Yes, you read that right. The former Universal and NXT Champion Finn Balor appeared at PROGRESS Wrestling’s Chapter 42 event and insisted that he compete….in a game of musical chairs.
PROGRESS have released the footage on Youtube, check it out below.
WARNING: PROGRESS fans are a rowdy bunch and there is strong language throughout the video.
Finn Balor won the Universal Championship at SummerSlam in his match against Seth Rollins and then had to relinquish the title the next night due to injury. The injury occurred when Rollins hit a Powerbomb on Balor onto the barricade surrounding the ring. Balor is hoping to make his return soon and revealed at the New Orleans Wizard Comic Con that he hopes to get some revenge on Seth Rollins at this year’s Wrestlemania. Balor stated this to a young fan and the parent of that fan posted a video of the conversation on Twitter.
I'm going to be a first-time Dad in about 9 weeks. Seeing @SpeedyHot1079 son Logan w/ @FinnBalor made me so excited for Fatherhood ?? pic.twitter.com/KGNmx1vH4D
— Chad Burdine (@ChadBurdine) January 9, 2017
On Prichard’s Something To Wrestle With podcast, he revealed why King of the Ring was cancelled. Prichard stated that Vince McMahon simply didn’t like it. Prichard also said that the summer months were the slowest time of the year for the WWF when it came to revenue. Vince simply wasn’t excited by the King of the Ring and decided to ax it and change things up. You can listen to the entire episode of the show by clicking here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_7yoBuqkW8
The WWE released a new video today ranking the top 10 guest referees that attacked one of the Superstars in the match.
Finn Balor posted on Twitter his New Year’s Resolution. It is a photo of him dressed as the Demon King hovering around the Universal Championship. Balor became the first Universal Champion by defeating Seth Rollins at SummerSlam. Unfortunately, he was injured during that match and had to relinquish the title the following night on Raw. It is clear that Balor will be focused on recapturing the title he never lost when he makes his return.
#NewYearsResolution
Finn comes Back to Raw#FinnsBack pic.twitter.com/2puZlHev9e— Finn Bálor (@FinnBalor) December 31, 2016
Former WWE Universal Champion Finn Balor recently spoke with ESPN about his recovery from shoulder surgery and when he expects to be back in action. Balor said he’s been wrestling full-time for 10 years and it’s unfortunate he got injured at SummerSlam. You can’t change the past and he’s keeping a positive attitude with his recovery. He plans to come back more well-roundd and focused than ever. “I’m excited about the Finn Balor that’s going to come back, as opposed to the Finn Balor that I left behind,” he said.
As for when he’ll be back in action, doctors have been telling him February is realistic. Right now, everything is on track for him to be a big part of WrestleMania season. That hasn’t stopped fans from speculating if he’ll be healthy in time to make a surprise appearance in the Royal Rumble.
“You know, that’s obviously a huge rumor, and I would never be one to fuel the rumor mills,” he said with a smile, “But to be a surprise entrant in the Rumble would be a huge moment for me. I’m sure it would create quite a buzz,” he said. “But right now with the condition my shoulder is in, I’m not willing to risk sustaining any more long-term injury, just for the sake of two or three weeks. Since I got hurt, it was six months [out]. The target was to be back for WrestleMania. Everything’s on plan, everything’s on schedule.”
He added that if Vince McMahon approached him the day of the Rumble and asked if he has his gear, he’d be very tempted to get in the ring. However, he doesn’t want to risk it unless he’s 100% confident that his shoulder is healed.
Head over to ESPN.com to read the full interview.
Finn Balor made a shock appearance for OTT Wrestling in Ireland last night. Finn was part of the press conference announcing the new UK Championship tournament and OTT talent Jordan Devlin is scheduled to perform at the event in January.
The main event of the show saw Will Ospreay taking on longtime rival Ricochet and will be available to view on demand at Floslam.tv from December 28/29.
