{"id":375055,"date":"2026-08-01T05:40:42","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T00:10:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/?p=375055"},"modified":"2026-08-01T05:40:42","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T00:10:42","slug":"what-if-finn-balor-hadnt-gotten-injured-at-wwe-summerslam-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/2026\/08\/01\/what-if-finn-balor-hadnt-gotten-injured-at-wwe-summerslam-2016\/","title":{"rendered":"What If Finn Balor Hadn’t Gotten Injured At WWE SummerSlam 2016?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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At SummerSlam 2016, Finn Balor made WWE history when he defeated Seth Rollins to change into the first-ever Universal Champion. The night was purported to be Balor’s crowning moment, as he’d just been called up from “WWE NXT” a month prior to his clash with Rollins and the corporate was positioning him to instantly change into the face of “WWE Raw.” Nonetheless, an injury that Balor suffered within the match completely derailed any future plans WWE had for him as the brand new\u00a0Universal Champion, and altered his profession for the more serious.<\/p>\n

Throughout the match, Rollins delivered a running powerbomb to Balor into the ringside barricade, but the previous NXT Champion collided awkwardly with the barrier when taking the move, causing him to dislocate his shoulder and damage the labrum. The injury was severe enough for WWE to order Balor to vacate the\u00a0Universal Championship the following night on “Raw,” and fans would not see him on TV again until April 2017.<\/p>\n

Although Balor recovered from his shoulder injury, he hasn’t been capable of win a world title since being Universal Champion, with WWE never viewing him in the identical light they did when he was first called up from “NXT.” Subsequently, with the 10-year anniversary of Balor’s transient Universal Championship reign upon us, we consider where “The Demon” could’ve been today had he never gotten hurt in the summertime of 2016.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Balor holds his first world title until WrestleMania 33<\/h2>\n
\n\"Finn
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After Balor vacated the Universal Championship, Kevin Owens would capture the relinquished title the following week on “WWE Raw” after defeating Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Big Cass in a Fatal 4-Way Elimination Match. Owens would hold the title for 188 days before losing it to Goldberg, who defeated him in 22 seconds at Fastlane, a call that was heavily criticized with many fans disapproving of WWE’s booking of “KO.” Shortly afterwards at WrestleMania 33, Goldberg would drop the title to Brock Lesnar, who was champion for a historic 504 days, which left “Raw” and not using a top titleholder most nights with “The Beast” being a part-time star.<\/p>\n

Balor’s injury at SummerSlam had a three-year ripple effect on the Universal Championship, and though it allowed Owens to win his first WWE world title, the early lineage of the belt would’ve been much different if “The Prince” didn’t hurt his shoulder. Being the inaugural Universal Champion, it’s likely that Balor would’ve been given an extended title reign, especially since he was one in every of the most popular stars to return out of “NXT” that 12 months, and will’ve walked into WrestleMania 33 with the gold around his waist. Owens and Lesnar would’ve each been possible opponents for Balor, and despite the fact that he probably would’ve dropped the title on the “Grandest Stage Of Them All,” he would’ve solidified himself as a reliable primary event player together with his first reign as Universal Champion.<\/p>\n

Is there a possibility that Balor would’ve suffered the identical fate as Owens by losing the title to Goldberg at Fastlane? Definitely, but on the very least holding the championship for six months could’ve been enough to avoid what eventually happened to the Irish star when he returned from injury, getting stuck within the mid-card.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Balor never returns to NXT<\/h2>\n
\n\"Finn
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The night after WrestleMania 33, Balor returned from his shoulder injury, and though he enjoyed two Intercontinental Title reigns and got here near regaining the Universal Championship within the years that followed, he was unable to achieve the identical level of recognition he had in the summertime of 2016. Balor specifically appeared to struggle to attach with the audience in 2019, which was mostly because of WWE’s poor booking of the\u00a0Intercontinental title, leading the him to return to “NXT” that October after losing to The Fiend at SummerSlam.<\/p>\n

Balor’s second stint with the black and gold brand is arguably the most effective runs of his entire skilled wrestling profession, together with his 212-day NXT Championship reign being a few of WWE’s best programming throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. That said, if Balor had avoided injury at SummerSlam three years prior, he probably would not have returned to his old stomping grounds, as he hopefully would’ve been viewed as a top star by this point.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As a substitute of wrestling Bobby Lashley at WrestleMania 35 in a lackluster\u00a0Intercontinental Title match, Balor could’ve been regarded as the winner of the 2019 Royal Rumble, especially due to his iron man performance within the match the 12 months prior. Although Rollins was a deserving winner of the Royal Rumble that 12 months, he didn’t need the victory having already been one in every of WWE’s most established wrestlers, whereas Balor would’ve not only benefited from being the last man standing, but in addition could’ve further launched himself into superstardom by defeating Lesnar and becoming a two-time Universal Champion at WrestleMania.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Balor becomes a multi-time world champion<\/h2>\n
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Although Balor’s heel run in “NXT” was nearly flawless, it didn’t immediately translate to primary roster success like many thought it will, as WWE placed him back within the mid-card scene upon his return. The next 12 months, Balor’s character felt so directionless that WWE decided to place him within the Judgment Day, led by Edge, who’s purpose was to raise talent that were being misused. The Judgment Day definitely helped stars like Rhea Ripley and Damian Priest, but Balor didn’t seem to profit on a singles level with the group. Greater than anything, one would’ve thought that Balor being the mastermind behind turning on Edge and becoming the brand new leader of the Judgment Day would lead him to a world title, but as a substitute he often faded into the background while his stablemates got more opportunity to succeed.<\/p>\n

If Balor had stayed healthy in 2016, he likely would’ve never been recruited by the Judgment Day, but more importantly, he could’ve possibly been a multi-time world champion by this point. Since his match with Rollins at SummerSlam, WWE all the time seems to have an idea of easy methods to make Balor world champion again, but fail to execute on it. Balor getting to completely experience his first and only world title reign in WWE would’ve modified the whole trajectory of his profession, because it would not have led the corporate to take a stop-and-start approach together with his character over the past decade.\u00a0As a substitute, due to that injury, WWE’s lack of interest in Balor as a top star could lead on the 45-year-old to change into some of the talented performers that never got the world title reign he deserved.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/article><\/div>\n

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WWE At SummerSlam 2016, Finn Balor made WWE history when he defeated Seth Rollins to change into the first-ever Universal Champion. The night was purported to be Balor’s crowning moment, as he’d just been called up from “WWE NXT” a month prior to his clash with Rollins and the corporate was positioning him to instantly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":375056,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21056],"tags":[15524,15523,45891,5248,35770,6221],"class_list":["post-375055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wwe-and-more","tag-balor","tag-finn","tag-hadnt","tag-injured","tag-summerslam","tag-wwe"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t