There’s been plenty of speculation about who will emerge the winner of the Extreme Rules Fatal Five-Way match to determine a number one contender for Brock Lesnar’s Universal Title. Until recently, Finn Balor was largely seen as the underdog in that competition. But that all changed when Paul Heyman stepped in the ring on last Monday’s Raw to extend his silver-tongued advocacy to the young former champ.
Heyman expressed interest in Balor as the most “interesting” and qualified choice to face his client. And while Balor sent him parting with a message for Brock– that Balor intended to win and face him for the title he “never lost”– it’s almost suspect how neither had anything negative to say about the other.
Videos by PopCulture.com
It’s hard to imagine Balor beating all the competition at Extreme Rules without some assistance or trickery. Could we possibly see Paul Heyman— or even Lesnar himself– interfere to ensure Finn’s victory? If so would it be as allies, or merely to ensure their favored choice of competitor to the title? Knowing Lesnar, this could occur even with the sole purpose of making Finn back up his words.
There’s also the possibility we could see Gallows and Anderson make a surprise entrance, coming to their friend and former Bullet Club leader’s aide. They haven’t aligned since Balor’s arrival on the main roster, even recently facing against each other in tag matches. But it would certainly make sense of Balor’s continued use of “Balor Club” graphics in his entrance and merchandise.
With both of these as possible outcomes, could we perhaps even be headed toward Paul Heyman managing all three as a heel stable? The same was rumored back when Gallows and Anderson first came to the WWE in the footsteps of fellow former Bullet Club leader AJ Styles. And while Styles did align with them for a period of time against John Cena, Heyman was never revealed to be the one pulling the strings.
But a heel turn could be the perfect way to shake things up for Finn Balor, one of the company’s freshest babyfaces. Balor’s WWE career has been mired in speculation about how he would be presented ever since he debuted. Yes, his body paint is awesome, and his entrance music is fantastic. And yes, he has a great look and has a great move-set. But he’s lacking that special ‘something’ to help him get over with a larger audience.
If Balor were to become a “Paul Heyman Guy,” Heyman could cut promos selling Balor as a superb athlete, a tremendous star, and as a dangerous threat. Balor would also benefit as a Heyman guy because it would add a level of intrigue to a possible rivalry between Balor and Lesnar. It would be interesting to see how this rivalry would play out between two of Heyman’s clients.
No one stands to lose from such an alliance. If we are headed toward a Balor Club stable, it makes sense they’d want a mouthpiece with Heyman’s credibility to represent them to the fans. And with Brock Lesnar appearing as rarely as he does, it would give The Advocate more work and time on-screen. Likewise, Gallows and Anderson work so much better in the role of intimidating enforcers than comedy duo or tag team jobbers.
Whatever the outcome of Extreme Rules, perhaps only Finn Balor and Paul Heyman ultimately know what each has in store for the future, whether or not that includes an alliance.
