6 Ups And 7 Downs From WWE No Mercy 2017

Downs...

7. Demon = Alter Ego?

finn balor
WWE.com

Sometimes it’s tough to understand WWE logic or reasoning (or the lack there of). The case of Finn Balor and the bodypainted Demon is one of those things.

In NXT, Balor often would break out the bodypaint for a big match, typically at a TakeOver event, which meant 4-5 times a year. The announcers sold it as Finn tapping into a darker side of himself and channeling that energy… but it was still Finn Balor.

But Sunday, the announcers and storyline made it seem like Balor and Demon were two different characters, referring to the Demon as Finn’s alter ego. That’s more reminiscent of Mankind turning into Dude Love or Cactus Jack, a completely different character. This was even part of the billing of the match, “Man vs. Man,” meaning no demons allowed. (But gods were OK, apparently.)

It’s not a huge deal in the grand scheme of things, but it still felt odd. Does this mean that Balor is now seguing into that paranormal realm where a wrestler channels powers from strange places? Or is this just WWE gobbledy-gook? Again, not a big deal, but it felt unnecessary.

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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.