At SummerSlam 2016, Finn Balor made WWE history when he defeated Seth Rollins to become the first-ever Universal Champion. The night was supposed to be Balor’s crowning moment, as he’d just been called up from “WWE NXT” a month prior to his clash with Rollins and the company was positioning him to immediately become the face of “WWE Raw.” However, an injury that Balor suffered in the match completely derailed any future plans WWE had for him as the new Universal Champion, and altered his career for the worse.
During the match, Rollins delivered a running powerbomb to Balor into the ringside barricade, but the former NXT Champion collided awkwardly with the barrier when taking the move, causing him to dislocate his shoulder and damage the labrum. The injury was severe enough for WWE to order Balor to vacate the Universal Championship the next night on “Raw,” and fans wouldn’t see him on TV again until April 2017.
Although Balor recovered from his shoulder injury, he hasn’t been able to win a world title since being Universal Champion, with WWE never viewing him in the same light they did when he was first called up from “NXT.” Therefore, with the 10-year anniversary of Balor’s brief Universal Championship reign upon us, we consider where “The Demon” could’ve been today had he never gotten hurt in the summer of 2016.
Balor holds his first world title until WrestleMania 33
After Balor vacated the Universal Championship, Kevin Owens would capture the relinquished title the next week on “WWE Raw” after defeating Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Big Cass in a Fatal Four-Way Elimination Match. Owens would hold the title for 188 days before losing it to Goldberg, who defeated him in 22 seconds at Fastlane, a decision that was heavily criticized with many fans disapproving of WWE’s booking of “KO.” Shortly afterwards at WrestleMania 33, Goldberg would drop the title to Brock Lesnar, who was champion for a historic 504 days, which left “Raw” without a top titleholder most nights with “The Beast” being a part-time star.
Balor’s injury at SummerSlam had a three-year ripple effect on the Universal Championship, and though it allowed Owens to win his first WWE world title, the early lineage of the belt would’ve been much different if “The Prince” didn’t hurt his shoulder. Being the inaugural Universal Champion, it’s likely that Balor would’ve been given a long title reign, especially since he was one of the hottest stars to come out of “NXT” that year, and could’ve walked into WrestleMania 33 with the gold around his waist. Owens and Lesnar would’ve both been possible opponents for Balor, and even though he probably would’ve dropped the title at the “Grandest Stage Of Them All,” he would’ve solidified himself as a reliable main event player with his first reign as Universal Champion.
Is there a possibility that Balor would’ve suffered the same fate as Owens by losing the title to Goldberg at Fastlane? Definitely, but at the very least holding the championship for six months could’ve been enough to avoid what eventually happened to the Irish star when he returned from injury, getting stuck in the mid-card.
Balor never returns to NXT
The night after WrestleMania 33, Balor returned from his shoulder injury, and though he enjoyed two Intercontinental Title reigns and came close to regaining the Universal Championship in the years that followed, he was unable to reach the same level of popularity he had in the summer of 2016. Balor specifically seemed to struggle to connect with the audience in 2019, which was mostly due to WWE’s poor booking of the Intercontinental title, leading the him to return to “NXT” that October after losing to The Fiend at SummerSlam.
Balor’s second stint with the black and gold brand is arguably one of the best runs of his entire professional wrestling career, with his 212-day NXT Championship reign being some of WWE’s best programming throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. That said, if Balor had avoided injury at SummerSlam three years prior, he probably wouldn’t have returned to his old stomping grounds, as he hopefully would’ve been viewed as a top star by this point.
Instead of wrestling Bobby Lashley at WrestleMania 35 in a lackluster Intercontinental Title match, Balor could’ve been considered as the winner of the 2019 Royal Rumble, especially because of his iron man performance in the match the year prior. Although Rollins was a deserving winner of the Royal Rumble that year, he didn’t need the victory having already been one of WWE’s most established wrestlers, whereas Balor would’ve not only benefited from being the last man standing, but also could’ve further launched himself into superstardom by defeating Lesnar and becoming a two-time Universal Champion at WrestleMania.
Balor becomes a multi-time world champion
Although Balor’s heel run in “NXT” was nearly flawless, it didn’t immediately translate to main roster success like many thought it would, as WWE placed him back in the mid-card scene upon his return. The following year, Balor’s character felt so directionless that WWE decided to put him in the Judgment Day, led by Edge, who’s purpose was to elevate talent that were being misused. The Judgment Day definitely helped stars like Rhea Ripley and Damian Priest, but Balor didn’t seem to benefit on a singles level with the group. More than anything, one would’ve thought that Balor being the mastermind behind turning on Edge and becoming the new leader of the Judgment Day would lead him to a world title, but instead he often faded into the background while his stablemates were given more opportunity to succeed.
If Balor had stayed healthy in 2016, he likely would’ve never been recruited by the Judgment Day, but more importantly, he could’ve possibly been a multi-time world champion by this point. Since his match with Rollins at SummerSlam, WWE always seems to have an idea of how to make Balor world champion again, but fail to execute on it. Balor getting to fully experience his first and only world title reign in WWE would’ve changed the entire trajectory of his career, as it wouldn’t have led the company to take a stop-and-start approach with his character over the past decade. Instead, thanks to that injury, WWE’s lack of interest in Balor as a top star could lead the 45-year-old to become one of the most talented performers that never got the world title reign he deserved.
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