SummerSlam 2016 was a regular A Tale of Two Cities situation for Finn Balor.
On one hand, he parlayed an incredible run as the OG leader of Bullet Club and one of NXT‘s first true breakout stars into an incredible run on the WWE main roster, capped off with a win over Seth Rollins to become the first-ever Universal Champion; fans loved him, opposing wrestlers respected him, and the future looked bright for “The Demon.”
But then, he was diagnosed with a complex shoulder injury that required surgery, and just like that, Balor was on the shelf, with his title reign limited to one day and his career put on hold for roughly a year.
Afforded a chance to finally address Rollins for what happened seven years later, Balor demanded a meeting with the WWE World Heavyweight Champion on RAW in order to express his grievances and throw down the gauntlet for WWE's forthcoming return to the UK.
“Seth Rollins, the ‘workhorse champion,' I know you're here, and I'm here, and we need to talk; no jokes, no zingers, no sing-a-longs, just facts. So get out here now.”
Rollins obliged Balor's request, but the crowd wasn't so kind, singing his song for the better part of 12 minutes while challenging “The Demon” to get a word in edge-wise. Still, Balor tried his best, and even if he didn't looks great in the process, his intentions were all that mattered.
“I've been waiting seven years to say this, and I won't wait another second. You want something to sing about? Since about this; seven years ago, I was a first-round draft pick on RAW, and I beat Roman Reigns on my first night. And three weeks later, I bet you to become the first-ever Universal Champion… What should have been the highest of highs for me in an instant became the lowest of lows because of you. Torn bicep, torn pec, torn labrum, fractured glenoid socket; now I'm not complaining, I'm not complaining about the injury, this is a hard business, this is a tough business, and injuries happen. But do you want to know what bothered me? I'm talking about you took everything from me; you took my momentum, you took my title, and you took a year from my career; you took it all, you took everything,” Balor said as the crowd cheered his foe on.
“Well guess what? Now it's my turn. Now it's my turn to take it all back, to take it all from you, because do you know what I'm going to take? I'm going to take your momentum. I'm going to take your title, and I'm going to take a year from your career. And do you know when I'm going to do it? I'm going to take it all at Money in the Bank.”
Now Rollins, to his credit, allowed Balor to speak his mind, whereas a less mature iteration of “The Visionary” would have let the crowd sing his song until the show went to commercial, burying the former Universal Champion completely in the process, but in 2023, he instead opted to go down a different route. But was it a better one? Well, you be the judge.
Seth Rollins wants to see the old Finn Balor at Money in the Bank.
Back on the mic, Rollins decided to fire back at Balor by, in a twist of fate, firing him up; demanding to see the Balor he faced at SummerSlam once more.
“Ha ha ha ha ha, Kansas, you are too kind,” Rollins told the crowd. “I'm not laughing because you sang his promo out of the building. No, no, no, no, no, I'm laughing because this is the Finn Balor I've been waiting to see for the past seven years. Let me paint a picture for ya; the inaugral Universal Title match, SummerSlam, Brooklyn, Finn Balor, Seth Rollins, it set us on career trajectories that were completely different and why? Because one of us got bitter, and one of us got better,” Rollins said.
“Now I won't lie to ya, I've done some bad things these past seven years, I have, but do you know what else I've done? I've made memories, I've made history, I've made moments that these people will never forget! And I've done that because I've exchanged, I've adapted, I've rolled with the punches, I've got better every single day, and now I am the greatest version of Seth Freakin' Rollins. You want the proof? The proof is right here. It's the World Heavyweight Championship. You want a crack at it at Money in the Bank? You. Are. On. And I gotta know, Finn, which version of you is gonna come to London to fight for this title? Because this bitter shell of a champion, he don't stand a chance. But, the Finn Balor that beat me to become the first-ever Universal Champion with his arm hanging off his body, he's got a shot. So here's my question to you: Are you gonna bring that Finn Balor at Money in the Bank? Or are you gonna bring the guy who's been walking around the past seven years acting like a little b*tch?”
With the match officially booked for Money in the Bank 2023, just shy of seven years after the match where Balor won the belt in the first place, “The Prince” will get a shot at becoming the second-ever WWE World Heavyweight Champion and thus, shoot himself right back to the top of the card on RAW moving forward. But to accomplish that feat, Balor will have to pin Seth “Freakin'” Rollins for the 1-2-3, which is a whole lot easier said than done.