Last week on “WWE SmackDown,” it was determined that Sami Zayn will indeed get another shot for the opportunity to challenge for the Undisputed WWE Championship, after he feels like he was screwed out of the title after just nine days by management and CM Punk. It won’t be so easy for him, however, as Finn Balor won a four-way match against Damian Priest, Royce Keys, and United States Champion Trick Williams to face Zayn at “The Biggest Party of the Summer” to determine the next contender for the title.
While SummerSlam isn’t a premium live event where fans often see number one contender’s matches, in the case of Zayn and Balor, it’s warranted. Those are two big names for the card, which needs enough matches to span over two nights, and it should be one absolute banger of a bout, making all fans winners in the end. Balor and Zayn make the winners list this week for making their way onto the show, in a match with actual stakes.
Fans have been begging for another push for Balor since the beginning of 2026, and truly, even longer. He hasn’t held a top title on the main roster since his ill-fated Universal Championship victory over Seth Rollins a decade ago at SummerSlam 2016, where his shoulder was injured by a buckle bomb onto the barricade. Balor relinquished the title the next night, and hasn’t hit such heights since.
In just one night on “SmackDown,” in very simple fashion, it sets up a unique match dynamic, with Balor fighting his way back to the top ten years after his major injury at the event, and Zayn also looking for redemption after working so hard for so long, only to lose the Undisputed WWE Championship to Punk after just a few days with the gold.
The match is great for Zayn’s character arc either way. Either he wins the match to challenge for the title, or he can continue his arc of descending further into madness. For Balor, personally, it has to feel fulfilling to even get the opportunity, and it seems rather likely he’ll emerge the victor to challenge either Punk or Rhodes down the line, if only just to further Zayn’s story. The bout is up against some stiff competition when it comes to in-ring action during night two of the event, but there’s no chance they don’t deliver.
Balor vs. Zayn may have been one of the last-minute additions to the SummerSlam card, but it could emerge as one of the best bouts of the entire weekend. The simple, yet effective way to book this match was a big win for WWE last week.
Written by Daisy Ruth
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