Finn Balor opened Extreme Rules in disappointing fashion on Sunday night by dropping the Intercontinental Championship to Shinsuke Nakamura. The loss brought an end to what was already a disappointing reign for Balor, as the former world champion had only wrestled once on television since defending the title at Super ShowDown back in early June against Andrade.
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With the title no longer in the picture, WWE fans once again started speculation on Twitter over whether or not Balor would finally make a character shift, turn heel, and join his former New Japan stablemates in The Club.
The faction, an offshoot of The Bullet Club from New Japan Pro Wrestling, was reformed several weeks back when AJ Styles turned heel and aligned himself with Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson. Styles is scheduled to face Ricochet later in the evening for the United States Championship, and some interference on Balor’s part would be a perfect way to kick off a heel run.
Ok, now that Finn has lost the IC title, the money move is having Balor interfere in the US title match tonight to help AJ win — then rejoin The Club. pic.twitter.com/0kgYAiV2IF
— Ryan Satin (@ryansatin) July 14, 2019
“I predict that Finn Balor helps AJ Styles beat Ricochet to win the US Title tonight,” one fan wrote. “Then we get a full reformation of the club with AJ Styles, Gallows, Anderson & Balor.”
I only have one request for #ExtremeRules. Please have Finn Balor complete the Club and help AJ get the U.S title. Club vs. Undisputed Era at Survivor Series pic.twitter.com/I3UFYvIIFi
— Marty from Nebraska (@kneakatthewees) July 14, 2019
The one roadblock with the idea, at least at the moment, is that Balor is currently a member of the SmackDown roster while the rest of The Club is on Raw. And while the Wild Card Rule effectively ended the brand split, WWE might be hesitant to build a dual-brand faction.
I want Balor to turn heel and join AJ and the Club but I also want the wildcard rule to end #ExtremeRules
— XD (@jigsawl35) July 14, 2019
The idea of the four joining forces has been teased multiple times in the past between backstage segments and a match between Styles and Balor at TLC 2017 that ended with the two giving each other the “Too Sweet” sign.
“If I could look into the future or try to predict things,” Styles said in a 2018 interview with IGN. “I’d like to think that maybe we can all be together doing something. At some point. But you never know where things are going to lead, but right now I’m very interested in what I’m seeing.”
