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Finn Balor vs Seth Rollins
Finn Balor makes his way down to the ring, and following the break, 'The Architect' Seth Rollins. The Miz is on commentary to watch this bout, as many expected. He talks about how the Intercontinental Championship is the most prestigious belt in WWE, and he refers back to his WrestleMania 27 victory in Atlanta when he defeated John Cena to retain the WWE Championship.
The Miz continues to talk about his new baby girl, and while he's attempting to link it back to his heel persona, he's definitely coming across as a babyface - which isn't exactly a hard thing to do in this kind of situation. Balor and Rollins are going through the motions, swapping momentum in the early stages of this one. They're playing it safe, and we can hardly blame them given that WrestleMania is right around the corner.
Following the break, the intensity picks up as Rollins nails Balor with a series of chops before taking things to the outside - which is where Seth injured Finn back at SummerSlam 2016. The talk on commentary continues to focus on Monroe Mizanin, and when they talk about the match, Miz continues to talk like a babyface. He continues to say that he's a new man.
In the middle of the match, WWE does a double screen split, airing a promo of Shinsuke Nakamura vs AJ Styles for the WWE Championship. Back in the ring, Seth continues to beat down on Balor before nailing him with a big time knee on the apron. Miz's 'babyface' antics are really distracting, and it seems as if a sneak attack is imminent.
Balor and Rollins trade chops, as the Irishman picks up the pace. Cole and Miz get into an argument, forgetting their love affair from back in 2011 when Michael was a full-blown heel. Seth hits a suicide dive on Balor, and we head into yet another commercial break.
The crowd are really getting into this one, although we missed a good chunk of the last section due to the break. Seth hits Finn with a monstrous superkick which got him a close two count, and the crowd begin to crowd 'this is awesome'. Both men are on the top rope, and Rollins hits a massive superplex.
Finn nearly gets a roll-up win, but Rollins just managed to kick out. Seth goes for a frog splash but Finn gets his knees up in time, but Rollins is once again able to kick out.
Seth nearly hits a buckle bomb on the very same barricade which destroyed Balor's shoulder, but Finn reverses it. Balor went for the Coup de Grace, then Seth went for the curb stomp. Both missed, then after a series of roll-ups, Seth nails the curb stomp for the victory. Tremendous, tremendous match.
Seth Rollins defeats Finn Balor via pinfall
After recapping the opening segment, the commentators run down some of the matches on Sunday alongside some match graphics. It seems as if Cole confirmed that both battle royals and the Cruiserweight Championship match will be on the kick-off show.
We get a promo for Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns 2, which will probably be the main event on Sunday. Paul Heyman is on the phone and says he can see it now: 'the Brocktagon', hinting at Lesnar returning to the UFC.
Kurt Angle interferes and says that he's worried about the Mania main event not staying intact. Heyman ensures everything will be fine.
