Finn Balor

[The Law]

So the word is that Vince has kiboshed his planned main event push and title match against Brock because he doesn't believe in him. How does everyone feel about that?

I think I'm with Vince. I like Finn, but I just haven't seen enough from him to justify him being at that level. He's over, but not super over. His matches are good but they're not amazing. His promos could use some work. The only thing that's really interesting about his character is the demon thing.

I'd probably give the Royal Rumble title match to Bray Wyatt. Bray has had his issues too but I think with a couple weeks of a strong push and some good promos he'd be a credible threat to Lesnar. Plus he presents something different and more sinister than a typical challenger could.

[MikeHunt]

Since hes come back he had an awful feud with Wyatt and a stupidly long programme with Elias. Who the fuck is not going to come out of that looking damaged.

Strangely enough he seemed extremely over when he faced AJ, then he lost to fucking Kane.

The reason he isnt over has nothing to do with him it is the booking.

[Kdestiny]

Since hes come back he had an awful feud with Wyatt and a stupidly long programme with Elias. Who the fuck is not going to come out of that looking damaged.

Strangely enough he seemed extremely over when he faced AJ, then he lost to fucking Kane.

The reason he isnt over has nothing to do with him it is the booking.

Mr. Hunt has it right on the nose. Crowd was hot for him, but when you book him in shitty storylines then anyone could start looking bad

[mr sabu]

wwe's booking sucks for everyone


unless your strowman and roman

[LGHTNNG]

Vince is an idiot. He thought the same about Daniel Bryan. The guy is out of touch and he wonders why people reject his "projects". Dumb ass.

Finn just needs to go out there and not give a fuck like ruthless Devitt in BC's early days. I'd have him as a huge babyface who does Heelish things, he would use any and everything to get the win. The Club helping him. I like the idea of him bringing in the Authors of Pain as his personal bodyguards. The guy is a star. The WWE Office are a bunch of fucking idiots who know fuck all about anything.

Even the Casual viewer might flick on the TV and see this small wrestler with huge guys protecting him - getting wins over Lesnar, Reigns and Strowman.

[Mazer]

Agreed with Michael.

Even when the Wyatt feud had a positive moment, they were unable to sustain anything.

Finn is one compelling feud from being back over with the crowd.

[Rancid_Planet]

Finn Finn Finn.

Where to begin?

Ahem.

Finn is an oddity in the world of the WWE. He is a smaller sized wrestler who (given a real push) gets over huge. But not like Daniel Bryan. Because he is nothing like Daniel Bryan. Finn is a solid worker and given the right opponent (Samoa Joe) can have a great match. Opposed to Bryan who could have a great match against a picture of another wrestler.

Finn has charisma but not the passionate promo charisma of a Bryan. It's more of a silent physical charisma. It's borderline magnetic but absolutely nothing like the kind of charisma a typical small man in WWE has when he gets over.

Finn is his own thing. And the WWE don't know what to do with unique. Not these days. These days they need a wrestler to fit into a pre designated slot. And Finn does not.

Too bad for Finn. Too bad for WWE.




He'll be champ of SD one day though. Vince could give a shit about SD.

[MikeHunt]

He is one feud from being over as fuck.

That feud should not be with Brock right now. If anything this is a smart move from Vince because they are ultimately protecting him.

Pretty smart. Whoever they feed to Brock at the rumble is who they dont have any plans for AKA Bray Wyatt.

[MMH]

The only major issue I have with Balor is that there is no difference between Balor and the Demon. They look different obviously but they just wrestle the same.

[Simon]

I really want Finn to do well, but there really isn't much depth to him. An awesome entrance - but then the lights come back on, the headdress comes off and the whole gimmick is exposed, it's just a little Irish bloke in face paint. Undertaker, Kane, Bray...they retain some mystique from their gimmick once they're in the ring, whereas as soon as a match begins the whole Eye of Balor thing disappears, and without that air of mystique there's nothing particularly credible about Balor as a main event guy. He doesn't have the aggression or hard hits that made small guys like Benoit credible against bigger opponents.