Surprise @OTTSideshow @WWE #merrychristmas pic.twitter.com/Tzkp7n1yWL
— Finn Bálor (@FinnBalor) December 17, 2016
BREAKING: @FinnBalor has just showed up in @OTTSideshow! ?? pic.twitter.com/RCf8a8HyLt
— The Tag Rope (@tagropemag) December 17, 2016
Here are the 5 opponents listed in the video:
Braun Strowman
AJ Styles
Kevin Owens
Finn Balor
Shinsuke Nakamura
All of these matches sound awesome. However, I’d prefer to see some more than others. Out of the five matches in the video, here are in order the matches I’d like to see the most.
#5: Finn Balor
Balor is an awesome performer and half of the excitement for this match would surround their entrances. My only issue with this match is that Balor is so much smaller than The Undertaker. I would really have to try and convince myself that Balor would have a shot in the match. It would still be great to see, but out of the 5 matches listed it comes in at number five.
#4: Kevin Owens
I would be ecstatic to see this match one year ago. Right now, Kevin Owens is being booked as someone that needs all the help in the world to win a match. Of course, this would still be an excellent match if it were to happen.
#3: Braun Strowman
Braun Strowman has been one of the bright spots on Monday Night Raw. Sure, it is tedious to sit through Strowman squash matches every week, but he is being build up correctly. Another feather in Strowman’s cap is that he is actually decent cutting a promo. He is a rare Superstar in that he is a massive human being and is also very athletic in the ring. He is the total package when it comes to a WWE Superstar. If Strowman continues to defeat everyone in his path, I wouldn’t mind seeing him go against The Undertaker at Wrestlemania. I wouldn’t mind that one bit.
#2: Shinsuke Nakamura
I’m a huge Nakamura fan. His matches are so physical and every move he does looks like it legitimately hurts his opponent. This match is probably the least likely to happen out of those in the video but I would still love to see it. Nakamura has such an interesting style in the ring and I think it would be fascinating to see how he would work with The Undertaker.
#1: AJ Styles
In my opinion, AJ Styles is the best opponent for The Undertaker. He is currently the WWE World Champion and has been exceptional since arriving in the WWE at the Royal Rumble in January. Granted, Styles has always been phenomenal but I was skeptical if he would be given the chance to be in the WWE. Well, he was given the chance to show what he can do and he’s been the MVP for the WWE this year. Smackdown is a very entertaining show because Styles is on it. Styles is also a perfect opponent for The Undertaker because he can carry the match. AJ Styles can make The Undertaker look twenty years longer if they were to have a match together.
Discussion: Out of these five matches, which would you like to see the most and why? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
– A hearing is being held today to get an update on the health of WWE Hall of Famer “Superfly” Jimmy Snuka after a judge ruled ruled earlier this year that he was not competent to stand trial in the 1983 death of Nancy Argentino. Lehigh Valley Live’s Sarah Cassi reporting:
https://twitter.com/sarahcassi/status/804774938720792576
https://twitter.com/sarahcassi/status/804775415323705346
https://twitter.com/sarahcassi/status/804776630975610880
https://twitter.com/sarahcassi/status/804780519120633856
– The FloSlam independent wrestling streaming service announced on Friday morning that the IPW: UK promotion has joined their lineup. FloSlam will cover all of their 2017 ‘Supershows’ live. These shows are scheduled to occur every other month beginning with SuperShow VI on January 22nd, 2017.
https://twitter.com/floslam/status/804716773018726400
– Finn Balor tweeted a photo of himself on Friday sporting a full beard. Balor is currently out of action recovering from rotator cuff surgery and is not expected back in the ring before late January at the earliest.
Beard pic in honor of @ActionBronson , happy birthday babe! #finnfriday #Balorclub pic.twitter.com/ppaJR4wlsp
— Finn Bálor (@FinnBalor) December 2, 2016
Finn Balor appeared at tonight’s ICW Fear & Loathing IX event in Glasgow and stopped Drew Galloway from helping his The Black Label team defeat Team Dallas in a match for the control of the promotion.
