10 Times WWE Pleasantly Surprised Their Audience
1. Finn Bálor Replaces Braun Strowman
WWE did a magnificent job of elevating Finn Bálor over the course of a single evening in order to prepare him for a charge against Brock Lesnar at the 2019 Royal Rumble - imagine if they'd spent a year or so doing it instead.
What's particularly bizarre is that this was possibly the plan all along. Braun Strowman's iffy injury worries may also have been wobbling the company, but it seems as though common sense prevailed and 'The Monster Among Men's moment in the sun may not be underneath the heat of the Phoenix sky.
Bálor - as Bálor, not 'The Demon' - can lose to Brock in credible fashion and potentially leave a painted-up rematch with him on the table for future use. Lesnar seems more willing to actually work with those half his size, and Bálor delivers main event displays when - shockingly - he's permitted to wrestle main events.
Regardless of the Royal Rumble result, Finn's likely to leave in the best position he's been in since his SummerSlam flirtation with the war-paint. Like all the other times over the last few years, WWE lost interest again almost immediately. If Bálor wants 2019 to reflect a "New Year, New Him", Vince McMahon needs to embrace an identical change.