Backstage Report on Plans for Finn Balor Before Injury

There were some problems with how WWE presented Finn Balor on his main roster debut–the way they presented the demon was corny as all heck–but he still made one heck of an impact.

Winning a Fatal Four-Way and scoring a clean victory over Roman Reigns on his first Raw was a stylish way to come in, as was becoming the inaugural main champion for the brand at SummerSlam. Unfortunately, he was injured in that championship match, only recently returning to action.

According to this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter (subscription required), that push wasn’t a short-term plan to drive interest around SummerSlam. Finn was to be a mainstay as the top babyface on Raw, keeping Roman out of the main event scene at least until WrestleMania.

So if you got bored of the unending feud between Roman, Kevin Owens, and Chris Jericho late last year, there’s a reason why. It was just a stopgap measure in Finn’s absence.

But what does this mean for Finn when he finally returns to TV? The obvious direction would be a match against the winner of Goldberg/Lesnar for the title Balor never lost. However, that depends on WWE’s confidence in Finn not reinjuring himself, and whether they feel it’s time to return Roman to the main event.