Ex-Universal Champion Finally Gets Singles Win On WWE SmackDown After 1029 Days
WWE SmackDown began a new era tonight, airing live from the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, where CM Punk officially joined the blue brand as the newly crowned Undisputed WWE Champion.
The Voice of the Voiceless was welcomed by the fans before having an intense conversation with the American Nightmare, Cody Rhodes, leading to their match at SummerSlam 2026.
The show then proceeded to the first match of the night which saw the inaugural WWE Universal Champion, Finn Balor, face off his former NJPW stablemate on the show.
Finn Balor Gets his first singles WWE SmackDown win in years
Balor had a reunion of sorts with Tama Tonga after he moved to the blue brand a few weeks back. The two men were part of the Bullet Club during their time in Japan, but didn’t have a friendly interaction in WWE.
Last week on the blue brand, Tama and Talla Tonga took Balor out in a backstage attack, leading to their match tonight. The former Bullet Club members knew each other well and it was evident in the bout.
Talla was asking for it the whole match!
Thank you for your service, Finn. 🙏 pic.twitter.com/7t79DkZ5xV
— WWE (@WWE) July 11, 2026
Tama remained on the front foot for most of the match, thanks to Talla’s constant interventions. He remained a thorn in Balor’s side till he took him and Talla out with a massive dive to the outside.
He followed it up with a Shotgun Dropkick and the Coup de Grace to Tama to pick up his first singles win on the blue brand in over a 1000 days. Balor’s last singles win came against AJ Styles during the 15 September 2023 edition of SmackDown.
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