At WWE Summerslam , Finn Balor became the first WWE Universal Champion for Raw after defeating Seth Rollins only a month after being brought up to WWE’s main roster from NXT. In roughly a month, Balor defeated Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, Rusev, Cesaro, and held Raw’s greatest prize. It was the push the WWE Universe had always wanted for him.
Unfortunately, Finn’s victory was tarnished by a severe shoulder injury during his match with Rollins at WWE Summerslam . It required immediate surgery to repair, which forced him to relinquish the WWE Universal Championship less than 24 hours after WWE Summerslam . Not only was it disheartening to see Balor go down with an injury so soon after finally debuting on WWE’s main roster and making such an impact, but his injury caused significant creative plans to change for Raw’s future.
It was previously reported that Balor was meant to feud with Kevin Owens heading into WWE Clash of Champions. Eventually, Chris Jericho was to be brought into the WWE Universal title picture too. However, all of those creative plans are now kaput, and Finn Balor has begun his road to recovery to get back to Raw, reclaim the championship, and pick up where he left off.
The original timetable for his WWE return to WWE programming was between four and six months. However, as Balor explains in the video above, the surgery that Finn Balor underwent last week was “a lot more complicated than originally anticipated.” During the video, Finn’s doctor also gives a full medical explanation as to the extent of his injuries, but the summary is that any hope of recovering in four months is highly unlikely, and the timetable for his WWE return is at least six months if not longer.
Finn Balor recovering from a torn labrum in four months would have been miraculous, but it would have brought him back to WWE television by the end of 2016. If Balor can recover in five months, he would be able to make his WWE return at WWE Royal Rumble next year, which could put him right back on top of Raw overnight if he were to win the entire match.
As wonderful as that all sounds, it seems like six months is the timetable for Finn Balor’s return to WWE. That would bring him back to WWE television in February, but the biggest concern is if Balor requires even more recovery time, which puts him in a dangerous position to potentially miss Wrestlemania 33 in Orlando next year.
There are examples of WWE Superstars like John Cena and Seth Rollins returning to the ring months before their expected timetable date. Finn Balor may be the next man to do so, but any complications with his recovery and next year’s Wrestlemania could pass him by because for every Cena or Rollins, there is a recovery from hell like the one Hideo Itamijust went through.
As of this writing, it’s far too early in Finn Balor’s recovery to set a firm date, but making it before Wrestlemania 33 seems like a realistic goal for his overall recovery. The WWE Universe will be dreaming about “The Demon King’s Wrestlemania entrance” between now and then, but a lot of people also think that Balor’ injury may be a blessing in disguise for his WWE career.
In less than a month, Finn Balor went from NXT to carrying one of the top prizes in the WWE. There are few WWE fans that are glad he got hurt, but the injury may have been fate forcing WWE to hit the break on Finn Balor and not push him too hard and too fast. Many people thought it was too soon for Balor , so the injury is an unfortunate way of forcing WWE to cool things down.
Since WWE pushed him so strongly upon his debut on the main roster, it’s very likely he’s going to receive an equal push once he returns to WWE, especially if it’s around Wrestlemania. Based on his history in Orlando with NXT, WWE officials are going to want to give Finn Balor the best match possible, and there are several possibilities for him once he returns to WWE television.
Although there are still a lot of people in the WWE Universe hoping for John Cena vs. The Undertaker at Wrestlemania 33 , Finn Balor recently threw his name into the conversation for a match with Undertaker at Wrestlemania. The potential for a match between “The Demon King” and “The Deadman” is a dream scenario that was made for the grandest stage of them all.
As grand as that would be, Finn Balor’s quest to reclaim the WWE Universal Championship may be the bigger match for WWE, especially if Seth Rollins or Roman Reigns is Raw’s Universal Champion by next April. Before any of these matches can become a reality, Finn Balor has to recover from his injury. The only thing the WWE Universe can do is hope for the best right now.
[Image via WWE]