Finn Balor entered WWE Extreme Rules 2019 as the Intercontinental Champion but lost the title on the pre-show to Shinsuke Nakamura. Here are three reasons why he should join The Club.
Despite being the founding member of The Bullet Club in NJPW, Finn Balor has never been a part of WWE’s iteration of “The Club”. He did defeat AJ Styles at TLC 2017 in an impromptu match that was made after his original opponent, Bray Wyatt, was ruled out with an illness. Balor won as “The Demon”, and perhaps this win could plant a seed for a future rivalry with Styles that spans more than one match.
But before that can happen, Balor actually has to join The Club first. We’ve seen WWE use a watered-down, babyface version of “The Club” with Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson helping out Balor in the build-up to WrestleMania 34, but that amounted to precisely nothing.
To WWE fans, “The Club” is comprised of AJ Styles, Gallows, and Anderson, because these three individuals were the ones who took the fight to John Cena in 2016, and the pay-off to that was much greater; it led to Styles defeating Cena at SummerSlam in an all-time classic.
The Club are reunited on Raw, as Styles joined forces with Gallows and Anderson after beating the heck out of Ricochet. Following his loss to Shinsuke Nakamura at Extreme Rules, Balor is without the Intercontinental Championship and in a perfect position to join up with Styles, Gallows and Anderson.
Here are three reasons why Balor should make the switch.
WWE should go full steam ahead with The Club
Even with just AJ Styles, Luke Gallows, and Karl Anderson, “The Club” has a chance to be one of WWE’s greatest factions ever. In 2016, this trio took WWE by storm, and they could be even more interesting in 2019 under the writing from Paul Heyman and Eric Bischoff.
With Balor in the fold, “The Club” would be an all-time great force almost immediately. Balor was the first ever Universal Champion and has “The Demon” on his side, giving him an X-Factor that would make The Club even more dangerous.
WWE have a weapon up their sleeve in the “war” with AEW, and that weapon is The Club. Balor and Styles could hold singles titles, and Gallows and Anderson could hold tag titles. By holding all the gold, The Club would have a visual representation of dominance, and there’s a statement to be made with four men in one faction holding all the gold.
Of course, fans will quickly point out that the issue here is having everyone in a faction holding all the titles, and a faction of four men holding all the titles could take opportunities away from others. And in all honesty, just having these four men operating as one team makes enough of a statement of intent.
It’s been awesome to see “The Club” back together, but it’d be even sweeter to see Balor join forces with the entity he initially created all those years ago.
Finn Balor needs this change
As good of a babyface as Finn Balor is, most WWE fans have been itching for the former Intercontinental Champion to turn heel. He is without a doubt one of the best heels in wrestling when unleashed, as any of his promos or turn before joining The Club can attest. Balor can be an unhinged jerk without any feelings for others, making him fit in perfectly with the ethos of Gallows, Anderson, and Styles.
Balor made some teases in the past in early 2018, but never actually made the switch to the dark side ahead of the Royal Rumble or WrestleMania 34 despite interacting more frequently with Gallows and Anderson.
WWE fans don’t mind the smiling Balor, but they’ve been craving something more ever since 2017. Balor turning heel would be nice, but Balor turning and joining The Club would give this change in character a sense of purpose.
While Balor has accomplished plenty as a babyface, a sudden snap is more than believable, and it could lead to some of the best promo work of his career. Balor’s upside has been curtailed on the WWE main roster over the years, and there’s a great chance Bischoff and Heyman could help unlock it if Balor joins up with some equally devilish friends.
The timing is right after Extreme Rules
Finn Balor vs. Shinsuke Nakamura was a late addition to the Extreme Rules card – and to make things even weirder, it was a late addition to the pre-show. Having a match between two great wrestlers on the pre-show is a good advertisement for the main card, though. And while the result of the match was a surprise (who saw Nakamura winning the title in a match that wasn’t initially announced?), it may have been for the best.
There’s no doubt that Balor could have had a stellar reign as Intercontinental Champion, as any of his matches with Seth Rollins for the title in 2018 will show you. But Balor may have needed some time off after WrestleMania 35 after being one of WWE’s top workhorses, or WWE simply didn’t believe in him regularly defending the prestigious title on TV.
Whatever the case, the IC Title is in a new, even more exciting direction in Nakamura’s hands, leaving Balor reeling after a second straight loss to The King of Strong Style.
Balor’s IC Title reign was the second of his career, but it was admittedly just as forgettable as his first reign during the Bobby Lashley feud. It’s been an up-and-down year for Balor, so he would be forgiven for having a change of heart as a result of all of these different emotions.
The timing couldn’t be better for Balor to look for something more, finding a sense of purpose and camaraderie with three superstars who are just as accomplished and ambitious as he is. Balor showed a sense of belonging in the past with Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, and AJ Styles can be the high-charged heel that Balor can feed off of.
Nothing is better than bouncing back from a big loss than taking matters into your own hands, so joining The Club could be the best possible response for Finn after his loss to Nakamura at Extreme Rules.