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What’s the story?
In a recent interview with news channel Orlando Sentinel, former WWE Universal champion Finn Balor spoke about missing the biggest events in the WWE calendar — the Royal Rumble and Wrestlemania.
The Demon King started reminiscing and revealed, “I was obviously heartbroken not to be included at WrestleMania. There was talk about putting me in the Royal Rumble [in January] but when I missed that deadline by a week or 10 days, everything was put on hold [creatively]. WrestleMania just wasn’t meant to be.”
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Interestingly enough, we reported in the aftermath of the Royal Rumble that The Demon King was supposed to be #30 at the Rumble match, but was ultimately replaced by the man who would eventually retire The Undertaker, Roman Reigns
In case you did not know...
Finn Balor had to take an 8-month sabbatical from the ring following his injury at SummerSlam 2016 in a match with Seth Rollins.
He eventually returned to WWE television on the episode of Raw after Mania33.
The heart of the matter
Balor sustained the injury when Seth Rollins power-bombed him into a barricade outside the ring. Despite being injured, the Demon King completed the match and became the first WWE Universal Champion. The following day, however, he had to relinquish the title, owing to the shoulder injury he incurred in-ring.
Balor was still rehabbing during Royal Rumble and was eventually replaced by Roman Reigns.
With a prescribed six month recovery period, Balor was expected to return in time for WrestleMania 33. However, despite being cleared to wrestle by the medical staff weeks prior to the show, he didn't perform as there was no space for him on the card.
What’s next?
Last month, Sportskeeda confirmed that the Demon King would meet Bray Wyatt at Summerslam 2017, which is scheduled to take place on August 20th and emanate from Brooklyn, New York, for the third year in a row.
The feud between Balor and Wyatt was initially set to start in June but was held off when both men were inserted into the Fatal 5-Way Match at Extreme Rules.
Author’s take
It was unfortunate for Balor to miss Royal Rumble and WrestleMania 33. His inclusion on the card would have made the show a much better spectacle purely due to his presence.
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