Let me just set the record straight here and point out that I don't wish injuries onto any wrestler, no matter what the circumstances are...unless they are Nikki Bella.
So with that said, I've been thinking a lot about Finn Balor's injury and how bad of timing it is for WWE right now with them lacking in actual main eventers on Raw, but then I thought of something. Maybe this is for the best.
Allow me to explain. I stated before when we found out Finn Balor would be competing for the title at Summerslam that this was a bad call on WWE's part, that he needed time to develop and give fans a reason to care about him by giving them a chance to truly get to know him. Because of them going this route, I said fans wouldn't give much of a shit about his actual match with Rollins because there's nothing to build on. Well, I was 100% right. There was literally nothing for them to build on and when the actual match happened, people cared more about how shitty the new belt was than the actual match. But that's where things start to turn around. See, Balor has won the title. He's now on top of the Raw brand. It's a happy good-feel story. And then he's injured. And on Raw he has to give up the title. You could see the legitimate sadness in his eyes. It was depressing as fuck to watch. At that moment, I found myself caring a lot more about him than I did at any point during the build up to his match. I cared even more when I saw Seth bragging in the ring about how he's the rightful champion while Balor looked on from the ramp. After I watched it over again today, it occurred to me that I was actually invested in what was happening. There was an actual story behind this.
Now we're without Balor for six months. We've seen some of what he can do (in disappointing fashion but that's irrelevant) and you can bet that there's now fans out there who wish they could see more of what he could do now that he's gone. You see, the whole "don't know what you got until it's gone" theory most definitely applies to pro wrestling, especially WWE. Even with a guy you aren't exactly the biggest fan of, odds are you'll still miss his presence on a show when he's gone for a while after he was a big part of it. So now, WWE has something BIG to build on. You want more main eventers for Raw? This is a great way to make one.
Lets say six months later Rollins has regained the gold and he's on top of the Raw brand. And then out of no where during a promo where he's bragging about his win or some shit, Balor returns. WWE doesn't build it up but instead it's a sudden thing that happens out of no where. And WWE treats it like it's a huge fucking deal after the fact. Now they've got something to go off of here. They've got a redemption storyline, showcasing Balor's determination to get himself back in the ring and back on top. Now people actually have something to care about, and you can truly get behind Balor. You can actually tell a story with their match.
This is what we could get instead of what we could have originally gotten, which was Balor holding onto the title for what ever amount of time WWE gives him with still having little to no build up, no character and no reason for anyone to give a shit. Now with this, with him getting injured, we have a chance to actually see WWE showcase him in a matter that makes you want to root for the guy, that makes you want to see him win in the end. We get to see an actual struggle, and an actual strive from him to truly make it to the top of the brand. Or, maybe he doesn't and he loses his return match for the title. Either way, we are given a reason to care more for him than we ever did before, and that in of itself is better than anything we got in the piss poor three week build up to his first main roster world title win.
So with that said, I've been thinking a lot about Finn Balor's injury and how bad of timing it is for WWE right now with them lacking in actual main eventers on Raw, but then I thought of something. Maybe this is for the best.
Allow me to explain. I stated before when we found out Finn Balor would be competing for the title at Summerslam that this was a bad call on WWE's part, that he needed time to develop and give fans a reason to care about him by giving them a chance to truly get to know him. Because of them going this route, I said fans wouldn't give much of a shit about his actual match with Rollins because there's nothing to build on. Well, I was 100% right. There was literally nothing for them to build on and when the actual match happened, people cared more about how shitty the new belt was than the actual match. But that's where things start to turn around. See, Balor has won the title. He's now on top of the Raw brand. It's a happy good-feel story. And then he's injured. And on Raw he has to give up the title. You could see the legitimate sadness in his eyes. It was depressing as fuck to watch. At that moment, I found myself caring a lot more about him than I did at any point during the build up to his match. I cared even more when I saw Seth bragging in the ring about how he's the rightful champion while Balor looked on from the ramp. After I watched it over again today, it occurred to me that I was actually invested in what was happening. There was an actual story behind this.
Now we're without Balor for six months. We've seen some of what he can do (in disappointing fashion but that's irrelevant) and you can bet that there's now fans out there who wish they could see more of what he could do now that he's gone. You see, the whole "don't know what you got until it's gone" theory most definitely applies to pro wrestling, especially WWE. Even with a guy you aren't exactly the biggest fan of, odds are you'll still miss his presence on a show when he's gone for a while after he was a big part of it. So now, WWE has something BIG to build on. You want more main eventers for Raw? This is a great way to make one.
Lets say six months later Rollins has regained the gold and he's on top of the Raw brand. And then out of no where during a promo where he's bragging about his win or some shit, Balor returns. WWE doesn't build it up but instead it's a sudden thing that happens out of no where. And WWE treats it like it's a huge fucking deal after the fact. Now they've got something to go off of here. They've got a redemption storyline, showcasing Balor's determination to get himself back in the ring and back on top. Now people actually have something to care about, and you can truly get behind Balor. You can actually tell a story with their match.
This is what we could get instead of what we could have originally gotten, which was Balor holding onto the title for what ever amount of time WWE gives him with still having little to no build up, no character and no reason for anyone to give a shit. Now with this, with him getting injured, we have a chance to actually see WWE showcase him in a matter that makes you want to root for the guy, that makes you want to see him win in the end. We get to see an actual struggle, and an actual strive from him to truly make it to the top of the brand. Or, maybe he doesn't and he loses his return match for the title. Either way, we are given a reason to care more for him than we ever did before, and that in of itself is better than anything we got in the piss poor three week build up to his first main roster world title win.