Like I say, I really want him to do well and I think with the Eye of Balor there is potential for him to be a believable little guy in the main event, harnessing whatever power that myth has. Obviously there are major questions over whether the writers could pull it off, but at the moment they aren't even trying. Those promos at the start of his run in the WWE were fantastic, heavily putting over the Irish mythology and the idea that the dark side of Balor bestowed some incredible force on him...but ever since, it's been nothing more than the face paint and wig. And nowadays they aren't even really bothering with that, it's just a handsome paddy in a leather jacket.

[Stocky]

I don't hate Finn balor but god his finisher while sure it seems painful is dull and looks weak. Funny out of all the finishers kids might try at home this is the easiest and dangerous.

[Donald]

I don't like Finn Balor and don't mind him not being in the main event

[Tainted Eclipse]

i don't see balor as a top main eventer. he's an upper midcard guy. he's not really exceptional in the ring, not much of a promo, nothing really too interesting about his character. he has charisma and people seem to naturally like him a lot, so if he gets over at a certain level he should be pushed at a certain level, but i don't see him as a guy they should single out for a megapush.

[Tainted Eclipse]

he should go heel, channel his heel work in NJPW which was the best role of his career, and see how well he can do from it.

[Clive Plasma]

I just don't buy his promos. I'm not captivated by them. Mind you, how on earth he was supposed to be motivated in the positions he's been put in is beyond me. His in-ring work is solid though - bounced back from the injury well and remains pretty entertaining in the ring. The match with AJ was really good.

[RFF Champ]

Those promos at the start of his run in the WWE were fantastic, heavily putting over the Irish mythology and the idea that the dark side of Balor bestowed some incredible force on him...

The ones when he arrived on Raw with Rollins? They were awful. They were so bad they had to stop doing them live and pre-taped them.

[Simon]

Forget who he was feuding with but they were pre-taped ones talking about the mythology of the Gaelic legends, the Eye of Balor etc. It was camp and melodramatic but it was really good fun.

[NWo4LifeOr2Years]

Vince nailed this one.

The guys a vanilla midget that never uses a wrestling hold and just stomps stomps stomps.

bor-ring.

[Simon]

Forget who he was feuding with but they were pre-taped ones talking about the mythology of the Gaelic legends, the Eye of Balor etc. It was camp and melodramatic but it was really good fun.

This is the one in particular I'm on about. I can understand why people might not like it, it's very over the top and silly...but that is a fantastic base for a mythical character IMO, doing a good job of setting up Balor's character who not only has some sort of unknowable power beyond his physical size, but also exposes his arrogance a little and so highlights a weakness in him...that's what you want in a back story, giving you legit reasons why someone can win and lose.

Even if you don't like the promo itself, it at least hints at a depth of the Balor character which no longer really exists - at best he's a man with a cool entrance who reverts back to a normal wrestler once his wig comes off, and at worst he doesn't even that, he's just a fairly generic personality who is a decent worker and a pretty face. This isn't even a criticism of him really, he's not being given much to work with, and without that mythology there isn't much to make him believable as a top guy because he's small and not particularly intense.

To get over as a top guy when you're that small, I think you need to either be an incredible worker who is so good he could believably beat bigger guys (Michaels, Jericho, Guerrero, to an extent Mysterio), incredibly intense (Tazz) or both (Benoit, Bryan). Balor's back story is a third option that hasn't really been open to small guys before as most mythological characters have been big dudes like Kane, Taker and Bray, but that element of his character has been stripped and without it he has no edge that makes you think he could beat a top guy like Cena or Reigns, let alone Strowman or Lesnar.

[NWo4LifeOr2Years]

I was just discussing said subject with my family and my daughter replied, "Sounds like Finn's on the fast track to 205 Live."

Bwa Ha Ha

[Murphy]

Can't see him going anywhere near 205 Live. Lets not be silly.

But he is a horrible promo, for me. That on top of him being a smaller guy, is why I've never had high hopes of him staying near the top.

