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Finn Balor has been in storyline purgatory for awhile now, and while his matches are always enthralling to watch, WWE continues to not give him any momentum heading into the Royal Rumble pay-per-view. In fact, he still doesn't have many prospects for an opponent at the Rumble, and with the exception of one match, he doesn't have many great options either.
With that being said and one of the biggest pay-per-views of the year fast approaching, here are five opponents for Finn Balor at the Royal Rumble.
Unfortunately for Balor Club fans, it probably won't exactly be the Universal title match they had wanted for so long, but it could still give him a lot of momentum heading into WrestleMania season.
#5 Woken Matt Hardy
This selection is based on the assumption that Bray Wyatt and Matt Hardy have ended their feud before the Royal Rumble and while WWE could certainly extend that if they want to. They could also give Hardy a win or two over Wyatt in December and then have him go on to face The Demon King.
Of course, Balor would probably end up taking the loss in this matchup, but it would be a cool way to give Balor and Hardy a placeholder until WWE can find something else for them. Not only that, it also pits two of the biggest fan bases in all of WWE against each other for a feud that would probably disappoint no one by the end of it.
#1 Finn Balor versus John Cena
Roman Reigns had torchbearer match after torchbearer match this year and while Balor would probably never be taped to face The Undertaker, he might be able to get a match with John Cena at the Royal Rumble if the stakes are right. Not only would it be a great WrestleMania moment for Balor, it also pits two more massive fan bases against each other.
In the end, the only reasonable outcome to this match would be to have Finn Balor defeat John Cena at the Royal Rumble and anything other than that goes against WWE's recent theme of pushing younger talent. It also robs Balor of a chance to officially establish himself as one of the best Superstars and the future of the WWE, and gives him great momentum for WrestleMania 34.
Maybe WWE could even do a continuation of the match at WrestleMania 34 and have Balor win again to even further cement himself as the best the sport has to offer. Or maybe WWE could have Balor take Cena out of the Royal Rumble match which would set up a match between the two Superstars at WrestleMania 34.
What are your thoughts? Should Cena face Balor at WrestleMania 34? What do you think the result of the match would be. Let us know in the comments below and also tell us which scenario you like best!
#3 Finn Balor and Hideo Itami versus The Bar for The Tag Team Titles
Speaking of taking on The Bar for the Tag Team titles, why not end the feud against The Miztourage before the end of the year and then have Balor and Itami go after The Bar's tag team titles at the Royal Rumble. Of course, this idea is reliant on WWE actually choosing to team up Balor and Itami again, but it would be a great way to refocus the tag team division.
With that being said and the implosion of The Shield currently going on after Dean Ambrose underwent surgery to repair his injured shoulder. Having Balor and Itami go after the titles gives Rollins and Reigns an excuse to ready themselves for the Royal Rumble match and also puts a popular tag team in the place.
#2 The Royal Rumble match
Balor might not win the Royal Rumble match, especially since WWE is said to want Lesnar versus Reigns at WrestleMania 34, that doesn't mean Balor cant be in the match. In fact, having him in there gives WWE many options in booking Finn Balor and keeping fans interested in seeing him have a chance to go to main event WrestleMania 34 as well.
Interestingly enough, one of those possibilities is actually the next person on our list and would probably be his most high profile option for the Royal Rumble pay-per-view.
The question is however, if the WWE would ever do something like this, would they allow Balor to come out with a win over one of the company's top stars?
#1 Finn Balor and Hideo Itami versus The Miztourage
While this scenario only happens if WWE decides to actually put Itami and Balor together, it would no doubt be a great way to give Balor an interesting storyline and help establish a future 205 Live star as well.
Not only that, the situation plays on NXT nostalgia, which might be enough to help cool fans off about Finn not being in the main event scene right now.
In the end, it may not be the stopgap anyone wanted, but you can't really deny that Balor and Itami would be great as a long-term tag team together. In fact, if WWE does ultimately make the move to keep them together for awhile, it could lead to a possible tag team match against The Bar as well.
