Finn Balor Earns Opportunity To Face Brock Lesnar For Universal Title At WWE Royal Rumble, Updated Card
Finn Balor will finally get a chance to earn back the title he never lost.
Balor capped off a spectacular three days with a victory over John Cena, Baron Corbin and Drew McIntyre in a fatal four-way bout on Raw. The victory gave Balor a shot at Brock Lesnar and the WWE Universal Title at the Royal Rumble. Braun Strowman was pulled from the match against Lesnar earlier in the night after he destroyed Vince McMahon’s limo while searching for Baron Corbin.
Balor scored the win by pinning Cena following the Coup De Grâce. For Balor, it was his third victory in as many days. He made a surprise appearance at NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool, defeating Jordan Devlin in a featured bout. Earlier on Raw, Balor had to defeat Jinder Mahal to keep his spot in the fatal four-way bout.
Following the bout, Cena gave Balor his endorsement.
.@FinnBalor TIME! pic.twitter.com/XBY4tziqRo
— TDE Wrestling (@totaldivaseps) January 15, 2019
Won on Saturday in Blackpool.
Flies across the Atlantic to win twice on Monday in Memphis.Believe in @FinnBalor… fOrEVER. pic.twitter.com/JCcbr8pYhi
— TDE Wrestling (@totaldivaseps) January 15, 2019
HE DOES IT AGAIN.@FinnBalor has a match with @BrockLesnar for the #UniversalChampionship at #RoyalRumble! #RAW pic.twitter.com/RmrjXMx4c5
— WWE (@WWE) January 15, 2019
“For what it’s worth, you got one more person that believes in you.”
ULTIMATE respect from @JohnCena to @FinnBalor. #RAW pic.twitter.com/o6nbhD6vhh
— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) January 15, 2019
With Balor’s victory, here’s a look at the updated Royal Rumble card:
Men’s Royal Rumble Match
R-Truth (#30 entrant), Drew McIntyre, Kofi Kingston, Big E, Xavier Woods, Finn Balor, Seth Rollins, Jeff Hardy, Samoa Joe, Bobby Lashley, Dean Ambrose, John Cena, Elias, Jinder Mahal, Andrade “Cien” Almas, Rey Mysterio, Mustafa Ali, Baron Corbin, Apollo Crews
Women’s Royal Rumble Match
Carmella (#30 entrant), Natalya, Bayley, Ember Moon, Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan, Sarah Logan, Mandy Rose, Sonya Deville, Zelina Vega, Alicia Fox, Naomi, Sasha Banks [Banks still listed as a participant on WWE.com]
WWE Universal Championship
Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Finn Balor
WWE Cruiserweight Championship
Fatal 4-Way Match
Buddy Murphy (c) vs. Kalisto vs. Akira Tozawa vs. Hideo Itami
WWE Championship
Daniel Bryan (c) vs. AJ Styles
SmackDown Live Women’s Championship
Asuka (c) vs. Becky Lynch
RAW Women’s Championship
Ronda Rousey (c) vs. Sasha Banks
SmackDown Live Tag Team Championships
The Bar (c) vs. Shane McMahon & The Miz
WWE Royal Rumble is set for Jan. 27 from Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona.
