10 WWE Stars We Expected To Be World Champion By Now

7. Finn Bálor

Stone Cold Steve Austin Shinsuke Nakamura
WWE.com

There was an odd catharsis about Roman Reigns' Universal Title defence against Finn Bálor on the post-SummerSlam edition of Monday Night Raw.

The 2016 injury that robbed Bálor of the belt 24 hours after winning it didn't have as big an impact as the actual time he missed. By the time he returned in 2017, the company seemed all too happy to move on as if his sudden ascension hadn't ever really happened. Glimpses of the big time were just that - strained views on a promised land he seemed destined to drift further from.

It's something he may never recover from in fact. Roman beating Finn clean as a sheet on the aforementioned Raw at long last put to bed the injustice of his original disappointment, but didn't exactly propel back into the conversation as the show went off the air.

Bálor either is or isn't a megastar to Vince McMahon, but until the increasingly senile Chairman actually makes up his mind, the fluctuation between 'Big Star' and 'Tiny Irishman' will continue to fail Finn and frustrate fans.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett