Finn Balor's time on the main roster has been pretty up and down to say the least so far. When Superstars are called up from NXT to Raw and SmackDown Live, fans of theirs are often quite nervous, and they have every right to be. You need look no further than the likes of Tyler Breeze and The Ascension to see how things can go no matter how good or well liked you are at Full Sail. With Balor though most of us convinced ourselves that even Vince McMahon wouldn't be able to miss what a hot commodity the Irishman is. We were proven right to think that too and in Balor's first ever main roster PPV match he defeated Seth Rollins to become the inaugural Universal Champion.

Unfortunately during that historic match Balor seriously injured his shoulder. That meant he has to relinquish the title 24 hours after he had won it and was on the shelf for around eight months. The hope this time was that Balor would pick right back up where he left off upon his return. More than a year later and that is yet to happen. Even though the former NXT Champion was never actually beaten for the Universal Title, he is yet to have been given the opportunity to win it back. At one time it felt as if seeds were being planted for a showdown with Brock Lesnar but that hasn't happened. Instead Balor has been chasing the Intercontinental Championship for the past few months.

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Despite obviously being a step down from what is one of WWE's World Titles, Balor's pursuit of the IC Title hasn't been as bad it as it sounds on the surface. That's because for most of that chase he has been having terrific matches with Rollins. Their rivalry stretches all the way back to that Universal Title match where Balor got injured of course and while that match was good their more recent clashes have been even better. According to The Architect the two of them have gone one on one a total of five times as of this last week on Raw with Rollins winning three of those and Balor being victorious in the other two. Their Raw main event this week however appeared to be the end of something.

At no point during Balor's quest to win the Intercontinental Championship has he actually managed to win it, and now that chapter in his career appears to be over. Rollins will defend the title against The Miz at Backlash this Sunday and beyond that, who knows? So what is next for the leader of the Balor Club? His rivalry with Rollins is likely over, Mr. McMahon doesn't seem to think he is a viable candidate to challenge for Lesnar's crown, and even his beloved Gallows and Anderson are no longer on the same show as him as they were drafted to SmackDown Live during the Superstar Shakeup. It was actually quite surprising that Balor didn't join them on Tuesday nights.

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While at first glance there may be more promising prospects for Balor on Team Blue if you delve deeper there are still plenty of new and exciting things for him to potentially do on Raw. He might not be challenging for a title any time soon but we're sure not many would be adverse to a series of matches against Superstars such as Drew McIntyre or Sami Zayn. Maybe he could even reignite his rivalry with Kevin Owens. The two of them once feuded over the NXT Championship and did battle in a ladder match on an NXT TakeOver. What the basis for a rivalry with any of the above will be remains to be seen though and will not begin now until the Raw after Backlash at the very least.

What's interesting is how long it has been since we have seen Balor don his demon paint. The impressive and intimidating get-up hasn't had an outing for over six months and we apparently won't be seeing it again any time soon. If there is another Universal Title reign in Finn's future then it seems imperative that he wins the championship while wearing his patented paint. The story initially being told was that Balor became stronger and simply better in the ring when painted up. Maybe some time soon he will try and fail to capture the Universal Title only to realize that perhaps if he reawakens the demon that will provide him with the boost he needs to be a World Champion once again.