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Was Finn Balor Really “Ruined” at WWE Extreme Rules?

You saw the match–and you saw the reactions. Tommy Starr explores if any real “damage” was done to Finn Balor (and The Demon) at WWE Extreme Rules.

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You saw the match–and you saw the reactions. Tommy Starr explores if any real “damage” was done to Finn Balor (and The Demon) at WWE Extreme Rules.

It has been really fascinating to see the numerous articles and post-show recaps of WWE Extreme Rules 2021, particularly the articles and videos that center around this notion that Finn Balor and the Demon character were “ruined” at Extreme Rules.  Perhaps the argument can be made that, specifically, the gimmick was “ruined.”  Statistically speaking, if we discount Balor’s loss to Roman Reigns this past Sunday night, Balor only has one recorded loss under the Demon persona; that loss took place at NXT Takeover: The End, when Balor lost his Steel Cage Match against Samoa Joe via pinfall.  So, if you want to make the case that WWE royally buried the Demon character, that’s a different conversation.  However, in attempting to analyze the bigger picture, what else was there left to ruin about the wrestler, Finn Balor, prior to this show?

Balor’s main roster run in WWE is one of the most poorly managed, mishandled stories of the last several years.  As an international star that came into NXT with all the pomp and circumstance, it became abundant right out of the gate that Hunter’s vision was to build the NXT brand around Balor as his top champion.  What we seem to forget, however, is that following Balor’s main roster call-up as part of the 2016 Draft Lottery, WWE had every intent to run with Balor as a top guy on Raw.  Within the first week of his Raw debut (7/25/16), he won a qualifying four way match, pinned Roman Reigns clean– who mind you, at this point was one of the most protected guys in the company and still in Vince’s long-term vision to make “THE” guy, bulldozed his way into the SummerSlam semi-main, and defeated Seth Rollins clean to become the inaugural Universal Champion.  Keep in mind, all of this occurred within the span of one month!

Unfortunately, one bad bump and one subsequent shoulder surgery later, not only did Balor have to voluntarily strip himself of the Universal Championship, but he was also “Dolph Ziggler’d.”  If you are ignorant to the “Ziggler’d” trope amongst the internet community, the cliffs notes version is that, following Dolph Ziggler’s successful Money in the Bank cash-in in 2013 to become the World Heavyweight Champion, he had undergone a concussion, which not only forced a cancellation of a title match for the upcoming Extreme Rules PPV, but it also left Ziggler off of television for an entire month while he was still champion.  Not only was WWE prompt in taking the title off of him, but they never went back to the well with Ziggler as a top guy or world champion ever again; thus, we have had eight straight years of Ziggler floundering in the proverbial mid card purgatory that so many guys find themselves in on the main roster.  And if WWE ever “teased” the idea of letting Ziggler out of that mid card bubble over the years, he was very rapidly shoved back in.  The exact same thing happened to Balor as a result of that shoulder injury.

Whether it was oscillating in mid card programs with Bray Wyatt or Baron Corbin, toying around the Intercontinental Championship scene for an extended period of time, playing the “peripheral background role” in Survivor Series tag matches and Money in the Bank ladder matches, back-and-forth 50/50 booking, off-and-on pushes, etc., Balor quickly fulfilled the role of “J.A.G. (Just Another Guy)” following that unfortunate injury.

To this day, for one reason or another, WWE seems to have this refusal mentality of ever seeing or pushing Finn Balor as a top star or world champion on the main roster ever again.  He has been put in those title positions before, i.e. his Universal Title program with Brock Lesnar in 2019 and his recent Universal Title program with Roman Reigns this past Sunday.  However, much like the Ziggler effect, Vince and WWE refuse to pull the trigger with Balor as world champion. What is difficult to rationalize is that, given Balor’s track record and history on the main roster over the last five or so years, why is this suddenly some huge news bulletin that Balor was “ruined” or “destroyed” at Extreme Rules 2021?  Perhaps, the booking of the finish expedited the outburst of longstanding frustration for a lot of fans.  However, some brief revisionist history will show that with every program he has been involved with post-SummerSlam 2016, Finn Balor was ruined and destroyed long before 2021.

Sources:

Goodwillie, I., & Ian Goodwillie (147 Articles Published) . (2020, December 10). 10 ways WWE has failed Finn Bálor. TheSportster. Retrieved September 28, 2021, from https://www.thesportster.com/wrestling/finn-balor-how-wwe-failed-him/.

Mishra , P. (2021, September 24). Has Finn Balor ever lost in Demon Character? EssentiallySports. Retrieved September 28, 2021, from https://www.essentiallysports.com/wwe-news-has-finn-balor-ever-lost-in-demon-character-roman-reigns-samoa-joe/.

Wikimedia Foundation. (2021, September 14). Dolph Ziggler. Wikipedia. Retrieved September 28, 2021, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolph_Ziggler#World_Heavyweight_Champion_(2012%E2%80%932013).

Wikimedia Foundation. (2021, September 27). Finn Bálor. Wikipedia. Retrieved September 28, 2021, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finn_B%C3%A1lor#Universal_Champion_(2016%E2%80%932017).

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Opinion

Chris King: The Wyatt Sicks’ Wasted Potential By WWE

Chris King takes a look at the WWE and their wasted potential of Uncle Howdy and the Wyatt Sicks faction.

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Wyatt Sicks WWE

Chris King takes a look at the WWE and their wasted potential of Uncle Howdy and the Wyatt Sicks faction.