[Sinner]

seeing Finn Balors entrance every week, has made me not like him Nearly as much.

same with Nakamura, same with Roode.

Awesome entrances once and a while, it's just too much. Especially when they do the whole thing to come down to the ring and Promo.

Ew.

[Murphy]

Yeah, good point.

[The Law]

It's really a shame they've so thoroughly destroyed the idea of the Cruiserweight division that being in it would feel like a massive demotion even from the midcard. In an ideal world the Cruiserweight Champion would be treated the same as the Heavyweight Champion. They're both the champions of the world in their weight class.

[Murphy]

Aye, it's nuts. Sadly.

That's one thing WCW did get right, for a while anyway.

[Jordo]

First time I really noticed a difference in ring work between the demon and Finn was actually against Wyatt

[RFF Champ]

Vince nailed this one.

The guys a vanilla midget that never uses a wrestling hold and just stomps stomps stomps.

bor-ring.

haha, yeah his offence is so boring.

[AudioDynamite]

wwe's booking sucks for everyone


unless your strowman and roman

And Brock and Cena

[Defrost]

Having watched the guy for years for what WWE wants from their entertainers he'd be better off as a heel

[Tildey]

This is the one in particular I'm on about. I can understand why people might not like it, it's very over the top and silly...but that is a fantastic base for a mythical character IMO, doing a good job of setting up Balor's character who not only has some sort of unknowable power beyond his physical size, but also exposes his arrogance a little and so highlights a weakness in him...that's what you want in a back story, giving you legit reasons why someone can win and lose.

I really enjoyed this promo as well and have been really disappointed that they haven't followed through with the character development that was started here. Like you said, its not an option typically used for smaller guys and it had potential.

It's really a shame they've so thoroughly destroyed the idea of the Cruiserweight division that being in it would feel like a massive demotion even from the midcard. In an ideal world the Cruiserweight Champion would be treated the same as the Heavyweight Champion. They're both the champions of the world in their weight class.

I complain about this regularly in my house. Cruiserweight matches are always some of my favorites to watch and I hate the way their storylines are typically treated like afterthoughts.

[Simon]

I don't really watch 205 Live but from what I've seen the cruiserweight division is treated a lot like the women's division used to be, and to a certain extent still is ie. you don't really need to bother with proper storylines because putting a bunch of bitchy little guys together is seen as enough, as if this is just how that sort of person is.

[Tildey]

I don't really watch 205 Live but from what I've seen the cruiserweight division is treated a lot like the women's division used to be, and to a certain extent still is ie. you don't really need to bother with proper storylines because putting a bunch of bitchy little guys together is seen as enough, as if this is just how that sort of person is.

That's exactly how it is. And always one of my complaints about the women's division. Although, the women's division does seem to be getting better in that regard - for now, anyway.

[Beer-Belly]

Since hes come back he had an awful feud with Wyatt and a stupidly long programme with Elias. Who the fuck is not going to come out of that looking damaged.

Strangely enough he seemed extremely over when he faced AJ, then he lost to fucking Kane.

The reason he isnt over has nothing to do with him it is the booking.

I agree with all of this.

[Donald]

Show more skinn Balor then you'll be over.

[Badger]

He's undefeated as the Demon at least so there is that. But yeah, it always seems like one step forward and two steps back for the guy. Every time they give him a bit of momentum (title match on Great Balls of Fire with Heyman putting him over as the likely winner, beating Wyatt at Sumnerslam, beating AJ and helping eliminate Cena at Survivor Series), they offset it (Elias feud, carrying on the Wyatt feud, losing to Kane and Joe's got two clean TV wins over him also giving away PPV-like matches on TV).

They just can't seem to make their mind up, but given the ball he could be a big face without the need to turn him.

[RFF Champ]

That's exactly how it is. And always one of my complaints about the women's division. Although, the women's division does seem to be getting better in that regard - for now, anyway.

