The ever-changing WWE landscape will undoubtedly look different, in particular with Seth Rollins as an apparent babyface, the same man who injured him. What does this mean for Finn Balor’s return?
The successful double-turn to kickoff Monday Night Raw with Seth Rollins and Kevin Owens means that Owens is now the clear-cut heel champion after getting the crowd to effectively boo him with three words when they were just celebrating him moments before. However, more importantly, it also implies that Rollins is now a babyface, or at least a tweener, as of this moment, having been a heel for the better part of two years since he broke up the Shield.
Raw’s main event scene has not had a definitive babyface whom the crowd can get behind in quite some time. Roman Reigns’ suspension cost him, at least, it would appear to be, the top spot, despite the fact that he was never truly over as a babyface.
Sami Zayn, for now, appears to be flirting with the main event picture, with WWE unsure as to what to do with him, whether to have him in the upper-mid card, or put him in their upcoming cruiserweight division. He has not been in any real sort of program since Battleground, as evident in his impromptu SummerSlam kickoff tag match, despite how popular he is.
Seth Rollins can now become the defacto babyface for Raw, which would make the most sense in the eyes of many. His documentary on WWE 24 painted him in a refreshing, heroic light. Many were confused as to why he returned heel when the company was sort of presenting him as a sympathetic face returning from a serious injury as they did when they handled Triple H’s return in 2002.
Perhaps most interestingly is how Rollins’ new alignment will affect Finn Balor’s return, hopefully around Wrestlemania 33. The Raw crowd erupted when Rollins interrupted and attacked Kevin Owens, officially confirming his babyface turn and setting in motion a title match between the two at Clash of the Champions. The audience is fully behind Seth Rollins, despite the fact that he is the man who injured Finn Balor.
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WWE storylines often suffer from short-term memory, but it would be logically presumed that upon returning, Finn Balor would want to seek revenge against Rollins for putting him on the shelf. But how can he if Rollins is the top babyface on the show, especially considering how it appears that Rollins will now be embroiled in a feud against his former Authority leader, Triple H, which could last several months. Most major post-SummerSlam storylines often have their payoff at Wrestlemania the following year, as they had done with both Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns.
A victory over Triple H, who will most likely be the villainous ‘King of Kings’ in this angle as well as the biggest heel in the company given the scope of the storyline, would unequivocally cement Rollins as the biggest babyface, not only on Raw, but perhaps in all of WWE. Especially if this encounter occurs at Wrestlemania. A returning Finn Balor, who has been a babyface his entire time in WWE, could not engage in a revenge storyline against Rollins. Unless WWE turns him heel upon his return, which would be easy to get over considering his old New Japan stablemates and co-founders of the Bullet Club in Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson are on the same show as him.
Maybe WWE decides to do a rare babyface vs. babyface angle between Rollins and Balor. Or perhaps drop another monumental swerve by having Rollins turn heel once again so that Balor can have a proper return feud and capitalize on the excitement from the crowd that will have been built up for months.
Or, as they have done in the past, maybe WWE just decides to forget it ever happened. They could have Finn Balor come back for the title that he never lost as opposed to exacting vengeance on the man who took him out. This would mean that Balor and Kevin Owens, should he still be champion by Wrestlemania season, could potentially compete for the WWE Universal Championship in one of the main events of the evening.
Whether Finn returns and puts a target on Seth Rollins for injuring him, or if he decides to focus on regaining the Universal Championship instead, Balor will be a prominent feature in Raw’s main event scene. Had he not been injured, Balor could very well have been the top babyface if he were given a proper, lengthy reign. That honor now goes to Seth Rollins, who has the majority of the audience strangely cheering for him as a true face. One can only imagine that the fans getting behind the man who hurt him and subsequently forced him to vacate the Universal Championship would not sit well with the Demon King.
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