Video of the angle can be seen below. Balor also did an in-ring promo earlier in the show but that did not air on the iPPV portion of the show. The attack on Galloway did air, which is very interesting.
Balor is currently away from WWE TV with a shoulder injury and is not expected back until late January at the earliest. As noted, he was sent to the ICW event because RAW GM Mick Foley had to back out to attend WWE Survivor Series.
– Below is a complete look at Stephanie McMahon’s appearance on “The Chew” on ABC this week. Stephanie shows up around 12 minutes in, and talks autumn traditions at the McMahon household. Stephanie also helps host Michael Symon prepare a special dish for Thanksgiving. Stephanie also discusses RAW and SmackDown, the Survivor Series pay-per-view, playing a heel, the women’s division and more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOpGLP74z5I
– The men and women of NXT are once again scheduled to pull a plane as part of the Special Olympics of Florida’s annual Plane Pull, this Saturday at 10AM ET at the Orlando International Airport. As of Wednesday morning, Team NXT has already raised $1,175.00 of their $1,500.00 goal. For full details and your chance to donate, clickHERE. Captain Matt Bloom will lead Blake, The Authors of Pain, Dan Matha, Tucker Knight, Alexander Wolfe, Ember Moon, Sawyer Fulton, Mada, Babatunde Aiyegbusi, Bianca Blair, Otis Dozovic, Tino Sabbatelli and trainer Sean Hayes in a giant tug-of-war to see which team can pull a 50-ton United 737 aircraft 12 feet the fastest.
Here’s a look at the crew during their training session earlier this week, joined by former NXT Champion and injured RAW Superstar Finn Balor:
#TeamNXT & @soflinfo had a great training session at #WWEPC to prepare for the #FlPlanePull on Saturday at @MCO. pic.twitter.com/oHPzN9uxlU
— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) November 2, 2016
Finn Balor no longer needs to wear a sling as he recovers from shoulder surgery. The former Universal Champion was in France this week to promote WWE 2K17.
Last month, Balor revealed to WWE.com that he was 5 months away from returning to action. That puts him on track to return around mid-February, so maybe a surprise spot in the 2017 Royal Rumble is still a possibility.
NO SLING #finnfreeze
Keep the family close
Alan and Paul Sherry@CSPgym + @function_ie pic.twitter.com/b4tCmEdcgN— Finn Bálor (@FinnBalor) October 26, 2016
https://twitter.com/WWE_Fr/status/791619645488988160
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZFDa2rYbrc&feature=youtu.be
Scotland based promotion Insane Championship Wrestling recently announced that due to contractual obligations Mick Foley would no longer be able to appear at their biggest annual event Fear & Loathing (now in its 9th year). A replacement enforcer for the event has been announced and it is former NXT & WWE Universal Champion Finn Balor.
NXT recently signed two of ICW’s biggest stars: Big Damo & Nikki Storm and it appears as though both WWE & ICW now will likely have some sort of working relationship going forward.
https://twitter.com/InsaneChampWres/status/790262403799842820
– John Cena tweeted the following on last night’s RAW Clash of Champions PPV:
I am big on #Respect and gotta #Respect #RAW for #ClashOfChampions @WWENetwork time for #SDLive to show what we're made of. #NeverGiveUp
— John Cena (@JohnCena) September 26, 2016
– As seen in this photo with Luke Gallows, former WWE star Kevin Thorn was backstage for last night’s Clash PPV:
just a couple of Good Brothers Tailgating @LukeGallowsWWE @KarlAndersonWWE pic.twitter.com/AdS1VNX1ju
— Kevin "THORN" Fertig Realty (@TheKevinFertig) September 26, 2016
– In the video below, Dr. Jeffrey Dugas talks about a unique medical treatment he did for Finn Balor, involving stem cells and cartilage. Dugas hopes the operation will help Balor develop a more robust tissue in a cartilage defect he has.
