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WWE Royal Rumble: Finn Balor vs Brock Lesnar - Universal Championship Match, winners, video highlights, and analysis

By Greg Bush
Modified Jan 28, 2019 09:28 IST
Finn Balor left Brock Lesnar seriously hurt in their Universal Championship match
Finn Balor left Brock Lesnar seriously hurt in their Universal Championship match

Finn Balor earned the opportunity to face Brock Lesnar on the January 14th episode of Monday Night Raw. After Braun Strowman lost his Universal Title Opportunity, the leader of Balor Club won a Fatal-4-Way, a match that included John Cena, Baron Corbin, and Drew McIntyre, to win a shot at the Universal Championship.

Brock Lesnar and Vince McMahon seemingly overlooked Balor, though he proved that was a mistake after the inaugural Universal Champion took the fight to him last week, Lesnar refocused, and now looked to continue his dominant reign with a win over Raw's top Superstars.

This "David vs Goliath" match may look one-sided on paper, but the speed of Finn Balor, along with his experience of dealing with bigger opponents, may give him an edge not many understand. However, Lesnar wasn't underestimating Balor anymore.

Finn Balor vs Brock Lesnar

Lesnar had his back turned to Balor, who sent the champion into the corner with the shotgun dropkick. Balor stayed on top of him with kicks and elbows, and another dropkick kept Lesnar in the corner. Lesnar finally caught Balor as he went for the slingblade, sending him over with a belly to belly suplex.

From here on, Lesnar punished Balor on the outside of the ring. Lesnar launched Balor into the barricade and threw Balor overhead with another belly to belly suplex. Lensar then took the hood off of the English announce table, but Balor sent Lesnar into the corner. Balor did it again, damaging Lesnar's midsection. A knee to Balor's midsection took him down to his knees, but Lesnar seemed more hurt than his challenger.

Balor attacked Lesnar as he got back in, only for him to send Balor into the corner and beat him down with repeated shoulder thrusts to the gut. Another belly to belly sent Balor nearly completely across the ring, but Lesnar was still having a hard time catching his breath. Lesnar set Balor up in the corner for another shoulder thrust and belly to belly suplex. It took even longer for the Universal Champion to get to his feet, and it seemed like he was hurting himself with the onslaught.

Balor caught Lesnar with a kick to the midsection followed by a slingblade. Another shotgun dropkick was stopped by a devastating lariat from the Beast Incarnate. Lesnar tried to deadlift Balor into a German but fell to his knees holding his stomach. Lesnar tried again but had to drop Balor due to the stress on his sternum. Finn Balor countered an F-5 with a DDT and brought the fight to Lesnar again.

Kicks to the gut, followed by a double stomp forced Lesnar to leave the ring. Multiple dives to the outside left Lesnar struggling to get up. Three dives to the outside left Lesnar stunned. As he barely rolled back inside the ring, a dropkick to a seated Lesnar set him up for the Coup de Grace. Lesnar kicked out and locked in the Kimura Lock. Eventually, Balor was forced to tap out.

Results: Brock Lesnar defeated Finn Balor via submission.

Lesnar, even after the match, struggled to catch his breath, and it seemed that Balor was on the right path to ending Lesnar's title reign. In a rematch, Balor may have what it takes to finish the Beast Incarnate.

Finally recovered, Lesnar sent Balor over with three German suplexes. This was the closest Lesnar has come to losing since dropping the championship to Roman Reigns and SummerSlam, and it seemed to have gotten under his skin. The exclamation point was an F-5, finally ending the punishment of Balor