WWE Missing Out on Full WrestleMania Potential for Seth Rollins and Finn Balor
By John Brown
Seth Rollins and Finn Balor will be in contention for The MIz’s Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania. A triple threat match between the three competitors is fine, but WWE fans could be missing out the development of a storyline that started the night Balor earned the WWE Universal Championship along with a torn labrum.
It is hard to write this article since I firmly believe that The Miz has been WWE’s MVP over the last two years or so. He has created a brand for himself through snobbish, yet profound promos and polishing in-ring work inspired by blatant mimicry of Daniel Bryan. He is slowly creeping into Chris Jericho territory, where it is an honor to be insulted or mocked by him.
However, I must support what I think is “best for business”. Right now, that’s to focus solely on Finn Balor and Seth Rollins.
The Miz’s involvement in the developing storyline between Balor and Rollins is congestive considering the rivalry slowly being built between the two. It is hardly ever a bad thing to have championship gold in the picture, but the history between Balor and Rollins constitutes a one-on-one showdown at the “Grandest Stage of Them All” that finds both performers seeking redemption.
At SummerSlam 2016, Rollins gave Balor a powerbomb onto the barricade outside of the ring. On a night that was meant to be about Finn Balor becoming the inaugural WWE Universal Champion and the face of the “New Era” became about a torn labrum that would leave him out of the ring for the better part of a year.
Balor has barely scratched at the door of this positioning within the company since partially due to a lengthy Brock Lesnar title reign. The character of Finn Balor has every right to seek revenge for Seth Rollins stalling his progress, and that revenge should be sought after at WrestleMania, where a barnburner with Rollins could put him right back near the top of the WWE.
Seth Rollins would have his own redemption to seek through a Finn Balor match at WrestleMania. On the August 29, 2016 episode of Monday Night Raw, just a short time after Balor’s doomed defeat of Rollins at SummerSlam, Triple H turned on his mentee in a four-way match to determine the next Universal Champion. This turn would fuel a months-long quest for revenge against the WWE COO, a quest that would culminate at WrestleMania.
Although he would win the match, the juxtaposition of his entrance and Trips’s would foreshadow where Rollins stood in the eyes of creative; Triple H has an entrance befitting his legendary status while Rollins looked like a little boy with a torch. In the months since, Rollins has still be dynamite in the ring, but has taken part in little substance outside of a failed Shield reunion. A shift into lack of substance was kickstarted the second Balor tore his labrum. A showstealer with Balor would be just the thing to put this unfortunate series of events behind him.
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Again, The Miz deserves his rightful spot at WrestleMania. However, there is the continuance of the Finm Balor vs. Seth Rollins story that is even more deserving. Regardless of the outcome of WrestleMania, these two seem to be destined to have their paths cross over the course of their WWE careers. That crossing, however, justifies a proper stage that is meant for just the two of them.