10 Early Predictions For WWE SummerSlam 2016
3. Finn Balor Climbs The Ladder
Seth Rollins couldn’t deliver on his promise to take Dean Ambrose’s WWE Championship back to Raw, but the newly-announced WWE Universal Championship negates his failure. The Architect has been gifted the opportunity to once again challenge for a world title, and he'll meet Finn Balor to officially decide the company's first ever Universal Champion at SummerSlam.
There are a number of arguments for and against a second World Championship, but it was the easiest move for Stephanie to make at the moment. She lacked the means to set-up a challenger for Ambrose, who is relatively safe on SmackDown, and wouldn't have had an opportunity to win the “real” belt back for a very long time. That problem is easily solved by installing a title of her own, and she could hardly have asked for a better set of challengers.
Seth is WWE's crown prince: a hugely importance franchise player who's already a cornerstone of the organisation, and a big part of its future. Balor, meanwhile, is the most successful NXT Champion of all-time, an outstanding in-ring performer, and a genuine megastar in the making.
They're going to tear the house down, but only one man can cement his place in history, and Balor should have the honours. Given Raw's absence of top-level faces, there's an instant opportunity to establish the Irishman as one of the company's brightest lights. Rollins can take the loss with relative ease, and while he'd make a great first champion, Balor stands to benefit so much more from being Universal Champion.
A bold move, but one that would prove that the New Era is 100% for real.