The women's division got better because the talent vastly improved, I'd say. The cruiserweight division gets elevated by the likes of Neville and Enzo because they have personalities and are entertaining. Supplement that with stuff like Gulak's new gimmick and Kalisto's niche and you have a division. It was pretty grim when it was Perkins, Kendrick, Swann, Alexander etc. because none of them brought anything to the table or engineered any chemistry.

[Badger]

The women's division got better because the talent vastly improved, I'd say. The cruiserweight division gets elevated by the likes of Neville and Enzo because they have personalities and are entertaining. Supplement that with stuff like Gulak's new gimmick and Kalisto's niche and you have a division. It was pretty grim when it was Perkins, Kendrick, Swann, Alexander etc. because none of them brought anything to the table or engineered any chemistry.

205 Live was great this week. Gobbledy Gulaker being put on time-out and the Zo Train beatdown and shuffle at the end. Plus Itami's coming.

[Donald]

Yay hideo itami

[Kdestiny]

He's undefeated as the Demon at least so there is that. But yeah, it always seems like one step forward and two steps back for the guy. Every time they give him a bit of momentum (title match on Great Balls of Fire with Heyman putting him over as the likely winner, beating Wyatt at Sumnerslam, beating AJ and helping eliminate Cena at Survivor Series), they offset it (Elias feud, carrying on the Wyatt feud, losing to Kane and Joe's got two clean TV wins over him also giving away PPV-like matches on TV).

They just can't seem to make their mind up, but given the ball he could be a big face without the need to turn him.

He's not undefeated as the demon though

[Badger]

He's not undefeated as the demon though

On the main roster I think he is undefeated, but maybe there's an NXT match I'm missing.

[chatty]

Finn would benefit massively by moving to Smackdown imo. On Raw hes now got Brock, Braun, Roman and probably Ambrose/Rollins ahead of him as faces and hes sort of stuck in shit mid card feuds. Probably hasnt helped that the Wyatt feud was stupid as fuck and was stop start bouncing over to Elias and Goldust.

The most interesting he has been was a straight up three days notice match with AJ.

On Smackdown he can have feuds with Dolph, Owens, Zayne and Roode (turn the guy heel). Also has Orton, AJ and Nakamura for face v face matches where they could really steal the show. Having a load of great matches will build the crowd to fully get behind him (as he is over).

Keep the Demon stuff to a minimal and only bring it out for 2-3 matches a year max when hes completely under the kosh, dont even advertise it, just unleash it in bog matches. Will work so much better imo.

[Kdestiny]

On the main roster I think he is undefeated, but maybe there's an NXT match I'm missing.

Joe in a cage.

Hes been the demon what, three matches on the main roster?

[Badger]

Joe in a cage.

Yeah I remember about Joe as soon as I posted that.

Hes been the demon what, three matches on the main roster?[/QUOTE] It is only three on the main roster true, but still the larger point remains. One forward, two back. Booking is a lotto blame here.

[Kdestiny]

Yeah I remember about Joe as soon as I posted that.

It is only three on the main roster true, but still the larger point remains. One forward, two back. Booking is a lot to blame here.

Oh I'm with you there. He was in a good spot before the injury, he was booked like a star.

He returns to not much fanfare and has that awful program with Wyatt and gets destroyed by Kane of all people. Horrific

[RFF Champ]

hes sort of stuck in shit mid card feuds.

Stop having shit midcard feuds then. Make them good and you get moved to the upper card.

[Badger]

Oh I'm with you there. He was in a good spot before the injury, he was booked like a star.

He returns to not much fanfare and has that awful program with Wyatt and gets destroyed by Kane of all people.

I can get them having Kane getting some wins for his last big run and even having him put Strowman ut of action for a bit so that Strowman will likely beat him in his retirement match. Beating Balor in a nothing match right with no build after him toppling Styles should not have been part of that rùn though.

[VHS]

Give Finn the mic and a couple minutes to speak his mind and he'll have the audience in the palm of his hand. But that goes against what WWE is today... a robotic entity w/ no edge or balls.

