What if Seth Rollins were challenging Finn Balor at WrestleMania 35?

It is now clear that—barring any major creative swerves or real life developments that force WWE to change plans—Seth Rollins will challenge Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship at WrestleMania 35. The match seems fairly certain if only because Lesnar isn’t all that likely to work any more matches between now and ‘Mania and thus won’t have the chance to lose the belt and, as a Royal Rumble winner, Rollins is assured his title shot.

But what if things had happened differently? There are few complaints about Rollins winning the Rumble, but there are plenty of fans who surely would have been happier to have seen Finn Balor relieve Lesnar of the Universal Championship at the Royal Rumble PPV.

This article considers what might have been if we tweaked the result to just one match, and had Balor upset Lesnar this past weekend. What if Rollins were challenging Balor at WrestleMania?

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5. The full Demon King entrance

Surely the Demon would surface a WrestleMania world title match.

In kayfabe, Finn Balor busts out his Demon King alter ego, complete with face paint and more elaborate entrance in big match scenarios, including his NXT matches at TakeOver specials, and his SummerSlam bout when he won the Universal Championship. It’s a bit curious why he didn’t choose the Demon persona for his first WrestleMania or his Royal Rumble title fight with Brock Lesnar, though we can probably chalk that up more to practical concerns about timing than kayfabe logic.

If Balor were to be featured in a WrestleMania world title match, we have to assume WWE would be behind him enough to let him do the whole Demon thing on his way to the ring for his match with Seth Rollins. That entrance and the vision of the body pain in that setting may be even more impactful for Balor not having used either since his SummerSlam 2018 bout with Baron Corbin.

4. The best Universal Championship match at a WrestleMania to date

Finn Balor vs. Seth Rollins would all but guarantee a better match than previous 'Mania Universal title matches.

For as much as WWE has treated the Universal Championship as its de facto top title, including closing most PPVs that its defended on, it’s noteworthy that it doesn’t yet have a conventionally good WrestleMania match attached to it.

Sure, Brock Lesnar’s match with Goldberg at WrestleMania 33 was entertaining for its fast pace and smash mouth style, but clocking in at under four minutes, it’s hard to call it any kind of classic. Last year’s match between Lesnar and Roman Reigns was worse off for how long and plodding it was, with next to no heat and an unsatisfying conclusion.

There’s no guarantee that any given match will deliver to its full potential. Given the talent of Finn Balor and Seth Rollins, though, not to mention the chemistry they’ve proven themselves to have between them, there’s little doubt they’d produce the best Universal Championship match to occur at a WrestleMania to date.

3. Balor retains

Finn Balor would most likely have retained over Seth Rollins.

There’s a time-honored tradition of the Royal Rumble winner going on to triumph at WrestleMania over the reigning champion. Seth Rollins would fit that narrative well as a popular star and a workhorse who genuinely comes across as someone who has earned the opportunity to shine at WrestleMania. Not every Royal Rumble winner succeeds in his or her championship pursuits, though.

If Finn Balor had defeated Brock Lesnar at the Royal Rumble, it probably would have represented a feel-good underdog victory more or less on par with when Eddie Guerrero defeated Lesnar back at No Way Out 2004. As such, while fans are behind Rollins, they’d probably be at least equally behind Balor in this hypothetical WrestleMania scenario. It would feel like both a letdown and potentially another momentous career setback if Balor were to lose the belt so quickly after regaining it. No, if Balor had beaten Lesnar, the odds are WWE would have let him run with it past WrestleMania season.

2. Brock Lesnar is out of the picture

Brock Lesnar being out of the title match for WrestleMania would most likely signal a departure

,or

at least hiatus, from WWE.

There’s a reason why Brock Lesnar was so heavily favored in his Royal Rumble title defense against Finn Balor. He’s a uniquely credible talent who has been protected like few stars in WWE history. It would have been odd—though not out of the question for WWE to have taken the title off of him that close to, but not at WrestleMania.

If Lesnar were to have dropped the title at the Royal Rumble, the logical conclusion to draw would have been that for whatever combination of reasons, Lesnar wasn’t working WrestleMania at all.

Indeed, the only other reasonable alternative might have been the Beast Incarnate in some sort of special attraction matches like a showdown with returning Roman Reigns or a carefully planned bout with MMA/UFC rival Daniel Cormier. More likely, though, Lesnar would be absent through at least WrestleMania.

1. A women’s main event

If Seth Rollins were challenging Finn Balor, the odds would be even higher of a women's main event.

Finn Balor vs. Seth Rollins would have plenty potential to match good enough to be worthy of a WrestleMania main event spot. However, without the marquee star power of Brock Lesnar involved, and with WWE seemingly eager to continue making history with its women’s roster, it’s natural enough to think that this would remove any obstacle to Ronda Rousey main eventing WrestleMania opposite Becky Lynch and likely as not, Charlotte Flair.

To be fair, the Raw Women’s Championship match may well close WrestleMania 35 anyway, particularly with rumors looming that Rousey may depart from WWE sooner than later, and WWE wants to capitalize on its time with her (not to mention how over Lynch is in this moment, which may well not hold going into the following year). Just the same, it’s more or less even odds that this match with close, or that Lesnar vs. Rollins will, perhaps depending on how WWE intends to book it.