10 New Raw Matches Made Possible By WWE's Superstar Shakeup

2. Kevin Owens Vs. Finn Bálor

Kevin Owens Finn Balor
WWE.com

Fire up the WWE Network, watch Kevin Owens battle Finn Bálor from NXT (18 February 2015), TakeOver: Brooklyn from August 2015 or the Beast In The East special from Japan the previous month and you'll see three of the most fluid matches available on the service.

Bálor and Owens are good friends away from the ring, and it shows in their work together.

Finn's injury problems plagued him as soon as he was pushed to Universal Title status in 2016. That led to KO winning the belt on Raw, and it kick-started a tremendous period for Owens; matches against Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns were great, the alliance with Chris Jericho clicked and KO was even gold on the mic before facing Goldberg.

This is something Bálor could (quite rightly) be bitter about. He'd have been champ for longer had injuries not taken the title from him, and Owens might not have had the opportunity to dominate Raw. There's your angle, one that'd lead to the satisfying conclusion of seeing a stellar NXT feud come to the main roster.

Advertisement
Contributor

Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.