[Badger]

I don't think he's a bad promo at all, I felt bad for him having to sell that Sister Abigail shit. As bad as this sounds, Wyatt getting the mumps was a blessing in disguise because that match would've been horrible trying to suspend disbelief.

[Beer-Belly]

Stop having shit midcard feuds then. Make them good and you get moved to the upper card.

Finn isn't writing the storylines.

[chatty]

Stop having shit midcard feuds then. Make them good and you get moved to the upper card.

Easier said than done. Bray is possibly the worst person to have a feud with on the roster cause his feuds generally suck and go on for three to four months, you trade wins for that whole period making neither look good and the whole feud always ends up in some sort of mystical cartoon bullshit. How many people have actually come out of a feud with Bray looking good - Bryan, anyone else?

Then hes had Elias and Goldust who neither are pushed and are basically jobbers that people do t really care much for so therefore dont get into the feud.

I like all Bray, Goldust and Elias but they end up in shit or nothing angles on an almost constant basis.

[RFF Champ]

Finn isn't writing the storylines.

Cop-out.

[Beer-Belly]

Cop-out.

How so? Shitty storylines (like whatever that Sister Abigail trash was supposed to be) can cause the audience to lose interest in a character.

[Badger]

How so? Shitty storylines (like whatever that Sister Abigail trash was supposed to be) can cause the audience to lose interest in a character.

Alex hates Balor as much as Peter likes Vince.

[Bagel]

I think part of the problem is the roster.

They're determined to make Reigns their next champion
Brock has to be pushed as an unbeatable monster
Braun is booked like an unbeatable monster, but one who can't be champion because.... Roman
Seth and Dean have to look great because Roman has to look great, so of course they're featured as well

Miz gets quality airtime because he's great at what he does
Cesaro and Sheamus are a great team and seem to be featured as such

Kane is being pushed as some monster because.... memories, I guess.
Bray loves to cut mysterious promos and lose most of his feuds

So that leaves guys like Joe and Balor a bit on the outside of things. I think Joe would make a good champion but the powers that be probably don't see the point in pushing a guy who wears a bathing suit for his matches. And guys like Gallows & Anderson are on the outside of things too. A little roster shakeup and moving those three over might help. Which seems to be my answer to most guys who seem stuck in the middle, never really getting serious consideration for the main eventt but then lumped into shit feuds that go nowhere (Bray vs. Balor). They could easily move Balor to SDL and bring in someone else from NXT to fill that void without really wasting them away on a 3 hour program.

[Eddie Brock]

I agree. Balor is cool and all but a match vs. Lesnar? I just don't see Balor ever going over him. If Styles can't beat Lesnar there’s no way a dude like Balor would. I'd rather see Balor on SmackDown and fight the workers there. He's small, he doesn't have an arsenal to use against a beast like Lesnar, he hasn't really done a thing besides his title winning debut. It's obvious that having Balor job out to Kane and then to Joe one can easily infer that they currently see Balor as nothing but cannon fodder for the time being. But that's not even the biggest issue. He brings nothing to the table. So, in that case his lack of physical presence is a problem. Which is what has helped 205's demise. If there are heavier wrestlers able to pull off Balor's moves why should I believe he can give Lesnar a run for his money?

[Sasori]

It's sad about Finn because Vince was ready to push him as a top star, but he got a freak injury in the Universal Title match. We'll never know how things would have turned out had he come out of the match uninjured. I wasn't that high on Finn when he debuted on the main roster, but he's grown on me. I think his work in the ring is better than in NXT and he's handled the transition after being called up better than some. He just needs the right feud for fans to rally behind him again. However...

The only major issue I have with Balor is that there is no difference between Balor and the Demon. They look different obviously but they just wrestle the same.