Finn Balor says he’s just under 5 months away from returning to the ring.
In the video above from the WWE Performance Center, Balor says he hopes to be back in time for WrestleMania 33 next year. He’s scheduled to fly to Birmingham, Alabama next week for a week of therapy there and hopes to see the surgeon who did the shoulder operation on him.
Balor talks about going back home to Orlando and coming to terms with everything that happened in Brooklyn last month. Balor also thanks the fans for their humbling support, saying they made the process a lot easier.
Balor also mentions that he will be backstage at SmackDown when they are in Alabama next week.
– The 9/6 edition of SmackDown Live drew 2,454,000 viewers, down from last week’s 2,835,000 viewers. This was the least-watched episode of SmackDown since the show went live and moved to Tuesday nights back in July.
– As noted yesterday, the main event of last night’s WWE live event from London saw Kevin Owens retain the Universal Championship against Seth Rollins and Sami Zayn in a triple threat match. The following video has surfaced of a nasty bump Seth Rollins took during the match. Rollins overshot a dive to the outside and landed on the ringside guard rail. You can see the referee immediately go to check on Seth, who jumped up and showed that he was just fine. He probably could have sold the crazy bump a little more, but thankfully it was just a close call.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BKEsLJBDBcx/
– Finn Balor has checked as he begins his long road to recovery from shoulder surgery. The former WWE Universal Champion will be out of action until early 2017.
Ouch ? pic.twitter.com/oXuM2nnny8
— Finn Bálor (@FinnBalor) September 6, 2016
https://www.instagram.com/p/BKB7rQThJ-D/
– WWE’s new cruiserweight division is set to launch on the September 19th edition of Monday Night RAW. In addition to names such as Rich Swann, Noam Dar, Brian Kendrick and TJ Perkins, fellow Cruiserweight Classic competitors Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa will also be part of the division.
– As of this writing, the following matches have been confirmed for WWE Backlash, the first SmackDown-exclusive PPV scheduled for 9/11:
It’s worth noting that local ads in Virginia are also promoting Randy Oron vs. Bray Wyatt for the show.
– For once a man of few words, Kevin Owens tweeted the following about his Universal championship win on RAW:
https://twitter.com/FightOwensFight/status/770505050334621696
Finn Balor congratulated Kevin Owens on Monday night, telling his former rival, We have been through it all together. I’ve no doubt we will go through it all again.” The champ has since responded:
https://twitter.com/FightOwensFight/status/770571016544350208
WWE also posted this photo of Kevin Owens being photographed with the Universal Championship.
– SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan will address The Miz’s promo from last week’s Talking Smack on this week’s episode of SmackDown Live.
– Finn Balor will be Jim Ross’ guest on this week’s Ross Report podcast, which drops on Wednesday.
Great convo with @FinnBalor for this week's The Ross Report podcast. Finn joins @findevan #RickyMorton at 9 pm ET @PodcastOne @iTunes
— Jim Ross (@JRsBBQ) August 30, 2016
– Here are some reactions to Kevin Owens capturing the WWE Universal Championship on RAW:
It's all about the game and how you play it!
