Report: Original Plans For Finn Balor As WWE Universal Champion; Next Rivalries

Finn Balor had to relinquish his WWE Universal Championship on this week’s edition of Monday Night Raw. Balor dislocated his shoulder and tore his labrum during his SummerSlam match with Seth Rollins this past Sunday. Balor underwent successful shoulder surgery two days ago and will be out of action for about six months.

Once WWE found out that Balor’s injury required surgery and that he’d miss time (thus, having to relinquish the title), the creative team went into a scramble in order to change their plans for Raw. In the latest edition of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Meltzer notes that the original plans for Balor following his SummerSlam win was to defend the Universal Title at Raw’s next pay-per-view, Clash of Champions on September 25, against Kevin Owens.

The finish of Balor and Owens’ Clash of Champions match was supposed to lead to a triple threat match for the Universal Title at Hell in a Cell on October 30, between Balor, Owens and Chris Jericho.

Picture used above is courtesy of WWE.com.