Update On Finn Balor: Is A Return At The ‘Royal Rumble’ Possible?
Back in August, Finn Balor, who was the inaugural WWE Universal Champion, completely tore his shoulder apart during a match with Seth Rollins. When he was first injured, it was thought to be a severe shoulder injury, but when he went in for surgery at the end of this past summer, doctors found out that his injury was much worse than they had originally thought.
The original prognosis for Balor’s return was six to eight months, so, if his recovery stays on schedule, he’ll return at some point in either February or March. Of course, Balor has said that he hopes to be back in time for WrestleMania 33 in April, and, in a recent interview with Sirius XM’s Sam Roberts, he said that he might actually make it back in time for the 2017 Royal Rumble on January 29.
If Balor were to return at the Royal Rumble, he’d return well ahead of schedule. But, in the past, guys like John Cena and Edge returned much sooner than expected at WWE’s annual January event, so Balor returning earlier than expected wouldn’t be anything we haven’t seen before.
On Thursday, Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter tackled the idea of Finn Balor possibly returning to the ring in WWE’s annual 30-man match, and whether or not The Demon King will be ready to return in time for WrestleMania 33.
“[Finn Balor] returning at the Royal Rumble is possible. He had surgery on August 23, so I would say February is [more likely]. He had some pretty nasty damage done to his shoulder, so the Rumble is, I don’t wanna say impossible, but if you’re looking at it logically, you would probably say it’s not gonna happen.”
When John Cena, who had a similar injury to Balor’s, was injured at the tail end of last year, he was out of action for a little over five months. Of course, while the two injuries are similar, Balor’s is much more severe than Cena’s injury. So, it might be unfair to compare the two.
It’ll be interesting to see where Finn Balor fits in the WrestleMania picture if he’s able to return in time for the event. As of right now, all the top matches, including John Cena vs. Undertaker, Kevin Owens vs. Chris Jericho, Triple H vs. Seth Rollins, and Dean Ambrose vs. Shane McMahon seem to be set. So, it’s hard to predict where Balor will land on the card.
When Balor was forced to relinquish the WWE Universal Championship the night after SummerSlam, he had a brief stare down with Seth Rollins, which suggested that the two would have a championship rematch upon The Demon King’s return. But, WWE has turned Rollins babyface, and it does seem like he’s headed towards a match with Triple H in Orlando next year, so a Rollins vs. Balor rematch at WrestleMania 33 seems to be out of the question.
One big name that doesn’t have an obvious WrestleMania opponent is Roman Reigns. There is a rumor going around which suggests that the current United States Champion will go one on one with Braun Strowman next spring, but WWE hasn’t teased that match at all. So, could we see Reigns vs. Balor at the event? It’s possible, but not likely, because WWE wants to have Reigns get cheered, and he’ll surely be booed if he steps in the ring with the former Universal Champion.
The only big name left is current WWE World Heavyweight Champion AJ Styles. Of course, there is one big problem with Styles vs. Balor, which is that they’re on different brands. But, WrestleMania will feature both brands, so it’s possible that WWE could book a Raw vs. SmackDown match between The Demon King and The Phenomenal One.
[Featured Image by WWE]