— Mercedes Moné Varnado (@MercedesVarnado) August 30, 2016
Wow that was legitimately a moment!! #raw great second start for the universal title
— Peter Rosenberg (@Rosenbergradio) August 30, 2016
The signs were there…#Raw #UniversalChampionship pic.twitter.com/NmdoVagdji
— B/R Wrestling (@BRWrestling) August 30, 2016
Congrats to the "nneeewww" WWE Universal Champion, @FightOwensFight ! #RAW
— Howard Finkel (@howardfinkel) August 30, 2016
https://twitter.com/nickjacksonyb/status/770459932759961601
https://twitter.com/reneeyoungwwe/status/770459173729423360
Congratulations #KevinSteen #FightSteenFight pic.twitter.com/4g1LOunYk0
— ROH – Ring of Honor Wrestling (@ringofhonor) August 30, 2016
Over is over…even if you wear a shirt. CONGRATS @FightOwensFight. #ChosenOne #RAW
— Bully Ray (@bullyray5150) August 30, 2016
What a main event! Amazing moment. #RAW
— Bayley (@itsBayleyWWE) August 30, 2016
On Sunday evening Finn Balor provided fans with another update on his “rollercoaster” week. Seven days after he sustained an injury that will keep him out of action until early 2017, Balor admits he was overcome with a feeling of inadequacy after being forced to surrender the Universal Championship.
We’ve been hearing the extent of Balor’s injuries were worse than originally expected. Balor revealed that in addition to a “180 degree” labrum tear, he also had a torn bicep and pectoral tendon, cartilage damage and a fracture to the glenoid neck socket. The procedure that was supposed to take one hour took four.
Here’s the full message via @FinnBalor:
“What a rollercoaster week. I woke up the morning of Summerslam with nothing but positivity & feeling physically better than ever. The moment I got injured I knew it was serious, it was an instinctive reaction to pull on my wrist, I entered survival mode. When the bell rang, I had won, I was the Champion, but I was reluctant to celebrate as I already knew in my heart what awaited at Raw. Disappointed yes, but I was CHAMPION and I was not missing an opportunity to fulfill my duty and appear on @GMA Monday morning.
After hours of scans & despite some hope, the worst was confirmed at 5pm Monday. I would need surgery ASAP & relinquish the title on Raw. The most difficult part of relinquishing the title was when I came back through the curtain and I was over come by a feeling of inadequacy. Despite every emotion I had felt the previous 24 hours… I was still the CHAMPION. That gave me strength. Now I was not….
Tuesday at 3am I traveled to Birmingham Alabama. Dr.Dugas prepped me for surgery as a photo of Seth Rollins watched over us. What was supposed to be a 1hr surgery turned into 4hr, as once I was opened up ,the Dr found a lot more to the injury the the scans showed.
180* labrum tear, torn bicep and pectoral tendon,Cartilage damage & Fracture to the glenoid neck socket (I have it in a jar on my dresser).
Wednesday morning at 5am I awake after the surgery groggy and sore. The gravity of the situation began to set in. Rehab will start at 9am.”
He also tweeted this photo:
Thursday 5am fly back to Orlando, check-in with Performance Center medical staff & we begin planning The Comeback pic.twitter.com/luZNst9Xhe
— Finn Bálor (@FinnBalor) August 28, 2016
Finn Balor is at the beginning of a long road to recovery. Balor underwent surgery last week to repair a torn labrum sustained at SummerSlam. The former Universal Champion will be chronicling his journey back to the ring and displays sheer exhaustion in the first installment.
Balor said the surgery was a lot more complicated than was first anticipated. Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Jeffrey Dugas is shown explaining the severity of the tear and there’s also footage of Balor doing his first day of physical rehabilitation. Now that the procedure is behind him, he’s trying to wrap his mind around what’s ahead for him. Not only will the rehab be grueling, but he’s also going to miss being out of the ring for so long.
A 6-month recovery time would keep him out of action until late February, so even a big return at the Royal Rumble would require him to get back a month ahead of schedule.
Finn Balor undergoing shoulder surgery didn’t just knock him out of action for the remainder of the year. It also derailed a Universal title feud that would have been the focal point of RAW over the next several months.
Prior to Finn Balor’s injury, the plan was for him to defend the Universal Championship at Clash of Champions on September 25th. That match would have ended in a DQ/no-contest and set up Balor vs. Owens vs. Chris Jericho in a Triple Threat at Hell in a Cell on 10/30.
