WWE Raw: Do We Really Want Brock Lesnar vs. Finn Balor Next?

Brock Lesnar made shockingly short work of Braun Strowman on WWE Raw’s exclusive pay per view No Mercy, so is Finn Balor next for “The Beast Incarnate”?

Much to the chagrin of a vociferous section of the fanbase, Brock Lesnar has been on an absolute rampage on WWE Raw. The current reigning and defending Universal Champion is cleaning house, vanquishing top opponent after top opponent since first securing the title from Goldberg at WrestleMania 33. He defeated Samoa Joe at Great Balls of Fire in anticlimactic fashion, he defended his title successfully at SummerSlam in a Fatal Four-Way after being stretchered off (he pinned Roman Reigns, by the way), and he most recently F5’d Braun Strowman to win at No Mercy.

Next up on Lesnar’s path to destruction? Potentially a date with Finn Balor. Though Lesnar and Balor haven’t met in the ring, they did have some sort of an interaction earlier this year. Paul Heyman put Balor over big-time in a promo, calling the “Demon King” the most talented performer in the WWE.

But was he being genuine, or was he buttering up Balor? Joe won that match to become the No. 1 contender to Lesnar’s title and faced him at Great Balls of Fire. But what if Heyman was secretly pulling for the much smaller Balor to win, simply because he saw him as the easiest opponent for Brock?

That match could come soon enough, because the current word on the street is that Lesnar’s next opponent will be Balor. That match could happen as quickly as Survivor Series, but they could drag it out longer, since Balor is still in his feud with Lesnar.

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We’ve known for some time that the WWE’s master plan is to have Lesnar face Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 34, with the latter going over in yet another coronation on the company’s biggest stage.

Everything is going to plan so far for Vince McMahon, as Reigns defeated John Cena at No Mercy, kicking out of every possible AA variation we’ve seen, and Lesnar added yet another marquee victory by defeating Strowman. The plan is ostensibly to make Lesnar look as strong as possible, particularly his F5, only for Reigns to defeat him in the end.

In order to make Lesnar look as undefeatable as possible in his current run with the Universal Championship, the WWE has to book him to defeat all of the other top stars so that there’s no doubt that Reigns is on another level (as if we were ever led to believe otherwise).

That means if Balor and Lesnar square off, Lesnar will defeat him in a one-off encounter, tossing him to the side just like he tossed aside Joe and Strowman. Neither of those two have been any worse for wear following their losses, so there’s probably no need to panic on Balor’s behalf.

However, it has to feel a little disheartening, because Balor was the first Universal Champion and on top of the WWE landscape when he defeated Seth Rollins at SummerSlam before being forced to relinquish the title. Since then, he’s been on a climb back for that title, but he’s been mired in poorly-booked feuds. Balor looks strong and has plenty of fan support, but is he really in a position to be taking a random, one-off loss to Lesnar, whose size advantage will be nauseatingly shoved down our throats by the commentators?

The build to Lesnar’s feuds with Strowman and Joe were amazing, and both monsters were booked even better than Lesnar before ultimately taking their respective losses. But would the WWE do the same to Balor, or would they just have Heyman and Lesnar pull the “You are a small loser” card? Forgive me, but I have an inherent distrust for the current WWE’s ability to book any babyface who doesn’t weigh more than 230 pounds.

The problem is that the company may be forced to throw Balor into a program with Lesnar that doesn’t really do anything for him, simply because there’s nobody left. A feud with Bray Wyatt would be unconvincing (to say the least), and Seth Rollins is already in a much better storyline as Dean Ambrose’s tag team partner. So that leaves Balor as the only credible opponent for Lesnar among the Raw main eventers.

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Lesnar vs. Balor sounds like a dream match on paper, but that’s only because the fans saying this want to see Balor win in a classic underdog story. That’s not going to happen here. What’s going to happen is Balor gets squashed just like Joe and Strowman did, except there’s a higher risk Vince lets Balor get thrown to the wolves. I mean, I believe the WWE will do what it can to protect Balor in this feud, but the sad thing is that I’m not 100% confident. Because they said they’d protect Strowman, but the finish at No Mercy clearly didn’t match the narrative the WWE claimed behind-the-scenes in leaked reports.

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