3. Balor On The Rise
Whether its as himself or Demon Balor, its pretty clear that WWE has big plans for Finn Balor at some point in the near future. Just a few months into his NXT tenure, Balor is poised for an NXT Championship match after defeating Adrian Neville in the finals of a number one contenders tournament. (By the way, why cant WWE do a tournament to name a top contender for its world title? Whats so hard about that?) Balors entrance alone is star-making moment as he crawls out of the smoke, covered in body paint with tentacles hanging from his head and arms. NXT even went the extra step Wednesday of hiding a smoke machine in the corner of the ring for when he poses on the turnbuckle during the entrance. Finn carries himself like a star, and that alone gives him a leg up over other wrestlers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muqsNFNEK4k His performances in the ring easily match his spectacular entrance. Balor and Neville (another star who will hopefully make an impact in WWE) tore down the house at Rival and left fans on their feet cheering. Finn Balor will get his shot at the NXT Championship, but it wouldnt be surprising to see him battling for a WWE title at some point later this year.
Scott Carlson
Contributor
Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.
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