside the works of the likes of the Shield and the
Undisputed era but when it comes to Balor Club, the WWE had the chance to bring
factions back to life on the main roster and set up something very different. A
faction with space to grow in numbers and alliance between Finn Balor, Anderson
and Gallows that sees Balor and AJ Styles involved in a full-on rivalry makes
for must-see content. This is an angle that would have worked with Balor in the
position of a heel or a babyface but what is important here is the creative opportunities
this would have opened up and just imagine the awesome matches we could have
seen here not to mention the position he could have been in on the roster by
now.
Defeating Brock Lesnar
While I join the rest of the world and say that Seth Rollins
defeating Brock Lesnar at Wrestlemania earlier this year was one of the
highlights of twenty nineteen so far I cannot help but feel as though this win
should have gone to Balor. His story and history with the Universal Championship
was of course fitting and considering Lesnar represents something completely
different to Balor the collision between the two stars would have made for a
brilliant storyline. With Balor unable to work as champion because of an injury
when he was first crowned and Lesnar choosing not to there is an interesting
angle here not to mention the clear fact Finn never truly lost the title
anyway. The WWE had a brilliant opportunity here to turn things around
completely for Balor and later on in the year possibly at Mani create a one on
one between Balor and Rollins which in itself
would have been a huge draw and greatly fitting!
Moving him to NXT UK
Moving Finn Balor to the NXT UK brand makes for a
controversial decision. There is evidently plenty to keep him occupied on the
main roster from must-see matches to brilliant storylines and rivalries, however, working on the NXT UK brand would have beneficial to both the growing
show and turning things around for Balor. Sure, to become a huge star on the
roster, Balor could really change the game and compete in so many awesome matches
from taking on the likes of Tyler Bate and Pete Dunne to colliding with WALTER
and Joe Coffey amongst many. This would have been the chance for Finn to turn
things around and build his way back to the top.
A Heel Turn
While turning Finn Balor heel is something the WWE could
(and I’m sure at some point) very much go ahead with it’s a booking decision that
could have gone ahead with long before now and he sure would have benefited
from it. The change in character would have allowed us all to see a new side of
the former Universal Champion and created an opportunity for brand new
storylines and angles. Anyone, aware of Balor’s work on the indies will know he
most certainly can work as a brilliant heel and I really do hope that he gets
the chance to show that soon however, its clear that so many brilliant opportunities
to go ahead with a heel turn have already passed.
And that is my little list! Now, I do believe there will
always be an array of opportunities for the WWE to turn things around for Balor
considering his history, talent, experience and popularity but as we have
touched on today, there have already been so many perfect opportunities missed.
As always, I would love to know what you guys think so feel free to leave a
comment below or tweet me over at @TezangiVictoria.
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