Finn Balor was forced to relinquish his WWE Universal Championship on last night’s episode of Monday night Raw after it was revealed that The Demon King had suffered an arm injury at SummerSlam in his match with Seth Rollins.
Balor’s torn labrum will require surgery and could leave him on the treatment table for up to six months, which means WWE would need to crown a champion in his absence.
The former NXT Champion suffered the injury when he was power-bombed into the barricade part way through his match with the former two-time World Champion and was forced to pop his shoulder back into place after it was reportedly dislocated.
Seth Rollins has been the one under fire from fans online ever since the injury announcement was made with many of the WWE Universe calling him ‘unsafe’ and a ‘dangerous worker.’
Rollins has been labeled with this shocking reputation after three superstars have been injured at his hands over the past year. A year that Rollins has spent seven months of out of action himself.
John Cena’s injury in the build-up to last year’s SummerSlam was a legitimate accident when Rollins went in with a much stiffer knee than expected and Cena’s nose was broken. This was something the Rollins was obviously talked to about by officials backstage and everyone involved then moved forward.
Less than two months later Rollins faced Sting in the main event of Night of Champions, this was Rollins second match of the night and part way through the match he hit the turnbuckle powerbomb on the former TNA Champion and it had tragic consequences.
Though he didn’t know it then, this became Sting’s last ever wrestling match, but he himself didn’t blame Rollins for his injuries. Wrestling is a dangerous business, wrestlers are fully aware of the risks they are taking when they step through the ropes and sometimes accidents do happen.
Balor’s injury was another freak accident, both men would have agreed on the spot either before or during the match and Finn was well aware of what would happen if he took the bump wrong. His hand and arm landed in the wrong place and resulted in the tear that will now keep him out of action for half of a year.
Rollins has been unlucky with these injuries at his hands but injuries happen all the time in wrestling, Neville recently suffered a leg injury, Nikki Bella recently returned from neck surgery and Sasha is currently out of action because of a back strain.
Superstars are well aware that they are putting their body’s under a lot stress when they are a part of wrestling matches and they know that at some point in their time with the company it is highly likely that they will have to undergo surgery to repair an injury that is attributed to their wrestling career.
Rollins has been in WWE now since 2012 and these are the only injuries he has been credited with, this doesn’t make him a dangerous worker, although Bret Hart seems to openly think that he is. It means that Rollins is in a lot of high-profile matches and is in a spot where a lot of eyes are on him.
The former World Champion is one of the best wrestlers and promo deliverers in WWE currently and a reputation as a dangerous worker is the last thing someone of his calibre needs at this stage of his career.
The former Tag Team Champion has been around the wrestling business for more than a decade and is well aware of how to be safe in the ring and the fact that none of the wrestlers he has been in the ring with have called him unsafe or dangerous means that his fellow colleagues understand that he wasn’t at fault for any of these injuries.
Balor’s injury is the most tragic because it is heartbreaking that Finn has had to give up the title he had fought so hard for just hours before and now has to sit on the sidelines when he has finally made it to the main roster, but Seth Rollins doesn’t deserve to be the scapegoat for a freak injury.
Finn will come back stronger and hungrier and much like Rollins at Extreme Rules a few months ago, the one thing he will have in his mind is reclaiming the Championship he never lost.
The ONLY common denominator between Sting, Cena and Balor [and , since I couldn’t find any stories refuting it…Brock Lesnor and his ribs] is Seth. Just sayin…
Brock’s ribs was a kayfabe injury to write him off TV for a few weeks. And just because they happened to be in the ring with Rollins doesn’t mean that he was the reason they were injured. Sting had a medical condition, Cena didn’t put his hands up and Balor put his arm behind him.
“Balor put his arm behind him.”
He’s being powerbombed on a goddamn barricade! What would you expect?
I would expect him to keep his arms out and his head tuck so that he can take a back bump like the move calls for. Go and look at how Ambrose and Reigns took the move. Balor made a mistake by putting his arm behind him.
Dont fall for all the hype about Rollins “Its only 3” How many times did Bret Hart hurt someone? What about Sting? Flair? Dusty? I am not saying Rollins is trying to hurt these guys but he clearly needs to be trying a hell of a lot harder NOT too.
Edit to add: REAL Greats, Don’t hurt the guys they work with.
I was just commenting on the 3 that we “know”. And yes Sting is older by wrestling terms, Cena didn’t put up his hands blah blah blah. Fact : The ONLY common denominator between the three? Seth.