I think the Demon gimmick is holding him back. It's like saying he needs it to win the big matches and isn't good enough without it. Then again, he did beat Bray as a "Man", so why bother with it at all? I've never liked the look of the Demon either. He looks the same except his head and chest are painted. And the problem with paint is that it starts out looking cool, but ends up as a smeared mess by the end of the match. Feels like his entire body should be painted to really express the transformation. Then there's the music. He uses the same theme when he's the Demon and when he's just Balor. Shouldn't his regular theme be saved for the Demon and used something else when he's just himself 99% of the time? On top of all this, as people have mentioned, Balor ends up in mystical hocus pocus storylines that are cringe worthy. I would either save for once or twice a year or drop it all together.

[Beer-Belly]

Alex hates Balor as much as Peter likes Vince.

Balor isn't my favorite guy on the roster, but that level of dislike seems silly to me. I do think Finn definitely needs some work in certain areas, though.

[Bagel]

I agree. The match with Styles was an interesting thing to watch, and with the end result the way it was (besides expecting Reigns to be the next champ after Lesnar), if Styles had won then as the viewer you're supposed to believe it could happen Balor might win. Honestly I wouldn't waste time with the payoff for Reigns winning coming at WM34. Who else are you going to throw at Lesnar now that hasn't already been done?

Balor doesn't really blow me away the way watching Braun or even Joe does to say, maybe these guys can be the world champ. What he is is a lot like the Miz in-ring, he can be a dependable, steady upper-midcard guy who sometimes mixes it up with top-tier guys and that's fine.

[Badger]

I agree. The match with Styles was an interesting thing to watch, and with the end result the way it was (besides expecting Reigns to be the next champ after Lesnar), if Styles had won then as the viewer you're supposed to believe it could happen Balor might win. Honestly I wouldn't waste time with the payoff for Reigns winning coming at WM34. Who else are you going to throw at Lesnar now that hasn't already been done?

Balor doesn't really blow me away the way watching Braun or even Joe does to say, maybe these guys can be the world champ. What he is is a lot like the Miz in-ring, he can be a dependable, steady upper-midcard guy who sometimes mixes it up with top-tier guys and that's fine.

Reigns/Lesnar is an inevtability, highly doubt that'-s gonna change.

Miz could and would do a lot better though, moreso than Balor. He's made the IC title his baby and his loss to Reigns is probably an excuse for him to go do Marine 6 plus be with Maryse. He should get a proper run with the ball instead of being the sideplate like with Rock/Cena last time. His other skills make up for in-ring.

[Andrew6586]

Vince put Mahal in three straight PPV main events and is worried about people being bored with a character?

[Nash Diesel]

Question....where and when did they announce Lesnar at the Rumble and his opponent?

After the push they've given to Jinder, regardlesa the reason for that horrifying decision, anything is possible.

[NWo4LifeOr2Years]

haha, yeah his offence is so boring.

Did I say that?

I said he never uses a WRESTLING HOLD and just stomps stomps stomps stomps.

leaping stomp, flying stomp, jumping stomp off the top rope, but all stomps lol...

truth.

He is rather one dimensional if highly active.

I am doubtful this is held against him in these dumbed down demographic days however.

So it must be the size.

[PurePlayer]

I agree. Balor is cool and all but a match vs. Lesnar? I just don't see Balor ever going over him. If Styles can't beat Lesnar there’s no way a dude like Balor would. I'd rather see Balor on SmackDown and fight the workers there. He's small, he doesn't have an arsenal to use against a beast like Lesnar, he hasn't really done a thing besides his title winning debut. It's obvious that having Balor job out to Kane and then to Joe one can easily infer that they currently see Balor as nothing but cannon fodder for the time being. But that's not even the biggest issue. He brings nothing to the table. So, in that case his lack of physical presence is a problem. Which is what has helped 205's demise. If there are heavier wrestlers able to pull off Balor's moves why should I believe he can give Lesnar a run for his money?

Balor beat Styles so your first point makes zero sense. Those saying Finn shouldn't get a push because of his mic work, well Reigns and Strowman are getting pushed and their mic work is not even on the level as Balor's.

[PurePlayer]

Vince put Mahal in three straight PPV main events and is worried about people being bored with a character?

this

[Morrison]

reigns not on balor's level of mic work? that might be the most insane thing i've ever read on here.

