'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
What’s the story?
Finn Balor pinning John Cena on Monday Night Raw raised a few eyebrows and now Sports Illustrated have an interesting update on it. They report that John Cena asked WWE for him to take the pin, to make the leader of the Balor club an even bigger star.
In case you didn’t know…
Balor pinned Cena clean in a fatal 4-way match involving Baron Corbin and Drew McIntyre on Monday Night Raw. The win gave Balor an opportunity at the Universal Championship title at the Royal Rumble.
Braun Strowman was taken out of the title match vs Brock Lesnar by Vince McMahon earlier in the show. The Monster Among Men destroyed the chairman's limousine while chasing Corbin and was fined $100,000 for it by Vince. But after he raised his voice and claimed that it was not worth the fine, Strowman was taken out of the title match as well.
The heart of the matter
Balor had a dream night on RAW this week after he defeated Jinder Mahal in a one-on-one match and then won the fatal 4-way to become the new #1 contender for the Universal Championship.
Rumours state that this was WWE's way of punishing John Cena for skipping Crown Jewel but SI report claims that it was Cena's idea to put Balor over. The plan was to make Balor a bigger star and the 16-time WWE Champion taking the clean pin worked like a charm.
If that wasn't enough, Cena then spoke highly of the new #1 contender after RAW went off-air:
What’s next?
Finn Balor now has a shot at the Universal Championship at Royal Rumble on the 27th of January. The first ever Universal champion has been waiting for this opportunity for a long time but the opponent he is facing might not be the one he would have had in mind.
Brock Lesnar has been holding on to the title for a long time now, apart from that short stint by Roman Reigns before he had to relinquish it.
