What’s the story?
As WWE inches closer and closer to the Showcase of the Immortals, the card for the show has continued to develop at a fairly rapid pace. A notable name that is missing from the card to this point is Finn Balor. The Demon King has been working live events for the Raw brand as of late, so why has he not returned to television?
According to news from Pro Wrestling Unlimited, Balor has not returned to television thus far for a very good reason.
In case you didn’t know...
Finn Balor was drafted to Raw in the first round of the 2016 WWE Draft in a somewhat shocking move. The reason for the early selection would become clear on the very next episode of Monday Night Raw, as Finn Balor defeated Roman Reigns in squeaky clean fashion.
By defeating the Big Dog, Balor earned the right to wrestle Seth Rollins at SummerSlam for the right to be crowned as the very first WWE Universal Champion. However, early on in that match, Balor would suffer a shoulder injury that has kept him off of WWE television since then.
This past weekend at WWE Live Events, Finn Balor returned to in-ring action, teaming with Sami Zayn and Chris Jericho to take on the team of Triple H, Samoa Joe and Kevin Owens.
The heart of the matter
Based on the report, WWE higher-ups don’t have any particular storyline direction for Finn Balor at WrestleMania. It is entirely possible that he returns to television over the next few weeks to possibly set up a match with Samoa Joe. He may also be pegged as the replacement for Seth Rollins in the event that the Architect is not cleared for the match with Triple H.
It was reported that officials in WWE don’t want to rush Balor back to television specifically to force him into a match at WrestleMania. WWE officials don’t want to change their plans and possibly detract from the momentum that his television return would most certainly bring.
What’s next?
With two more episodes of Raw remaining on the Road to WrestleMania, there is time for Balor to return if officials deem it necessary.
Author’s take
If WWE doesn’t want to rush Balor back for WrestleMania because they have big plans for him, those plans have to be pretty big. I could absolutely see Balor returning on the Raw after WrestleMania to an insane pop, and possibly be involved in a massive angle. It would have to be massive if they don’t want him in a WrestleMania match this year.