[PurePlayer]

Yes, based on the mic work I've seen out of Balor in WWE and Japan, he is better in my opinion. I thought Balor's mic work in Japan as a heel was good stuff.

[BGMaverick]

I've felt that the fact that they went with Styles/Lesnar makes me think they won't run Bálor with Brock. I've read about the backstage doubts about Bálor but I don't really buy that in relation to him. Outside of the demon aspect, there's not much in terms of a variation they can have based off how they told the story with Styles/Lesnar.

If you have Bálor in an overdone feud with Wyatt and then booked inferior to Kane to feed to Strowman, it shouldn't come as a shock that Bálor isn't booked in a position to look ready to face Lesnar.

[PurePlayer]

Well according to Meltzer, they were planning on building Balor back up after the loss to Kane.

[BGMaverick]

Well according to Meltzer, they were planning on building Balor back up after the loss to Kane.

Which, to me, is very easy to do. But my main point about Styles/Lesnar happening and the build of it led me to believe they weren't going to do that again with Bálor.

[Kdestiny]

Well according to Meltzer, they were planning on building Balor back up after the loss to Kane.

I thought he said otherwise after Survivor Series

[PurePlayer]

I thought he said otherwise after Survivor Series

I thought he said, they changed their mind at survivor series or something because they didn't feature him.

[Nash Diesel]

Meltzer's the weatherman.

His talk of Balor not being Lesnar's Rumble opponent really started when Balor went on this weak shit with Kane. I'm sure a lot of us at the same exact time were going "If the rumor that Balor was going to face Lesnar at the Rumble was true, this shit sure doesn't seem like they're still planning it."

I mean listen to the guy. "Uhhh Uhhh Uhhh like uhhh uhhh like uhhh Balor got squashed by Kane so the next week I'm going to report that the WWE are now sour on Balor even though there was never anything whatsoever that screamed Balor v. Lesnar at Rumble...at all".

[Bagel]

Last night between JJ, Kane, Wyatt, Finn and Braun felt like they were using all of them to test the waters how to proceed in booking an opponent for Brock at the Rumble. The main event was all kinds of chaos with JJ "hurt" and Finn taking his place, which could easily turn into a Finn vs JJ program assuming both are removed from the picture to have a match with Brock. Even if they ended up with some dumb finish by putting Brock vs. Braun in a rematch, or a triple threat involving Kane, then have the latter two battle in the Rumble match itself I'd be OK with it. Whatever they go with is just going to be a filler feud/match with Brock because we know what's happening.

[Nash Diesel]

Last night between JJ, Kane, Wyatt, Finn and Braun felt like they were using all of them to test the waters how to proceed in booking an opponent for Brock at the Rumble. The main event was all kinds of chaos with JJ "hurt" and Finn taking his place, which could easily turn into a Finn vs JJ program assuming both are removed from the picture to have a match with Brock. Even if they ended up with some dumb finish by putting Brock vs. Braun in a rematch, or a triple threat involving Kane, then have the latter two battle in the Rumble match itself I'd be OK with it. Whatever they go with is just going to be a filler feud/match with Brock because we know what's happening.

Brock v. Kane!!

[Bagel]

That looks like where things are headed... it just feels so disappointing. So maybe we get a fatal 5-way #1 contenders match before the end of the year to build up the match with Brock....

[Sasori]

Brock v. Kane!!

If there's one equalizer in WWE it's that, sooner or later, everyone must face Kane in a title match.

[virms]

And you know the title will switch hands in a title match with Kane only if it's first blood.

[Bagel]

I liked when Kane showed up wearing the mask over the mask. Just noticing now how he didn't just rip the mask off, because of the hair attached to the mask underneath.

[The Law]

Hate the way that mask looks but I'm sure he appreciated being able to breath.

[Nash Diesel]

Kane just looks worse and worse as he reinvents himself post-See No Evil. Especially that Kane. Is he supposed to be Kane the Welder with that mask?