‘Stick To The Plan’ – WWE Star Asked Seth Rollins If He Wanted To Switch The Finish Of Big Title Match After Injury

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WWE star Finn Bálor has recalled he and Seth Rollins’ WWE Universal Title match at SummerSlam 2016, and his shoulder injury that could have potentially resulted in a change of finish.

SummerSlam 2016 saw the first WWE Universal Champion crowned, with Finn Balor scoring the victory over Seth Rollins.

Balor would be forced to vacate the title shorly after the August 21 Premium Live Event, having suffered a dislocated shoulder during the match.

Revealing that he’s never watched the match back during a recent appearance on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Balor discussed the lengths he goes to avoid seeing it back, saying:

“No (I haven’t watched it back), and you know what, I get tagged in tweets daily of that spot, and I’ll scroll away before I hit the wall. I don’t like seeing it.”

Exploring the rationale behind his decision not to relive the match, Balor would go on to explain:

“It’s just like, why dwell on the past? You should be looking forward, you can’t change the past, it happened. So what?”

Having suffered a torn labrum during the match, Balor was asked how much pain he was in, going on to reveal the interaction he had with Rollins, stating:

“No pain, but I knew there was a big issue, and it actually came out like three more times in the match, because any time I lifted my arm to hit the ropes, it came out. I remember I got whipped to the buckle one time it came out.

“So I don’t know if I’ve ever told this story, and I’m not sure if I should, but I remember at one point in the match, so me and Seth, I was very lucky to be in there with Seth when it happened, because Seth is an absolute pro, and we were able to communicate, and I was able to tell him, hey, I’m hurt, so we were kind of calling the match on the fly and editing spots and changing spots and talking the whole time, so the match that we’d done wasn’t actually the match that we’d laid out.”

Balor would then reveal that he at one point asked Seth if he wanted to switch the finish of the match due to his injury, but he insisted that they “stick to the plan” with Balor ultimately still going over.

“I must give Seth credit, because there was a point, we were outside the ring and I was rolling him back into the ring, and I said, ‘Dude, I’m hurt. I don’t think I’m gonna be wrestling for a while. Do you want to switch to finish?’ And he said, ‘No, stick to the plan.’

“I just rolled him back in, and we stuck to the plan. I often wonder what that would have done for my career if we had switched the finish.”

This wasn’t the only challenge that Balor would reveal during the interview, opening up about being left temporarily blind following his WWE Super ShowDown match back in 2019.

What Might Have Been

Introduced in July 2016, there were eight titles reigns in the history of the WWE Universal Championship before it was retired after WrestleMania 40 in April 2024.

The most notable reign was that of Roman Reigns, a two-time WWE Universal Champion, who defeated Bray Wyatt at Payback in August 2020 to kick off a 1,316-day run.

Brock Lesnar would also set a record as the only three-time WWE Universal Champion, with Rollins, Wyatt, Reigns and Goldberg being fellow members of the two-time club.

A recognized Grand Slam Champion thanks to his WWE Universal Championship reign of just one day, Balor would attempt to recapture the title while it was in the hands of Roman Reigns, with their Extreme Rules match in September 2021 being the last attempt. Despite being a former United States Champion and two-time United States Champion, Balor has been unsuccessful when it comes to world championships, losing to CM Punk at Elimination Chamber in February of this year.

With CM Punk as the Undisputed WWE Champion, there are opportunities for Balor to pursue a top title once again, although the star hasn’t held a singles championship since his 2022 run with the United States Championship.

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• wwe
• Seth Rollins
• Finn Balor

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