5 reasons why Finn Balor isn't 'over' enough to face Brock Lesnar
It’s official: Brock Lesnar will put his Universal Championship on the line in a Triple Threat match against Braun Strowman and Kane at the Royal Rumble.
For the last few months, the assumption has been that Finn Balor would take on “The Beast” in January but, for reasons only known to Vince McMahon, the Irishman is reportedly not ‘over’ enough to go toe-to-toe with the Universal Champion.
Balor has had plenty of fun with the rumours on social media in recent weeks, while WWE has even released a new shirt for “The Demon King” highlighting the letters ‘OVER’ in the word ‘FOREVER’.
In this article, we attempt to lurk inside the mind of Mr. McMahon to take a look at the five main reasons why he has decided not to go ahead with a match between Lesnar and Balor at the Royal Rumble.
#5 He’s been overshadowed on Raw in 2017
When Finn Balor moved to Raw in July 2016 and became Universal Champion just a month later, he quickly established himself as a performer who was ready to be at the top of the red brand’s card.
However, since his return from injury in April, Finn has been overshadowed by other people and other storylines on Monday nights – as highlighted in our recent countdown of the top 50 Raw Superstars of 2017, in which Balor finished in 13th position.
When you think of Braun Strowman’s last 12 months, his monstrous battles with Roman Reigns, Big Show and Brock Lesnar come to mind; when you think of Reigns, his wins over The Undertaker and John Cena come to mind; and when you think of Samoa Joe, his pay-per-view main events and devastating Coquina Clutch come to mind.
When you think of Balor, he’s had a good year in terms of high-quality matches on Raw but, from a storyline perspective, there just haven’t been enough standout moments in 2017 to put him on the same level as Lesnar’s other challengers on the Raw roster.