The Fall of The Demon King

As wrestling fans we want to love the product that we spend so many hours investing in. It’s not a new thing, it’s not exclusive to wrestling; it’s just what fans do. As fans we want to care, we want to find something that connects with us, that touches us on an emotional level. We want to see the villains fall and the heroes rise and we want to see greatness in between the ropes. And while great wrestling will always be attractive, seeing new stars arrive and not only thrive but become stars may be one of the more exciting things about watching professional wrestling. Prince Devitt being signed to WWE was a big thing for his fans; the junior ace of New Japan had left the company and the Bullet Club behind and quickly became the ace of NXT. Many credit Balor for not only rising NXT’s stock, but for attracting other talents to sign with WWE when they previously may not have. He was also another example of WWE looking to go small, continuing their trend of moving away from guys with the “old WWE look.” WWE looking to move away from that and embracing different shapes, sizes and nationalities is a great thing.

After seemingly spending an eternity in NXT, after months of rumors and speculation, Finn Balor got the call to the main roster and as they say, the rocket got strapped to his ass and we were off. On July 25th, Finn Balor hit the big stage on Raw and won not one, but two matches to earn a shot at the Universal Title. The most important part of this night isn’t just the wins or the title shot, it was the fact that he scored a clean win over Vince’s chosen one, Roman Reigns, that made the night so special. WWE is a star-making machine, when they want to be, and they decided that in one night that they were all in on Balor. It was a night that caused excitement, not only for the show we had just watched, but also for Summerslam. Finn Balor was the man in NXT, was getting the instant star push on the main roster and was going to be in a featured Summerslam match against another young star. We were seeing the rise of the star, and possibly the birth of a new king.

For better or worse, the build to Summerslam became all about “The Demon King” as WWE was heavily playing into the side of Balor that had been a highlight on several NXT Takeover events. While NXT filmed and presented the entrance much better than Kevin Dunn and his band of monkeys in the production truck, the one thing that the main roster succeeded at was giving a background to the demon. It was something that the character needed; we needed to know why he does this and what it means to him so that it felt like more than performance art. We got that explanation, we even got a preview of the demon before Summerslam, and the Demon King was set for the biggest match of his career.

To many fans Balor and Rollins was a huge match, a match that they had wanted to see for a long time and they were getting it on WWE’s second biggest stage of the year. These two delivered a strong title match, and WWE made the right call with Balor winning. Rollins is a made man and a main eventer, he didn’t need the win, and a loss would have completely deflated Balor. They delivered in the ring, Balor won cleanly and the rise was complete, the Demon King has ascended his throne and the sky was the limit…

Unfortunately for all of the advantages that professional wrestling has in regards to story telling, but life’s a show, and we all play a part. Unfortunately the rise of the king was to be a short story instead of a novella ; it actually ended in tragedy, at least for now. There is never a good time for an injury, but to say that this came at the worst time for Balor is an understatement. Vince has his guys and his types, and he also holds grudges for various reasons. The Daniel Bryan thing created an issue for him, believing that the “little guys” aren’t durable, are too injury prone and there was a fear that the company would go back to the “Vince style bigger guys.” At age 35, Balor has a lot of mileage on his body, and many worried because he had “wasted too much time” in NXT, had battled through injuries there and may be too used up when he hit the main roster.

The unfortunate injury opens up the top of the roster, but will it be for someone new or will WWE go back to what they know. We have Kevin Owens and Big Cass as the new kids on the block; Kevin Owens is ready from an in ring and promo standpoint. Cass is a project, but he’s big and Vince likes that. He’d be a complete gamble. Rollins and Reigns have been world champions, WWE knows exactly what they are getting from both of these men and they are the safe bet. Next week’s decision will show exactly what direction that WWE wants to go in, do they want to continue to experiment and go with a fresh hand, or will they retreat back to Rollins and Reigns and continue the stagnation that has hurt the company over the last 5 to 10 years. They made the right call with Balor winning at Summerslam, but I fear that they will retreat and it will likely be Seth Rollins once again when Rusev ruins the party for Reigns, and Owens and Cass cancel each other out to continue the tag team feud.

The good news for Balor is that the ride is far from over, the rise of the king may have come to a premature ending, but there are more stories to write. And that is the beauty of wrestling, it’s storytelling. The rise was an unexpected feel good story, the fall an unfortunate tragedy, but the redemption story… the redemption story is the epic awaiting the King’s return so we can go on the ride again.

One thing is for sure, while I feel bad for how this worked out for Balor, I know that I plan to be first in line to watch the Return of the King…