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Predicting Finn Balor’s Role in the Sami Zayn-Kevin Owens Feud

By Rob Wolkenbrod

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Following TakeOver: Rival, the NXT staff will be tasked with fitting Finn Balor into the Kevin Owens-Sami Zayn rivalry.

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Last night at NXT TakeOver: Rival, Finn Balor defeated Adrian Neville in the last match of the #1 Contender’s Tournament for the NXT Championship. The battle was fresh, phenomenal, and arguably the best match of the evening.

To get to that victory, Balor had to go through Curtis Axel, Hideo Itami, and the longest reigning NXT Champion in the brand’s history over the past couple of weeks. Along the way, the artist formerly known as Prince Devitt became even more over with the Full Sail University crowd. This was due to all of his matches being absolutely phenomenal; I can’t pinpoint a single one that was disappointing.

Now Balor will be on his way to having a match with NXT’s top heel and new champion – Kevin Owens. A contest between the two of them won’t be good – it will be great. They’re two fantastic wrestlers who are great as a babyface and heel, respectively, and should have terrific in-ring chemistry with each other.

What also needs to be factored in is the usual rematch that the former champion is given when he loses his title. Sami Zayn will get a second opportunity against Owens. When that will be is a mystery, just like Balor’s opportunity. Zayn’s program with Owens is clearly not over, so the booking has to be sorted out here.

It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Owens’ matches with Zayn and Balor end in a disqualification or count-out. Triple H and the folks down in Florida at NXT have done a fantastic job with booking the weekly shows and knows not to give away a match on a taped episode where people will tune in throughout the day to watch. With Owens not getting a clean win over either of his opponents, this will likely set up a triple-threat match at the next NXT TakeOver (likely in May) between the champion, Balor, and Zayn. It could very well be the best live show main event that the brand has ever had.

The one concern with Balor being in the mix is the possibility of getting lost in the ongoing story line between Owens and Zayn.

The story-telling of Zayn and Owens’ broken friendship has been terrific. The one-on-one banter between them has been fantastic as well as the psychology of it, which has gone over extremely well with the fans. This rivalry could involve just the two of them for however long it lasts and be great. Because of this, it will take perfect writing to get Balor meaningful involvement in this story instead of just having his one match and moving on. It will definitely be something to watch for going forward.

A program consisting of Finn Balor, Kevin Owens, and Sami Zayn will be a ton of fun to follow moving forward. It will need great booking to get Balor involved, but given NXT’s track record, that shouldn’t be a problem.

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