WWE Intercontinental Champion Finn Balor, who has largely been absent from WWE television of late, looks to have his next challenger on tap and it’s another star who hasn’t been seen much on WWE broadcasts lately.
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During the second hour of SmackDown on Tuesday night, Kayla Braxton interviewed Balor backstage and asked him what’s next. At that point, he looked off into the distance as the camera slowly panned left. It revealed Shinsuke Nakamura, who walked into the frame as the two men smiled and stared down each other before the shot faded.
“Who’s next for #ICChampion @FinnBalor?”
ENTER: The #KingOfStrongStyle @ShinsukeN.#SDLive pic.twitter.com/C2fZ6QwCZq
— WWE (@WWE) June 26, 2019
The announce team noted that it looks like Balor has his next challenger and a logical guess would be that the two will face off at WWE Extreme Rules on July 14th.
The bout is intriguing given both men’s history in New Japan Pro Wrestling. They also wrestled each other while part of WWE NXT. Their June 2016 NXT match was given four stars by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Previously, they worked in NJPW at the New Japan Cup in March 2014.
Nakamura worked the Battle Royal at Super ShowDown a couple of weeks ago, but he has not wrestled on SmackDown since April 23rd. Balor worked Super ShowDown and Money In The Bank, but has not wrestled on SmackDown since May 14th.
