5 Biggest Winners & Losers From WWE SummerSlam 2016

2. Winner: Finn Balor

In the space of a month, Finn Balor has been a first round WWE Draft pick, pinned Roman Reigns cleanly, become number one contender, engaged in a rivalry with his brand’s biggest star (Seth Rollins), and become the first ever WWE Universal Champion.

That’s how you make a new star.

Yes, the belt looks a little daft and the crowd’s initial obsession with chanting about it detracted from the match’s early stages, but Balor and Rollins still put-on a great contest. They won-over the previously distracted fans by the end, and both went all-out to give everyone in the Barclays Center their money’s worth.

While it wasn’t quite the Match of the Year candidate fans had expected going in, it was one of the night’s highlights, and it leaves the door open for a future rematch between the two.

Rollins loses little by taking the pinfall, but Finn Balor is a made man. He’s ascended to the top in remarkably quick fashion and now looks set for a long, prosperous career as one of WWE’s featured performers. No matter how his title reign pans-out, Balor will forever be known as the first Universal Champion: his name will live-on for years to come, and SummerSlam 2016 will go down as one of his career highlights.

Provided WWE stop leaning on the “Demon King” gimmick so heavily, there’s money in a long-term Rollins/Balor feud. The Architect has fallen at the first hurdle, but he’s going to come into Raw like a bolt of lightning, and there’s little chance of him taking the loss lying down.

Whatever WWE throw at him next, Balor is minted: he’s Raw’s top babyface, a company poster boy, and suddenly one of the biggest stars in the business.