Even though Brock Lesnar picked up the win at the WWE Royal Rumble, there’s still a story that could be told between Lesnar and The Demon, Finn Balor.
Heading into the 2019 edition of the WWE Royal Rumble, there were a lot of questions around what would happen when Brock Lesnar and Finn Balor would face off. Lesnar has been booked as the monster champion, beating up everyone not named Roman Reigns.
Even though he’s a former champion, there was little hope that Balor would walk out of the event with the title around his shoulder. However, there is room for the WWE to be able to book a return bout between Balor and Lesnar, but that match would have to feature the alter ego of the man from Ireland.
For eight minutes and forty seconds, Lesnar and Balor put on a strong match. The WWE pushed the narrative that Balor was fighting an uphill battle against the dangerous – and bigger – Brock, which is exactly how this match played out. It was almost like Balor scouted Lesnar’s matches against AJ Styles and Daniel Bryan and got the match off to a fast start, attacking a perceived weakness of Lesnar’s.
Still, Lesnar only needed a few moments to lock in a kimura and bring the match to a submission finish. Even with the definitive win and the attack that came after, there’s a space for a rematch to occur soon.
There are two events scheduled before WrestleMania 35: Elimination Chamber on Feb. 17 and Fastlane on Mar. 10. With Seth Rollins getting the title shot based on his win in the Royal Rumble, he is expected to face Lesnar when the big show comes around in April. But that doesn’t mean that WWE Creative couldn’t make a swerve with Balor at one of the two events between now and then. Even though Lesnar isn’t a frequent appearance on WWE television, the storyline could begin with someone who’s easier to access: Paul Heyman.
The stage for this scenario would begin with Balor addressing how the match went on Sunday, pointing out that he threw his best at the champion but was soundly defeated in the middle of the ring. As he continues his narrative, Heyman would interrupt and Balor to go on a diatribe about how this is what Balor should have expected – that there’s nothing that he could have done to be prepared to face off against Lesnar.
Balor, to the chagrin of those live and watching on television, would agree and leave the ring – but not before reminding Heyman that he’s only met one side of Balor and now the other side is coming to introduce himself to both Heyman and the champ.
In the weeks to follow, Balor as The Demon begins to haunt Heyman – not only in WWE arenas, but in places like his home or on the road. These all occur in taped segments that appear on WWE broadcasts.
As Elimination Chamber comes closer, The Demon could even “kidnap” Heyman, somewhat like the stories of the past where the Undertaker or Kane would abduct their eventual victims or opponents.
This brings out Lesnar to attempt to hunt down The Demon, only for their confrontations to go badly, showing that he may have a weakness to Balor’s other side. WWE would then announce a match between Lesnar and The Demon for either Fastlane or Elimination Chamber, while Rollins continues to close out a storyline with the likes of Dean Ambrose and/or Drew McIntyre – both men that would want his WrestleMania main event slot.
That still brings up the question as to whether Lesnar or The Demon would go over with the victory. That’s a larger discussion that has long term ramifications involving Lesnar’s contract status with the WWE and the direction it wants to take with the WWE Universal Title. Whatever that final decision is, it’s hard to ignore the intrigue that could be generated with a storyline involving Finn Balor as The Demon versus Brock Lesnar.