Finn Balor finally got another shot at the world title on Monday Night Raw in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and while he, as expected, came up empty handed, the show of respect he had with current champion CM Punk was a sight to behold.
The match itself was a typical Balor affair: solid, if not unspectacular, with plenty of hard work in the ring but little fanfare. In a way, it sums up Balor’s WWE career. He has been a perfectly solid cog in the wheel but never a true standout performer.
Despite being a heel for years as a key part of the Judgment Day, becoming something of a leader of it as the main veteran presence following the turn against Edge, Balor came out of the match with Punk looking like a babyface.
Finn Balor is now a babyface
Sure, it’s a bit of a cop out way to turn someone face, but with a respected and experienced wrestler like Finn, it works. The WWE fans were all applauding Balor after another hard fought match, with Punk holding his hand up and encouraging the crowd’s reaction.
Balor is, for all intents and purposes, a babyface now. And that obviously means that he can no longer be a part of the Judgment Day, because the Judgment Day are heels.
Throughout his time with the Judgment Day, Balor has been something of a puppet master in disguise, used by WWE as a plot device to help kick members out once they had graduated and were deemed ready to be stand alone babyface stars, most prominently old rival Damian Priest.
But now, Balor is the babyface graduating from the Judgment Day. Really, it makes a lot of sense. He has become redundant in the Judgment Day, no longer fitting the vibe of the group.
More to the point, Balor has started to feel stale, and while this has honestly been a problem with him for quite some time due to his booking, it has been awfully tough to take him seriously with how much he loses big matches.
Triple H has loved Balor since Day 1 in NXT and has always tried to make him a prominent part of the Black and Gold brand whenever the two were together in separate stints.
So it makes full sense for Triple H to help cement Finn’s babyface turn by having him not only leave the Judgment Day, but also beat Dominik Mysterio for the Intercontinental Championship to show that he is back as a force to be reckoned with in WWE.
Joe helped manage the pro wrestling site Daily DDT from 2017 to 2019. He has appeared in many wrestling podcasts and has had his work featured by mainstream media sites and professional wrestlers themselves. Joe also covers soccer, writing about Tottenham for Hotspur HQ, Real Madrid for A Trip to Cibeles, and general world football for The Trivela Effect.