Royal Rumble 2019: 3 Things to look out for in the match between Brock Lesnar and Finn Balor

Finn Balor is set to challenge Brock Lesnar for the WWE Universal Championship at the 2019 Royal Rumble event. It is a match that fans have wanted to see for a long time, but also a match that fans thought they would never get the chance to see. It came about at the last minute, but it is finally going to take place this Sunday.

Finn Balor, the challenger, is known as 'The Extraordinary Man who does Extraordinary Things'. I suppose becoming the first ever Universal Champion qualifies as extraordinary. So does winning it in your first pay-per-view match. Especially with one good arm. Having to relinquish the championship due to injury the very next day must qualify as extraordinary bad luck.

However, since he has returned from injury, Finn Balor had not done anything extraordinary until he became number one contender for the Universal Championship. He feuded with the likes of Elias, Bray Wyatt, and Baron Corbin; all excellent superstars, but not in the upper echelons of the WWE. When he did mix it up with main event talents like Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns he lost; failing to capture both the Universal Championship and the Intercontinental Championship. Two weeks ago, he was back to doing extraordinary things; defeating John Cena, Jinder Mahal, Baron Corbin, and Drew McIntyre in the same night to earn the right to challenge Brock Lesnar.

Brock Lesnar, the reigning, defending, undisputed WWE Universal Champion is known as 'The Beast'. Anyone who questions why he is known by that moniker need only look at him; he is a scary, scary man. He has only been defeated by five men since he returned to the WWE in 2012. Finn Balor will have to be pretty extraordinary to defeat him.

The match is sure to be interesting. But what must we as an audience look out for?

Let's find out.

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#1 How long will the match last?

Brock Lesnar is not paid by the hour

Brock Lesnar versus Finn Balor is a massive physical mismatch. His matches also tend to end quite quickly. He defeated Braun Strowman in just over three minutes to win the Universal Championship for the second time. He lost the Universal Championship to Roman Reigns in just over six minutes. Both of his matches with Goldberg were quick affairs; he lost in over a minute, and Goldberg in under five minutes.

Conventional wisdom dictates that given Finn Balor's size, and the time Lesnar's bouts with true heavyweights lasted, this match will be quick.

However, when Lesnar has faced smaller wrestlers, his matches have actually gone one longer. His Survivor Series victories over Daniel Bryan and AJ Styles took almost 19 minutes and 15 minutes respectively.

The longer the match goes, the better Finn Balor will look. Even if he loses, Finn Balor can come out of this match looking good. However, a quick loss will heavily damage Finn Balor's standing.

How long this match goes could give some indication as to whether the WWE considers Finn Balor a main event player despite his small size.

#2 Will 'The Demon' make an appearance?

The Demon King

Fans had been conditioned to believe that Finn Balor brought out 'The Demon'; his body paint covered, alter-ego for his big matches. It makes sense; 'The Demon' gives Balor an edge. He will need every advantage he can get against Brock Lesnar.

However, 'The Demon' did not appear at WrestleMania 34, or when he challenged Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship. Moreover, Balor gave no indication on RAW that 'The Demon' would appear.

However, 'The Demon' appeared as a surprise at SummerSlam 2018. It gave Balor a psychological advantage because his opponent did not expect it. He could use the same advantage here. Furthermore, 'The Demon' is undefeated on the WWE Main Roster.

So, the question is this: will 'The Demon' make an appearance this Sunday? If 'The Demon' appears, and Balor loses, 'The Demon' loses some of its mystique. However, if 'The Demon' does not appear, and Balor loses, he will look foolish for not making use of every advantage in his playbook.

#1 What will be the match placement on the card?

Will Balor versus Lesnar main event?

Match placement on a card is an extremely important factor in determining how the match will be received, and how it will be presented. Traditionally, the opening match and last match are considered the most important. The opening match sets the tone for the rest of the night. It is important to get off to a good start. The last match is the main event of the evening. It is the match that the audience has been conditioned to treat as the most prestigious.

Every match in between these matches could suffer depending on what takes place before it. Certain matches are almost impossible to follow; Shawn Michaels versus The Undertaker at WrestleMania 25 doomed every match after it because it was so good.

Certain matches have endings that completely deflate the audience; the audience of WrestleMania 30 never truly recovered after The Undertaker's streak was broken. The life was sucked out of the building when he lost.

If Finn Balor wins, every match after will have a hard time following it, just because of how shocking that moment will be. If he loses, the fans will be angry, and likely detract from the next match.

Match placement is even more important in the case of a Royal Rumble. If the match is before the men's Royal Rumble match, Finn Balor could conceivably enter that match if he loses to Brock Lesnar.

The WWE has traditionally spaced out important matches on the card, but this card has four world championship matches, and two Royal Rumble matches.

At least one match on this card will suffer because it has to follow Finn Balor versus Brock Lesnar. The best bet is scheduling it before one of the Royal Rumble matches; no matter the result of this match, the crowd will eventually get into the Royal Rumble match.