Monday 15 January 2018 09:40, UK
The Balor Club has arrived on Monday nights - and their leader could not be happier.
You can call it the rebirth of Finn Balor. Paired once again with Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, his swagger is back, he is beaming with confidence and is enjoying the ride with his best friends.
"I am so happy… I love Balor Club," Finn tweeted last week to his one million followers. It was no surprise that when Balor revealed to general manager Kurt Angle a couple of weeks ago on Raw that he had chosen Gallows and Anderson to be his partners against Curtis Axel, Bo Dallas and Elias, that Twitter and those inside the American Airlines Arena in Miami erupted.
The match was a showcase of just how well these three work together. Their chemistry was on show although brief. WWE may have finally figured out a way to put the spotlight on Balor's growing talent by pairing up with Gallows and Anderson, who themselves can benefit from this newly-formed faction after being underutilised on Raw for a number of months.
Fast forward to last week and Balor Club were in the main event of Raw testing their prowess against Intercontinental champion Roman Reigns and tag team champions Seth Rollins and Jason Jordan. Or to put it another way, two thirds of The Shield.
The result was the same. Balor Club came out victorious and you get the sense that this feels like the resurrection of Balor. Finn Balor has his aura back.
Balor created a huge buzz for himself during his time in Japan when he was the leader of a successful faction that included Gallows and Anderson. During their time in Japan, the three bonded to form a dominant group with its roots in the great WWE stables of yesteryears.
The confidence and arrogance of the NWO, the no-nonsense approach of Evolution, and the destructive pack mentality of The Shield. Balor, along with Gallows and Anderson, blossomed and eventually WWE came calling.
Many in the wrestling community believe Balor has the ability to be one of WWE's cornerstones in years to come. After a successful two-year run in NXT that saw the 36-year-old become the longest-reigning NXT Champion in history, a call-up to the main roster was inevitable.
The next big step in Balor's already decorated career came in the summer of 2016 when he was drafted to Monday Night Raw. Balor went on to beat Reigns to seal a dream encounter against Rollins at SummerSlam for the WWE Universal title.
SummerSlam would be a bittersweet event for the Irish native. After capturing the title with a win over Rollins, Balor suffered a shoulder injury during the match. He relinquished the Universal title the following night on Raw, and was ruled out of action for six months.
Balor was cleared to return to action in February 2017 but it seemed WWE creative's plans for the inaugural Universal Champion had changed. With the biggest show of the year WrestleMania fast approaching in April, the question remained, where would Finn Balor feature on the biggest show of the year?
The man who came with a huge reputation from NXT and who it would seem WWE management was high on during the summer of 2016, was left off the show of shows.
WWE had three months to figure out a way to feature one of their biggest stars at the time on their biggest card of the year that was headlined by Reigns' defeat of The Undertaker.
It is well known that the Raw after WrestleMania is a highlight on WWE's calendar due to fans from around the world staying an extra night and creating a raucous atmosphere. But surely Balor would have rather made his comeback in front of 75,000 at WrestleMania? His absence from WrestleMania was followed by less than impressive booking in the months that followed.
Balor's feud with former WWE Champion, Bray Wyatt left the WWE fans with a sour taste in their mouths. After back and forth matches between the two, Wyatt revealed his alter ego "Sister Abigail" to the world. The two were set to continue their lacklustre feud that already felt played out too many times with the growing sense creative had no plans for Balor moving forward.
Before their alter ego match dubbed "Sister Abigail vs The Demon" at the TLC pay-per-view, many of the Raw roster was hit by a sickness bug that ruled Wyatt out of action. Smackdown's AJ Styles replaced Wyatt to set up a mouth-watering clash against Balor.
The two world-class performers that took Japan by storm, put on a 20-minute wrestling clinic in Minneapolis. With the result in Balor's favour, was his much-needed push imminent? The answer would be a resounding no.
Rumours began circulating that Vince McMahon felt Balor was not "over" enough in WWE, that he did not have the full backing from the fans and that they were struggling to buy into his character.
A much-speculated match against current Universal champion Brock Lesnar at this year's Royal Rumble was then canned. Balor made light of the situation and creatively toyed with word "over" in a number of Twitter posts in the weeks that followed. WWE even went as far as creating a T-shirt for Finn by playing off the word. Subsequently, Balor has now changed his twitter profile name to "Finn Balor Forever".
As humorous as this may seem, beneath the surface you could sense Balor's frustrations. He would find himself stuck in three-minute filler matches with the Miztourage's Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas on Raw for three consecutive weeks.
But such purgatory is a distant memory for Balor. With the reunion of the three former stable members that wreaked havoc in Japan, it appears Balor's fortunes have changed.
The possibilities are endless - a possible heel faction could see all three parties thrive. Balor as Universal Champion and Gallows and Anderson as tag team champions. A possible meeting with The Shield once Dean Ambrose has returned from injury could have a big fight feel that The Shield vs The Wyatt Family once had four years ago.
Balor Club could have a potential showdown with former NXT tag-team champions Sanity, at WrestleMania should the group get called up to the main roster. The booking of the Balor Club moving forward creates great intrigue. Balor is once again at the forefront on Raw. If given some creative freedom, Balor Club has the potential of going above and beyond in 2018, similar to The Shield once upon a time.
This may very well be the direction that Balor needs if he is to once again become a big-time player in WWE in 2018.
So do not be surprised later this year if Balor is once again a top of the food chain in WWE, as world champion.
