9 Ups And 7 Downs From Last Night's WWE Raw (Jan 21)

8. Who Believes In Finn?

finn balor vince mcmahon
WWE.com

It might seem counterintuitive to have everyone in a higher-up position casting doubt on an undersized challenger, but when that higher-up is a heel Vince McMahon, it’s a perfect stamp of approval for Finn Balor.

McMahon long has been known to favor his hosses over smaller wrestlers, so when Vince told the crowd that he didn’t believe in fairy tales, he just egged fans on even more to cheer for Balor. But it wasn’t just McMahon who cast doubt on Finn: Paul Heyman, Brock Lesnar and even Braun Strowman didn’t think Balor could climb the mountain.

Fans are always looking to believe in someone, and they’ve clearly latched onto Balor. The opening promo only reinforced that belief, and that’s a really good sign, regardless of how Sunday’s Universal Championship match turns out.

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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.