It’s that time of the year again, folks; it’s unfortunate and downright awful that so many WWE superstars got released today. I’m not going to list all of them, but I am going to talk about one of my favorite factions, 

The Wyatt Sicks. Nikki Cross, Joe Gacy, Erik Rowan, and Bo Dallas (Uncle Howdy) were something special. After Bo’s brother Bray Wyatt’s tragic passing, WWE felt like there was a hole that needed to be filled. Wyatt was one of the most creative and brilliant characters, and Bo would be taking over his brother’s concept and bringing it to life. In 2024, at the end of an incredible documentary highlighting Wyatt’s career and struggles, Bo appeared on the screen portrayed as Uncle Howdy. The last time Uncle Howdy was seen on-screen was at the 2023 Royal Rumble, where Wyatt defeated LA Knight in a Pitch Black Match. Howdy jumped off a structure onto Knight. 

This post-credit scene sparked so much speculation and excitement that Wyatt’s brother would carry on his legacy and possibly debut the faction that was Wyatt’s concept. On the June 17th episode of Monday Night Raw, The Wyatt Sicks made their dramatic debut ,destroying the backstage area as well as “murdering” Chad Gable. It was such an iconic arrival for Howdy as he made his menacing walk from the back into the audience who were chanting “Holy Shit.” The Sicks and American Made (Chad Gable and The Creed Brothers) battled for months, with The Sicks being victorious. On the September 9th episode of Raw, The Sicks defeated them, with Howdy getting the win with Sister Abigail. 

The following year, The Sicks would move over to Friday Night SmackDown, and it seemed like WWE had a plan in place. They would win the tag team championships from The Street Profits and start to look dominant. Now, what should have happened next is Howdy should have won the United States title. The Sicks could have held all the gold over on the blue brand, but it never happened. The Sicks entered into a never-ending feud with The MFT’s (Solo Sikoa, Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa, JC Mateo, and Talla Tonga.) It started off exciting, and the WWE Universe was red-hot for their interactions. 

After months of repetitive matches and The MFT’s stealing their lantern, the feud grew tiresome and boring. Even Tama asked Solo why they are still holding onto the lantern, as it was destroying them as a whole. Finally on the SmackDown before Mania, Tama

gave the lantern back to Howdy against Solo’s wishes. Please explain to me why both factions fought almost every single week instead of just having one final blowoff match at WrestleMania. 

It should have been either a massive street fight or a falls count anywhere match on the grandest stage of them all. Instead, it turned into a meaningless week-after-week extravaganza that benefited no one. The MFTs won the rivalry, and The Sicks don’t even work for WWE anymore. This was the same criminalized creative process that Wyatt dealt with during his first run in the company. 

We’ll never know how much of a dangerous force The Wyatt Sicks could have been in the WWE. For all their careers’ sake, I hope they stay far away from the company for as long as possible. Every superstar that was cut deserves better!

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Opinion

Chris King: Bloodline Saga: Is This the Right Call For WWE?

Chris King questions the WWE’s logic in setting up Jacob Fatu as the next challenger for World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns 

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WWE Jacob Fatu Roman Reigns Backlash

Chris King questions the WWE’s logic in setting up Jacob Fatu as the next challenger for World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns

Roman Reigns is once again World Heavyweight Champion after his dominant win over CM Punk at WrestleMania 42. On the following night on Monday Night Raw, The OG Bloodline came back together as a well-oiled machine as The Usos stood side by side with Roman. With the WWE Universe asking who would be the first to challenge “The Tribal Chief,” Jacob Fatu shocked the world by answering the call. 

Fatu is running hot after his impressive win over Drew McIntyre and feels like he is ready to become the new world champion. This bloodline segment ended Raw, and it picked right back up on SmackDown with even Solo Sikoa and the MFTs involved. This is now two shows that have been centered around The Bloodline saga, and it’s made me question whether or not WWE should be retelling this story. 

The Bloodline (Roman Reigns, The Usos, and Solo Sikoa) ran WWE for over four years as Reigns’ henchmen, doing his dirty work to retain his title. Even though Roman has declared he doesn’t want Jey and Jimmy to serve him, it sure seems like WWE are spinning their wheels. Fatu could add a whole new chapter into the story, even if he’s not able to beat Roman at Backlash. “The Samoan Werewolf” could be forced to do the same thing as Jey did all those years ago and fall in line. 

 In my opinion, I feel like Fatu should be challenging for the Undisputed WWE Championship because that’s a title I feel like he should win. I understand standing up to your blood and trying to prove you’re the best, but I don’t think this is the right move. It feels like 2022 all over again, as The Bloodline is the central focus on both shows. If Fatu doesn’t win, what happens to all his momentum he’s been building over the last two years? 

Why did WWE make this the best choice for storyline purposes? Why couldn’t creative have come up with a different challenger for Roman? There are so many other superstars that could challenge The Tribal Chief, such as Rusev, Bron Breakker, Gunther, or even a returning Sheamus. 

I just can’t help but question WWE’s logic here, and it kind of reminds me of all the times The Shield reunited. Could WWE be pushing the same storyline too many times here? Could the WWE Universe get tired of this rinse and repeat cycle of The Bloodline Saga?

Are we about to see all the weekly episodes solely focused on The Bloodline again? Will it be cinema… Yes. Is there still money in The Bloodline… Yes. Was it the right call? That’s to be determined!

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