There’s been no word yet on who WWE has penciled in to win the Fatal 4 Way for the Universal Championship next week but it’s worth noting that Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins were originally scheduled to be away from the title picture for a few months. However, Finn Balor’s injury has forced WWE to change things up and they used this opportunity to elevate KevinOwens and Big Cass.
Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Discussion: Who do you think will leave Monday’s RAW as the new WWE Universal Champion?
Finn Balor checked in on Wednesday afternoon with a photo of his surgically repaired shoulder just one day after the procedure.
Dr. Jeffrey Dugas told WWE.com on Tuesday night he Balor’s labrum tear was “more severe” than he expected. “Finn’s injury was pretty severe, more severe than normal. A really high energy injury, it did more damage than a standard shoulder dislocation where you simply tear the labrum.” The former Universal Champion will be out of action for the remainder of 2016.
The good news from Dr. Dugas is that Balor’s prognosis is “excellent” and he’s anticipating a “full speed” recovery.
Here’s the photo:
Day 1 pic.twitter.com/GUNgSsN2bc
— Finn Bálor (@FinnBalor) August 24, 2016
WWE Hall of Famer Bret Hart is speaking out once again about Seth Rollins being reckless in the ring.
Over the past year, Rollins has injured some of the top stars in the business. John Cena suffered a badly broken nose last summer when Seth Rollins kneed him in the face on Monday Night RAW. Days later at Night of Champions, Rollins ended Sting’s career by powerbombing him into the turnbuckles. Finn Balor will be out of action until 2017 after taking a powerbomb from Rollins outside the ring. Bret Hart says he has great respect for Seth, but he needs to improve his technique immediately before someone gets killed.
In a statement issued to WrestleZone’s Nick Hausman, Hart gave his thoughts on Seth Rollins injuring Finn Balor at SummerSlam.
“I take no great pleasure in saying ‘I told you so,’ but if you’re a professional wrestler and you keep hurting opponents and or yourself, clearly you’re doing it wrong. I wrestled a very realistic and physical style and not once in 23 yrs did I ever hurt one opponent ever.
Seth Rollins needs to improve his technique and become the safest wrestler in the business. I have great respect for Seth. I believe he’ll improve and hopefully stop hurting the talent before someone gets killed.
Wrestlers have to trust one another. If a wrestler holds the life of another wrestler in his hands for the sake of his family, wife or children you plain and simply cannot drop it! I saw this coming, if anything WWE producers are negligent for not speaking up about it to him already, instead they’re probably gushing with joy, slapping him on the back telling him “great job!”
Bill Goldberg was similar. When I think of Samoa Joe nearly killing Tyson Kidd, then see him continuing to use that deadly finish of his, I just shake my head. It’s not real, it’s only supposed to look real, wrestlers are not crash test dummies!”
Seth Rollins is arguably one of the most talented performers in the business, but me might want to think about the high-risk moves he performs, especially those which risk the safety and well being of his opponents.
Discussion: Is Seth Rollins an unsafe worker, or has this simply been a series of “bad luck” incidents?
Dolph Ziggler has had a rough few days. On Sunday, he lost his WWE Championship match against Dean Ambrose. It didn’t feel like a big match at all. One could attribute that to it’s placement on the card or the fact that the feud had a poor build heading into Summerslam. On this week’s episode of Smackdown, Ziggler had a chance to redeem himself. He has spent the past few weeks trying to prove to the WWE Universe that he is a main-eventer and that he belongs on the big stage. If Ziggler defeated AJ Styles on Smackdwon, he would have been added to the WWE Championship match at Backlash. While Ziggler had a terrific match with Styles, he once again came up short. So what is next for Dolph Ziggler? Is it a run at the Intercontinental Championship? Or does Ziggler fall right back to the bottom of the card?
