The hotly anticipated upcoming NXT Takeover event in Florida is aptly named ‘The End’.
But while it will surely mark the end of an era for the WWE’s hugely popular feeder programme it will put a final, definitive stamp on the beginning of the main card’s reinvention.
Incumbent champion Samoa Joe will take on the man he dethroned for the NXT title in a steel cage match, one that will surely see Joe retain and mark the farewell for one of NXT’s greatest graduates.
Considering that list contains the current women’s, tag-team (minus Kofi Kingston), United States and Heavyweight champions – The Miz’s Intercontinental title will be on the line against at least four ex-NXT stars at Money in the Bank – it is some statement.
But when you consider the man in question it is not one without substance.
Finn Balor from Bray, Ireland, is quite simply one of the most enigmatic and enterprising wrestlers the WWE has had in its ranks for years.
Despite increasingly loud, annoyed calls for his push on to the main roster, the WWE has taken its time in promoting Balor, eking out his popularity in NXT to help push its other brand and build an insatiable appetite for his eventual bow.
Not only is he one of this new generation’s most innovative wrestlers (consider Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens very much contemporaries), but he has also built a mystique around his in-ring persona as The Demon, which can rival the likes of Bray Wyatt and The Undertaker.
Quite simply, Balor has it all and he is now ready to seize his moment on sports entertainment’s biggest stage.
That moment is appearing more and more likely to come at Money in the Bank where Balor is widely reported to be preparing for his main card bow in what will deliver a huge pop for the 34-year-old, real name Fergal Devitt.
His former allies Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows of The Club either alongside or going up against the man that replaced him at the head of the group, AJ Styles.
Regardless of what happens in terms of Balor’s positioning in the group, it will most certainly pave the way for him and the rest of the WWE’s latest imports to make hay in ushering in its so-called ‘New Era’.
Without Balor, that moniker would feel empty. With him leading the line, it feels fulfilled.
