10 New WWE Directions After Extreme Rules 2017

2. Heat Finn Balor Up

Samoa Joe Bray Wyatt Seth Rollins Finn Balor
WWE.com

Samoa Joe put Finn Balor to sleep last night, marking the Irishman as the main event’s clearest loser. Refusing to tap out makes him look good, as does the fact that he was on the verge of victory prior to the end, but Balor is still going to need a strong rebound. Fortunately, there’s a great option staring WWE right in the face.

It looked like the company were heading towards Balor vs. Bray Wyatt before Braun Strowman’s injury forced a widescale rewrite. Neither man emerged from Extreme Rules with a more obvious direction, which makes revisiting this feud an easy choice, and a great way to restore any momentum Balor may have lost at Extreme Rules.

For better or worse, Wyatt has become the guy WWE use to put their true top-level stars over. ‘The New Face Of Fear’ gets to look strong on television for a few weeks, before inevitably falling at the pay-per-view, then moving into his next story. The company can use Bray in this capacity against Balor, with Finn using the win to springboard him back towards Universal Title contention, and a potential showdown with Brock Lesnar later in the year.

Channel Manager
Channel Manager

Andy has been with WhatCulture for eight years and is currently WhatCulture's Wrestling Channel Manager. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.