8 WWE Superstars who persevered through in-match injuries

#2 Finn Balor

Too sweet

Finn Balor got the opportunity of a lifetime at SummerSlam 2016 against Seth Rollins, as the two men competed to crown the first-ever WWE Universal Champion.

Balor was new to the main roster at the time of the match, yet he was a crowd favorite and someone who the WWE Universe wanted to see as their Champion. As the then-longest-reigning NXT Champion, Balor had the experience and the charisma to become the perfect inaugural WWE Universal Champion and lead the company in a new direction.

The inaugural WWE Universal Champion suffered a tragic fate

During the match, the two men took matters outside the ring for some time which included Rollins powerbombing The Demon into the barricades. The move led to Balor dislocating his shoulder as a result of the impact of the move, though he managed to pop it back to finish the bout and win the WWE Universal Championship.

You can see the shoulder injury to @FinnBalor happen at @SummerSlam last night. #RAW pic.twitter.com/BUF3mJPlLN

— WWE (@WWE) August 23, 2016

WWE physician Dr. Jeffrey Dugas revealed the following about Finn’s injury to WWE.com:

“Finn’s injury was pretty severe, more severe than normal. A really high energy injury, it did more damage than a standard shoulder dislocation where you simply tear the labrum. The prognosis is excellent, however. We were able to fix it all and put it back where it came from. I’m anticipating him getting back at full speed.”

'The Demon King' appeared as a guest on E&C's Pod Of Awesomeness, and spoke about how bad the injury was:

"Straight away, I knew the shoulder was out because I could feel it out. I didn't realize how bad it went out. I've had a shoulder separation before where, like, I could pop in back in and it wasn't so bad, but when I hit the deck, I said, 'oh no, your shoulder's out of place,' so instinctively, I pulled it forward and it pops back in. I go, 'okay, phew, breathe, calm down, get your bears, [and] get back in the ring.' So I get back in the ring, and I start working, and it feels pretty loose. And I think [Rollins] shoots me off and I reverse him, and I'm, like, pushing him in the back, and I give him a little push with my right hand on the back, and it pops out again. I go, 'oh no, this is going to be a big issue.' I ended up coming out [of the ring] three or four times in the match where I kept resetting it, resetting it, but it was totally destroyed. There was, like, a bicep tear, a pec tear, the socket was broken, the labrum was torn, so, like, that's pretty much why I kept slipping in and out. Kind of halfway through the match I realized, 'you're not going to be wrestling, not for a long time.' But they said, 'stay the course,' and I finished the match. And the rest is history."

Sunday -Win the Title at #SummerSlam Monday -Relinquish the Title at #RawTuesday - SurgeryWednesday - day 1 pic.twitter.com/hAUPqymdpR

— Finn Bálor (@FinnBalor) August 24, 2016

Rollins and Balor did a good job to stay the course and end the match as planned. However, the WWE Superstar was forced to relinquish the title soon after to address the injury. But it clearly shows how professional Balor was in choosing to finish the match.