'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
What's the story?
In a surprising turn of events, Finn Balor lost the Intercontinental Championship to Shinsuke Nakamura during the Extreme Rules Kickoff show. In the aftermath of the loss, the Demon King took to his Twitter handle to post a short yet alarming message.
His tweet read 'Bye Bye' and naturally enough, speculation is rife regarding his WWE future.
In case you didn't know...
Balor won the Intercontinental title for the second time from Bobby Lashley at WrestleMania 35. What started off as a promising angle quickly lost steam as Balor was sporadically used on TV despite being one of the biggest names on SmackDown Live.
Trending
Will John Cena beat Ric Flair's record? A former WCW Champion thinks so HERE
He didn't even have a match at Extreme Rules until the final hours before the show when WWE announced an impromptu title bout against an old foe of his, Shinsuke Nakamura. Balor lost the IC title in an underwhelming 8-minute match at the show and the reactions from the WWE Universe have not been all that positive.
As reported by our very own Tom Colohue, Finn Balor enjoys tremendous backstage support but is an unfortunate victim of bad luck. The first-ever Universal Champion is still quite a popular figure amongst the WWE Universe, and the fans have always called upon the WWE to give the former NJPW Superstar a push.
However, will he even be around for a potential push to the top of the card?
The heart of the matter
Finn Balor posted the following tweet in the wake of his loss to Shinsuke Nakamura:
It should be noted that Balor had posted a similar tweet after his loss to Kane on an episode of Raw in October 2017. The former NXT Champion is known to work the fans on Twitter and this could also be one of his tweets that shouldn't be taken too seriously.
What's next?
It's being rumoured that Balor could be in line for a push after dropping the IC title. There are also rumours swirling around that he could be added to the Club alongside AJ Styles, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson. The worst-case scenario is that he leaves WWE, which in all honesty, doesn't seem like it may happen as WWE wouldn't want to lose one its most popular names to competitors such as AEW.
