Report: Here's Why Finn Balor Missed His Smackville Match Against Shinsuke Nakamura
The WWE Network event Smackville on Saturday night was originally supposed to feature an [...]
The WWE Network event Smackville on Saturday night was originally supposed to feature an Intercontinental Championship rematch from Extreme Rules, with new champion Shinsuke Nakamura taking on Finn Balor. However at the start of the show in Nashville Nakamura announced that Balor wasn't at the arena, which led to Ali coming out and challenging the champ instead.
Nakamura wound up retaining, and WWE explained via a tweet that Balor had suffered an "undisclosed injury."
"During the week, Finn Balor suffered an undisclosed injury," the tweet read. "WWE Medical has unfortunately not cleared him for competition tonight at #SMACKVILLE. It is unknown who or if Shinsuke Nakamura defends his title tonight. Stay tuned as we learn more."
However it turns out Balor isn't injured, according to PWInsider.
"We are told Balor is dealing with an illness," Mike Johnson wrote. "He is not injured."
Dave Meltzer added on Wrestling Observer Radio on Sunday that Balor is out with a case of the stomach flu
Balor is currently booked to face Bray Wyatt as "The Fiend" at SummerSlam on Aug. 11. According to a report from Pro Wrestling Sheet, he was recently granted two months of time off and will depart from television shortly after the big pay-per-view.
Many fans are hoping that once Balor returns he'll get a bit of a character shake-up and join The O.C., comprised of former members of Bullet Club (the New Japan faction Balor founded back in 2013).
"I mean, we'll have to see where he stands. We're not exactly liked right now," Styles said in an interview with The Wrap. "Does he want to be not liked? I don't know. I don't know where it's going to stand. He will always have an invitation, but who knows if it's going to happen."
Styles, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson reformed the group formerly known as The Club back in early July and quickly helped Styles win the United States Championship from Ricochet. The three were chased off on Monday Night Raw this week by Seth Rollins and members of D-Generation X and The Kliq as part of the Raw Reunion special.
