Finn Balor, WWE.com
If Finn Balor is going to be back before WrestleMania 33, who should he face at the show?
Finn Balor has already been out of action for six months after injuring his shoulder at WWE SummerSlam 2016. He took a bad bump off a Seth Rollins buckle bomb, causing this body part to pop out of place and tear up his labrum. The WWE Universal Championship, which had been on the line for the first time ever, would be won by Balor, but relinquished due to the injury. This came one night later on Raw.
The 2017 Royal Rumble would come and go with no Balor in sight. Three weeks into WrestleMania 33 season, we still haven’t seen him appear. However, that may all change within the next few weeks, as WWE is advertising him for three live events in March. It should be noted all of them are after WWE Fastlane, which takes place on the 5th. Could that mean he appears at the pay-per-view?
If the Demon is returning to WWE in March, it sets up a potential role at WrestleMania 33. The match card is becoming crowded as it is, though, especially Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar, Bray Wyatt’s WWE Championship defense, and other matches being confirmed or teased. It leaves Balor without a clear-cut spot, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a place for him on Sunday, April 2.
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There are options for Balor to face at WrestleMania, including some old foes from NXT and someone who he has ties with from another wrestling company. Who could they be?
Let’s dive into the potential options for Finn Balor’s opponent:
Credit: WWE.com
5. Undertaker
A “dream match” for Finn Balor has been the Undertaker. This is mostly due to the mystique of their characters — more specifically, Balor’s “Demon King” tied in with Taker’s normal persona. Then there are the entrances, which may take about as long as the match itself. It would make for a unique experience at WrestleMania 33, something that may not have many opportunities to happen. So that would seem like something to take advantage of, right?
Well, as much fun as Balor vs. Undertaker would be, it has almost no chance of happening.
At the 2017 Royal Rumble match, Roman Reigns and the Dead Man set up more to come. This saw Reigns eliminate him, subsequently causing a stare down between the two. Nothing else happened, but it seemed like the seeds were planted for a WrestleMania match, likely one that will be a centerpiece for the show.
If WWE decides to change course, as they did after a 2016 Royal Rumble match stunt with Brock Lesnar and the Wyatt Family, maybe they turn to Balor vs. Undertaker. That seems like a longshot, though, and maybe just something that’s played on WWE 2K17.
WWE.com
4. Seth Rollins
Seth Rollins would arguably make the most sense out of any of the available options. It stems from him injuring Finn Balor’s shoulder at SummerSlam, ending his Universal Championship reign at one day. So the natural feud is there to recreate. However, it may require Balor turning heel since Rollins already went through a character turn just months ago.
There are two problems with this happening, though: Triple H and injuries.
Rollins has had tensions with the Game since August 29, the day the mentor turned on the protégé. As of January, they were all but confirmed to face off at WrestleMania 33. Then came the Architect reaggravating a knee injury, changing part of the course of the show.
Now Rollins isn’t even a sure bet to be at WrestleMania. His initial timetable of eight weeks, which began almost two months to the day before the show, would set him up for a return right at the end of it. It’s cutting it close, but if he can return, it would almost surely be to face Triple H.
The story is there for a Balor vs. Rollins faceoff, but doing it on April 2 isn’t possible. At the next big show, though? That could work.
WWE.com
3. AJ Styles
AJ Styles and Finn Balor’s paths have indirectly crossed. Balor formed New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Bullet Club stable, leading the group for a few years. Once he signed with WWE, Styles joined the Bullet Club and took over the leading role from 2014 to January 2016. So they literally missed out on each other by days.
By putting Styles and Balor together at WrestleMania 33, WWE could give the “dream match” fans have wanted between the two former faction leaders. They’ll never reference the “Bullet Club” name, but their history can be worked around this. Their relations with Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows, and having both worked in NJPW can be brought up, the former of which would create the tension.
While this match would be fun and WrestleMania-worthy, it has little chance of happening at the upcoming show. This is due to the developing feud between Styles and Shane McMahon, which has been rumored for weeks by the Wrestling Observer. It’s an odd pairing, but WWE seems set on running with it for the Show of Shows.
Maybe we’ll get Balor vs. Styles at some point. There’s still SummerSlam to have this happen at, or if the rosters are reconfigured with another brand split. So maybe by the end of 2017?
WWE.com
2. Braun Strowman
Braun Strowman is without anyone to face at WrestleMania 33. While he’s in a feud with Roman Reigns, this seems like a one-off for Fastlane, leading up to Reigns’ feud with the Undertaker culminating in April. With Raw stars like Goldberg, Brock Lesnar, Chris Jericho, Kevin Owens, and Seth Rollins already in programs, it doesn’t leave any proper babyface for Strowman to face.
An odd option for the Monster Among Men is Finn Balor. These two are polar opposites, mostly due to their distinct difference in size. We did just see this with Sami Zayn targeting Strowman, and it worked well in a David vs. Goliath setup. Balor had been billed as a main event star, something Zayn has not been on the main roster, so this may be different. That’s even with the size impacting the realism.
While Balor vs. Strowman could make for a decent impromptu match for WrestleMania 33, the latter man seems like the top candidate to win the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. It’s the opportune time for WWE to further get him over, potentially setting up a Universal Championship match in the months following. While putting him over Balor at the Grandest Stage of Them All would still make for progress, him wreaking havoc in the battle royal and winning it may do better for him and Balor.
WWE.com
1. Samoa Joe
The last man standing for potential opponents for Finn Balor at WrestleMania 33 is Samoa Joe. It’s not necessarily the freshest match, as these two faced off plenty of times on NXT’s biggest stages. They headlined three TakeOver events and feuded for about eight months.
While there may be fatigue with fans who want to see Balor and Joe go in different directions, a majority of main roster fans may have no idea that these two even interacted from 2015 to 2016. So in the minds of them, this would be something new.
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What also goes in favor of a Balor vs. Joe match is the lack of opponents for the latter. With the WrestleMania 33 match card having a distinct direction, it’s going to leave the Samoan Submission Machine without a clear-cut foe for the show. If anything, this may leave him in the Andre the Giant Battle Royal with Braun Strowman and others. Given the quick push he’s received on Raw, however, maybe WWE could feel he’s at the stage where he could have his own match at Camping World Stadium.
The idea with Joe on the main roster has been acting as the “destroyer”. He destroyed Seth Rollins and is going after Sami Zayn. Once the former two-time NXT champion disposes of the Underdog from the Underground, maybe he looks to destroy a returning Balor, trying to re-injure him like he did to Rollins. That leads to a WrestleMania match, and we go from there.
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Who should Finn Balor face at WrestleMania 33? Should it be someone that’s not on this list?