What’s the story?
According to Dave Meltzer on the recent edition of the Wrestling Observer Radio, the WWE’s push of Finn Balor may come to a screeching halt owing to his series of injuries.
In case you didn’t know...
Finn Balor is a 16-year veteran of the pro-wrestling industry who made his WWE NXT debut in 2014 and main roster debut in 2016, winning the inaugural WWE Universal championship by defeating Seth Rollins last year at SummerSlam.
Balor had to immediately relinquish the title owing to a shoulder injury he’d sustained in his aforementioned SummerSlam matchup against Rollins. He returned to the company’s main roster on April 3rd, teaming up with Rollins on the Raw after Mania.
The heart of the matter
Balor faced Jinder Mahal on the most recent episode of Monday Night RAW, in a match that he won, but not before eating a stiff forearm strike to the head from Mahal that had reportedly knocked him out cold. In the same context, Meltzer noted the danger of Balor being seen as ‘injury-prone’ by Vince McMahon if he is to continue getting injured.
Here are a few excerpts from Meltzer’s statements:
“(Finn Balor) showed up and he had the shoulder surgery, and then in his second TV match back he gets hurt again, so it’s like…I hope he doesn’t get hurt one more time because you don’t wanna have that thing in Vince’s head that you’re injury prone. It doesn’t kill you, because Vince has that thing in his head about other people and they still get pushed to a degree. But it does temper him from going all the way with somebody.”
Also read: Five WWE Superstars who are the most injury prone
What’s next?
Balor has been removed from the RAW live events following his incident with Mahal and although he’s been scheduled to appear the following week, he would be allowed to return only after being medically cleared by WWE.
Author’s take:
The 35-year old Irish star is one of the best performers in the business today, and I’d be damned to see his career spoiled in any way owing to injuries. I, for one, hope the WWE don’t fade him into the background due to him being viewed as fragile or injury-prone.
You’ve struck gold with Balor, WWE. Book him well, Vince!
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