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What's the story?
Finn Balor has been all over the news in the past few days after reports emerged that the former Universal Champion had requested for some time off from the WWE.
As we had reported yesterday, WWE approved Balor's request on the condition that he would put over Bray Wyatt before he goes on a hiatus. The angle was kickstarted on the recent episode of Raw when Wyatt returned to TV and attacked Balor.
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Balor and Wyatt are expected to face each other at SummerSlam, however, as revealed by Dave Meltzer on the July 22nd edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Balor will not be donning the Demon persona for the big match, which would come as a big disappointment to the fans who wanted to see the two mysterious characters clash against each other.
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In case you didn't know...
Finn Balor lost the WWE Intercontinental Championship to Shinsuke Nakamura during the kickoff show of Extreme Rules. After the unforeseen loss, Balor tweeted 'Bye Bye', which hinted at a possible sabbatical.
On this week's episode of Raw, Balor lost to Samoa Joe before being taken out by a returning Bray Wyatt, whose comeback was met with one of the loudest pops of the year.
Wyatt delivered Sister Abigail on Balor, pretty much confirming the revival of their rivalry which was featured on WWE Programming in 2017.
The heart of the matter
It was confirmed to the Wrestling Observer that Wyatt will indeed take on Balor at SummerSlam. However, as stated in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, despite rumours to the contrary, 'Finn Balor is not at this point slated to be The Demon.'
Balor is still undefeated as The Demon and it makes sense for the WWE to hold off on the character. The need of the hour is to build Bray Wyatt as a credible threat and for that to happen, he would have to go over Balor at SummerSlam. At the same time, WWE can't afford to have The Demon take a loss.
The SummerSlam match will be Balor's last bout for a few months until he returns from his break.
What's next?
Balor got engaged to Fox Sports Mexico host Vero Rodriguez recently, which could be the reason behind his forthcoming leave of absence from wrestling.
It would have been great to see The Demon vs. The Fiend at SummerSlam, but WWE seems to have other plans in store.
