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In my last column, I discussed the issues behind putting any of the five members of the Extreme Rules Fatal Five Way in the main event of Summerslam against Brock Lesnar. Much to my surprise, the biggest lightning rod topic stemmed from my statement that Finn Balor belonged in the same conversation as Jinder Mahal. The comments were polarizing. Some think Balor stinks. Others think he’s the next big star. I firmly stand in the corner of the people who think that Finn isn’t ready for the spot he’s being groomed for. Nonetheless, being the Eternal Optimist, I’m here to talk about steps that can be taken to get him there. With that in mind: Before I can delve into how to fix Finn, I need to diagnose the issues. Being a Good Wrestler Isn’t Good Enough: Finn Balor is excellent in the ring. I enjoy his matches. Unfortunately, history has shown that in-ring technical wrestling ability is the least important skill in determining main event success. The list of wrestlers that have headlined for any significant length of time strictly based on their in-ring technical ability is short. It’s Chris Benoit and no one else. You won’t find many bigger Chris Benoit fans than me. I was all about his title run from Wrestlemania XX through Summerslam 2004. The majority didn’t care, he drew terribly, and it was largely considered a failure. Technical wrestling just doesn’t draw on a large scale. There is another layer to this problem. In another era, Balor’s in-ring prowess might stand out to the point where he could be appreciated on a large scale much like Benoit was. Not in this era. Due to the influx of wrestlers from the independent scene, the in-ring product has never been better. It’s almost impossible to rise above everyone else from an in-ring standpoint. A.J. Styles does it. Cesaro does it when given the opportunity. That’s about it. Even if we were to assume that the absolute top in-ring technical wrestlers could rise to main event levels, Finn isn’t there. He’s probably at the bottom of the top ten. Size DOES matter: Despite what my wife repeatedly tells me, small rarely wins. I’m not talking about Bret Hart or Shawn Michaels small either. Bret and Shawn were each about 6’2, 230lbs. While definitely on the small side for main eventers, they weren’t dwarfed by the majority of the wrestlers they were in the ring with. Finn is 5’11, 185lbs. That’s small for a cruiserweight. He looked tiny being in the ring with the Miz a couple of weeks ago. The Miz himself is a guy who’s on the small side of the spectrum for main event wrestlers. Not every main eventer needs to look like Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns or Braun Strowmann, but they also can’t look like their kid brother biting at their ankles. Daniel Bryan made it work, but Bryan is a unique once in a generational talent. Finn doesn’t do any aspect of the wrestling business equal to or better than Bryan did. His lack of size is an obstacle that will be difficult and/or impossible to overcome. Balor Club doesn’t work: It’s easy for me to take pot shots at Finn. I also need to look at the WWE creative team. Their booking of him isn’t doing him any favors. The goal is to push Finn as a face. The Balor Club sounds like a snarky Eurotrash motorcycle gang. I get that the WWE wants to position the Balor Club in the same light as “The Kliq”, but it’s not working. Calling his people “The Balor Club” doesn’t make people want to cheer for him. Finn’s lukewarm post-entrance reactions are damaging evidence of this. In fact, because of how snarky it sounds, the gimmick they have saddled him with lends itself much better to being a heel. Generally speaking, it is lazy booking to turn someone heel simply because what they are doing as a face isn’t working. If the WWE wants to continue trying to inorganically create a following for “The Balor Club”, it will be problematic. If the goal is to build him as a top face to square off with Lesnar, they cannot continue down this path. Enough with the negativity though. There’s hope for Finn yet. Here are two options to get him where the WWE ultimately wants him to go. Embrace The Demon: Every wrestler strives to create a larger than life character that appeals to the masses. Some do it with their sheer size (Andre the Giant). Some do it with their verbal skills (Ric Flair). Some do it with their natural charisma (Hulk Hogan). Finn doesn’t have any of that working for him. What he does have is a built in gimmick not being used in “The Demon”. His current entrance is pretty sweet. His Demon entrance is unbelievable. The WWE seems to be moving away from this. Instead, they should be doubling down. The Demon is a superhero-like character that kids can identify with. The look is incredible and masks his size problems tremendously well. Most want to make the Undertaker comparison. The character I would model him most after is Sting during his “Crow” days. He can be dark, mysterious and a creature of the night. He should hang out in the rafters and in boiler rooms. The special effects during his entrance should be as over the top as possible. Kids will paint their faces. It will work. It doesn’t have to stop there. When he’s the Demon, he’s a supernatural being that’s impervious to pain. That would be his equalizer. The issue of size and lack of believability can be overcome by the idea that when he turns into the Demon, he’s no longer 5’11 185lbs. He’s now an otherworldly creature that can walk through walls and defeat all obstacles in front of him. An amped up version of The Demon is Finn Balor’s golden ticket to superstardom. Team NXT Arrives. Ok, so maybe smoke and mirrors aren’t for you. A WWE v NXT angle is an untapped resource. Now might be the time to pull the trigger. There’s unquestionably a market for it. Although delivered to mixed results, both the Invasion and Nexus storylines were highly anticipated. There’s little reason to think an NXT storyline wouldn’t draw the same level of interest. Here’s how it works. Triple H is the figure-head. NXT is his baby. His claim has always been “The Future is Now”. But that’s the thing – the future isn’t now. The WWE hasn’t embraced their future in the way Triple H wants them to. Roman Reigns is not the future. Brock Lesnar certainly isn’t the future. The WWE is hanging onto its past. Kurt Angle as General Manager is a perfect example of that. Triple H’s solution is simple – if the WWE doesn’t want to embrace that the future is now, NXT will make them. The stable consists of The Revival as the Tag Team, Samoa Joe as the enforcer and Finn Balor as Triple H’s crown jewel – the man that will carry the WWE into the next generation. This solves a lot of Finn’s problems. The face/heel dynamic is irrelevant at this point. It doesn’t matter whether fans get behind WWE classic or NXT. They will be interested. Finn’s mic skills and size no longer matter either. Triple H is the mouth piece. There have been very few people in wrestling history better than him at delivering his point with his words. If he’s saying that Finn Balor is the future, Finn Balor is the future. It will not be questioned. If you put a wrestler in the position to succeed, they will succeed more often than they will fail. Finn Balor as the centerpiece of Triple H’s NXT Revolution is an angle with staying power. This is the type of storyline that can elevate Finn to heights that he’s unlikely to reach on his own. Finn Balor has many mountains to climb in order to get where our portion of the wrestling audience wants him to go. As your Eternal Optimist, I tried to explore two paths to the summit. Will he get there? Only time will tell. Thank you for reading. Sound off below!
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