KEY POINTS

  • Finn Balor explains that his absence at the Royal Rumble event was due to visa concerns
  • Defeating Damian Priest allowed Balor to become the current United States Champion
  • Giving Balor and Priest their time to shine at WrestleMania 38 would do wonders for the performers and the title

The Royal Rumble this year was filled with surprises such as Ronda Rousey making her return and eventually winning the women’s match, but the absence of Finn Balor from the event was surprising, to say the least.

Fans started speculating soon after that he was dealing with an undisclosed injury or was simply not selected to participate in the match.

Nearly two months after the event, Balor finally broke his silence regarding the matter and it was much simpler than what was mentioned.

“Legally, my visa needed to be renewed and I needed to go home to Ireland and go to the US Embassy to get a new visa. And that’s why I wasn’t at the Royal Rumble and that’s why I wasn’t there for a month,” Balor said in an interview with BT Sport.

“It was strictly a legal paperwork issue that had to be rectified. It had kind of been pushed and pushed, and pushed on through COVID because we couldn’t travel, and it was… a window opened up and we said, ‘Look, we are going to have to do it eventually, let’s just do it now.”

The inaugural WWE Universal Champion briefly feuded with reigning titleholder Roman Reigns in 2021 before being drafted to Raw in the 2021 Draft.

Just last month, Balor added the United States Championship to his growing list of accolades within the top-tier wrestling promotion after defeating Damian Priest on the February 28 episode of Raw.

The achievement puts Balor on the level of a few other superstars who have won a main-roster singles title and the NXT Championship: Samoa Joe, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Shinsuke Nakamura, Big E, Drew McIntyre, and Dolph Ziggler.

Balor is in rarefied air right now and it looks like they will have a rematch at WrestleMania 38.

After their match, Priest cut a short promo that solidified his heel turn and then attacked Balor, building a backstory between the two in the span of about two weeks before the two-night show.

Though it has not been confirmed yet by WWE, fans have latched on quickly to the pair and having them blow off the rivalry at WrestleMania gives the company another must-watch match.

However, the match type would have to be more than just a singles match as the card already has seven singles matches.

Raising the stakes and making their WrestleMania affair a ladder match for the United States Championship does not only put both men in a potential match of the night situation, but it also gives importance to a midcard belt that has a long history.

RELATED STORIES