Zigger has always been a Superstar that has baffled me. He is a former World Heavyweight Champion and on the surface it seems like he has a lot of fans out there. However, the crowd in Brooklyn was completely silent for his WWE Championship match at Summerslam this past Sunday. In my opinion, Dolph Ziggler should be going for the Intercontinental Championship. I don’t know how many times the WWE can book him to come up short in big matches before the WWE Universe stops taking him seriously. A lot of people have already stopped viewing him as a viable contender for the WWE Championship. Ziggler has all the in-ring talent in the world, is it the microphone that is holding him back? I find that hard to believe because Finn Balor isn’t great at cutting promos but the WWE strapped a rocket to him and he became the first Universal Champion at Summerslam. Finn Balor then had his title reign cut drastically short due to injury, which is also something that happened to Ziggler in the past. It will be interesting to see if the same thing that has happened to Ziggler happens to Balor when he makes his return.
Do you think Dolph Ziggler belongs in the main event and is being misused by the WWE? Has his chance to have a substantial title reign passed him by? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
The labrum tear in Finn Balor’s shoulder was “more severe than normal” according to the doctor who repaired the injury.
Dr. Jeffrey Dugas spoke to WWE.com after the procedure and revealed doctors were surprised at what they saw once they began operating. “Finn’s injury was pretty severe, more severe than normal. A really high energy injury, it did more damage than a standard shoulder dislocation where you simply tear the labrum.”
As noted, the injury was sustained at SummerSlam when Seth Rollins power bombed him at ringside, sending him flying back-first into the barricade.
Even though Finn Balor has a long road ahead, Dr. Dugas is optimistic the Demon King will make a full recovery. “The prognosis is excellent,” he said. “We were able to fix it all and put it back where it came from. I’m anticipating him getting back at full speed.”
There was no further mention of recovery time, so he should be on the 4-6 month timeframe initially reported by WWE.com.
Despite a hellish 72 hour roller coaster ride, the RAW Superstar was all smiles after surgery on Wednesday:
— Finn Bálor (@FinnBalor) August 24, 2016
NXT Champion Finn Balor underwent surgery on Tuesday night to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder. He’ll now begin the recovery process, which is expected to keep him out of action for 4-6 months.
Finn Balor gave a candid interview to WWE prior to the surgery and opened up about having to surrender the new Universal Championship just 24 hours after winning it. Balor is shown backstage at Monday’s RAW watching on as Michael Cole explains he’ll be forfeiting the title. With an emotional look in his eyes, Balor was barely able to watch the replay of the injury taking place.
Finn Balor says its quite astonishing how quickly things completely unraveled for him. After reaching the top of the mountain so early into his WWE career, now he must work his way back up from the very bottom. He knew almost immediately that it was a serious injury. He felt his shoulder dislocate, he popped it back in during the match but the pain kept kept him awake all night.
Balor was at Good Morning America the next morning and was still optimistic that a few weeks of rehab on his shoulder would be enough. While he was feeling bad for himself, he walked into somebody backstage who did not have an arm. That put things in perspective and he came to terms with the injury, because he will bounce back. He went to the hospital, his x-rays came back relatively fine but the MRI revealed the labrum tear. That’s when he knew the writing was on the wall and this was a serious injury.
Finn Balor said he was actually very proud to walk to the ring on Monday night as Universal Champion. The situation got real for him when he walked back through the curtain and realized he won’t be stepping foot back in that ring for the next 6 months.
As seen below, Finn Balor underwent shoulder surgery earlier today. As noted, he suffered the injury after taking a barricade powerbomb from Seth Rollins in their WWE Universal Championship Match at SummerSlam on Sunday. Balor was forced to drop the title the next night on RAW.
WWE has not announced an update on Balor’s condition but at last word he was expected out 4-6 months.
Sunday -Win the Title at #SummerSlam
Monday -Relinquish the Title at #Raw
Tuesday – Surgery
Wednesday – day 1 pic.twitter.com/hAUPqymdpR— Finn Bálor (@FinnBalor) August 24, 2016