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In a last-minute addition to the card, Finn Balor lost his Intercontinental Championship to Shinsuke Nakamura in the first match of the Extreme Rules Kickoff Show. It may seem like a disappointment, considering there was hardly much build to the match aside from Nakamura beating Balor in a great match on Smackdown. Also, the fact that the Intercontinental Championship was featured on the Kickoff Show may be a botheration to some.
Fans have also been annoyed at the booking of Finn Balor, who was the IC champ since WrestleMania. He had decent matches, mainly on TV, before suddenly losing it without much of a build. However, WWE must surely realise that Balor is one of the most valuable members of the roster and is incredibly popular among adults as well as children. There are various directions the WWE could steer the Irishman towards. They need to use him more and more.
Here are four possible directions Finn Balor could go after losing the Intercontinental Championship.
#4 Bray Wyatt's first target
Bray Wyatt is yet to return to WWE TV, following the end of his Firefly Funhouse vignettes. Fans are certainly dying for him to show up in front of a live crowd and the moment is likely to come in the next week or two.
Wyatt is certainly going to wrestle at SummerSlam, but the question must be posed. Who will be the sacrificial lamb to be fed to the Eater of Worlds?
That person might be Finn Balor. WWE could use his name value to help put over Bray Wyatt, as he looks set to mow his way through the roster on either Raw or Smackdown. Also, a match between the Demon and the Fiend is a mouth-watering prospect, but that can be revisited down the line if not now.
#3 Main event scene
Finn Balor joined the main roster when the brand split returned and was the fifth overall pick in the 2016 Draft. He was perceived as a very big deal and was given a massive push upon his debut. The former Intercontinental champion won two matches on his Raw debut, including a clean victory over Roman Reigns.
He then became the inaugural Universal Champion at that year's SummerSlam. However, Balor was forced to relinquish the title immediately due to injury. That was especially unfortunate because since then, he's been a big name wandering around WWE's rotational mid-card scene.
The company is in dire need of some stars and the Irishman would be a great option to make the leap, especially with no clear challenger for WWE Champion, Kofi Kingston at SummerSlam. After all, his former student succeeded last year and made herself The Man.
#2 Donning the paint vs Nakamura at SummerSlam
Finn Balor usually enters a holding pattern during his feuds. Start a feud with a heel, lose a match or two against them and then finally defeat them as the Demon. It has become slightly tiresome now, even though it is still pretty cool to see him don the face paint.
This year alone, he has done it against Bobby Lashley and Andrade at WrestleMania and Super Showdown respectively. With SummerSlam being one of the biggest events on the WWE calendar, expect Balor to become the Demon once again and reclaim his Intercontinental Championship.
The Demon is unbeaten on the main roster. It must also be noted that every time Balor has competed at SummerSlam, it has been with the paint. So, that makes a Balor vs Nakamura rematch a real possibility for the Biggest Party of the Summer.
#1 Joining the Club
WWE has not gone full throttle with The Club, not yet at least. Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson made their WWE debuts (re-debut in Gallows' case) in April 2016 and aligned themselves with AJ Styles soon after. However, The Club was separated during the Draft.
Finn Balor had a loose alliance with the Good Brothers in early 2018 but it did not go anywhere. Now, AJ Styles has turned heel again and The Club is back together. He even won the United States Championship at Extreme Rules thanks to them.
Now would be the perfect time to move Balor over to Raw and go all-in on The Club, especially since he was the one who began it all. With Paul Heyman in charge, Finn Balor would likely be in safe hands and The Club would thrive better than ever.
We could even get a power struggle storyline down the line between Styles and Balor, with both of them strong enough to be dominant leaders. It is time for WWE to pull the trigger on heel Finn Balor, for the time being at least.
