Finn Balor Prevails Over AJ Styles In Dream Match at TLC

The dream match came on two days notice, and the dream match certainly did not disappoint.

AJ Styles and Finn Balor‘s contest on Sunday night at the Target Center in Minneapolis during WWE TLC proved to be every bit as good as everyone had expected. The crowd went absolutely nuts from the first entrance (which was Styles) right up until the finish.

The reaction from the fan base in Minnesota is definitely an indication that matches such as this is exactly what the general WWE fan base craves. This wasn’t your smarky, IWC crowd in attendance at a RAW after WrestleMania. It’s a good cross-section of the average WWE fan base in the middle of the country. They crave talented workers who can really go, regardless of size. Add in the fact that this was a first-time match between the two former leaders of New Japan’s Bullet Club, and you had the recipe for a very special encounter.

Balor made his entrance in full Demon attire, by the way, despite no longer wrestling Wyatt under the cover of a supernatural storyline. This added to the mystique of the match and was the right decision. That entrance is what really sets Balor apart from the other performers on the roster and probably should be used for every single one of his PPV bouts.

The match was full of great spots that are too numerous to list, so we aren’t even going to try. At one point, Styles hit a Pele kick to Balor, who was perched on the top rope. The elevation required to hit that made the move look absolutely sick. He followed that up with a springboard hurricanrana on Balor, upping the ante.

If there’s any criticism of the bout, it’s that I would have liked to have seen them get another 10 minutes (at least). Especially given that the guys are on separate brands so it might be a very long time before we get a chance to see them work each other again. The fans were eating this up throughout and weren’t burned out yet in the slightest. Everyone watching and in attendance was left wanting more. That’s good when you’ve got a long term feud planned, but they don’t have that luxury here.

Instead, the finish did seem to come kind of abruptly, with Balor winning with an incredible looking Coup de Grace, elevating into the air even further than usual. Adrenaline will do that for you.

The two men went face to face in the ring afterwards, nodding in respect and giving each other the “too sweet” wolfpack hand gesture. A great nod to their past in the Bullet Club, which was alluded to by the announcers during the match (former leaders of the same faction, as they put it). For those thinking this was a jab at the Young Bucks, who were recently legally prohibited from using the gesture, I don’t think that played into it at all. Styles and Balor would have done it regardless, they lead the faction.

It was a memorable night at TLC to be sure and hopefully not the last time we see these two supremely talented wrestlers in the ring together.