5 Biggest Winners & Losers From WWE Raw (August 1)

2. Winner: Finn Balor

Finn Balor
WWE.com

Few could’ve predicted how Finn Balor’s first night on the main roster would go down. While being selected fifth overall in the 2016 Draft suggested big things were in his future, Balor defeated Roman Reigns cleanly in the night’s main event, and won the right to face Seth Rollins for the newly-minted Universal Championship at SummerSlam.

The former NXT Champion has been pushed into the biggest spotlight imaginable, and on Raw, he and his feud partner kept moving forward. Live promos have always been Balor’s biggest weakness, but he held his own on the microphone, and certainly didn’t look outclassed when he and Rollins were bantering back and forth.

In the end, Balor promised to defeat Rollins at SummerSlam, and when Seth attacked, Finn sent him packing with a Pele Kick. The Demon stood tall as their first proper “feud week” came to a conclusion: he sounded calm and composed on the microphone, and everything about him suggests he’s more than ready to fill his role as Raw’s biggest face.

He benefits immensely from having Rollins as a foil, of course. The Architect was on-fire here, and while there’s still an argument to be made that he should’ve returned to WWE as a babyface, working against Balor is a great direction for him. They’re two fantastic wrestlers with diametrically opposed characters and ideologies, and this week’s segment set their SummerSlam build off to a great start.

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Andy has been with WhatCulture for six years and is currently WhatCulture's Senior Wrestling Reporter. 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.