Original Plans For Finn Balor's WWE Universal Title Reign
Who was Balor set to defend the belt against?
At SummerSlam, Finn Balor defeated Seth Rollins to become the very first WWE Universal Champion, but during the course of the match, he suffered a severe shoulder injury.
The very next evening, he was forced to relinquish the belt, and on Tuesday, he underwent successful surgery. The vacant title will be decided next week in a four-way match between Rollins, Roman Reigns, Kevin Owens, and Big Cass.
Many expect that even if Balor didn't get hurt, Rollins would have won the title before long. While that may have been true, it wasn't in the immediate plans - according to The Wrestling Observer, Balor's first Universal Title defense was scheduled to be against Kevin Owens, with the two meeting for the belt at September 25's Clash of Champions Pay-Per-View.
Though Balor was to defeat Owens at the show, the feud would have continued. Owens's tag team partner, Chris Jericho, would have gotten involved as well, leading to a triple threat match at the Hell in a Cell PPV on October 30.
Owens's win over Neville on Raw put him in contention for the Universal Title this coming week, but most believe that Rollins will capture the championship. Still, rumors persist that Reigns's tenure in the midcard has come to an end and he'll end up crowned the second Universal Champion.