Finn Balor and Bray Wyatt Beef

Finn Balor and Bray Wyatt credit: wwe.com

Finn Balor versus Bray Wyatt was a feud that had to happen.

Balor is a WWE Superstar on the rise and one of the featured attractions on Monday Night Raw. He's fearless, he's explosive and he's intense. He has a dark side that sets him apart from everyone else on the main roster, including The Eater of Worlds.

Bray Wyatt is the kind of heel that waits for a babyface like Balor. He hunts for guys just like the Irish-born star and wants nothing more than to destroy him. Wyatt knows about Balor's inner darkness, and he wants to stare straight into it, hoping that it doesn't stare back at him.

They're a perfect match, and their feud was destined to happen. But it has. So why is still happening now?

This is surely one of the more curious rivalries in WWE. There was little build other than Wyatt constantly calling out, and attacking, Balor. The two worked a match on the August 14 edition of Raw, in which Balor lost.

That loss seemed to come from out of nowhere, though Wyatt's supporters were certainly happy to see him win. However the match itself should have been saved for a pay-per-view. Once the babyface loses, he is put at a disadvantage and must fight back to regain momentum. But that loss came on TV, with little hype surrounding the match itself.

Then there was virtually nothing in between the first and second bout. The story of Balor's battle back was not told because there was no time.

By the time Balor did regain momentum on pay-per-view, the end result was a foregone conclusion. SummerSlam saw Balor adopt his otherworldly persona of The Demon King and defeat Wyatt. It seemed the feud ended before it could begin. There was no need to move ahead at that point.

After all, why would the heel come back for another match after taking the best the face had to offer? The Demon is Balor's wild card, his not-so-secret weapon. Once Balor embraces the darkness, he is nearly unbeatable. He's all in. If he won't go down while wearing the paint and it's already a return match, then why would WWE feel the need to book a third bout?

But that is exactly the direction WWE has chosen; Balor will face Wyatt again at No Mercy on September 24.

What began as a good idea seems to have lost all meaning. Balor and Wyatt do indeed match up well together, and the possibility was strong that they could have had a string of highly memorable matches. But what is the point of that now?

Wyatt wants Balor the man, not The Demon. It's as if WWE wants to convince fans that Balor can win without his supernatural gimmick. But fans have seen Balor out of the paint more than they have seen him in it, and they still love him for all he does in WWE. Is this match the company's way of perhaps trying to retire The Demon in favor of a more straightforward Balor?

Is that really a good move on WWE's part?

It seems that WWE doesn't have any other recourse but to keep booking Balor and Wyatt against each other. The Demon King should have been the last word, the final showdown, yet it wasn't. Could it be that WWE is trying to keep both men busy until other main event rivalries come to an end?

John Cena and Roman Reigns are setting serious fires on Raw and verbally, they're burning each other down. Braun Strowman is manhandling Brock Lesnar, throwing The Beast Incarnate around like he's a cruiserweight. Both of these feuds have grabbed headlines and continue to bring fans back to the red brand every week.

WWE @ WWE

It will be a man-to-man encounter when @FinnBalor battles @WWEBrayWyatt at #WWENoMercy! https://t.co/32H8eTa6Z9

Once all four men have settled their differences, will Balor and Wyatt finally move on?

The "hurry up and wait" scenario has haunted Wyatt for his entire WWE career. He's incredibly charismatic, he's good in the ring and he's impossible to ignore. Even when his promos seem too complex for fans to follow, they still can't take their eyes off of him.

Wyatt is a third generation Superstar with a Hall of Fame pedigree and more ability to get over than many of his peers. However he continues to be held in one spot, even though he was WWE champion at one time. That distinction seemed to come only because WWE needed a heel for Randy Orton to beat at WrestleMania 33.

Wyatt has what it takes to succeed, but it only comes in small doses. Most of the time, he's struggling to get a win.

Balor has yet to regain his championship form since returning from injury. When he did come back, most fans likely assumed it was only a matter of time until he was elevated back to the main event and the Universal Championship.

But like Wyatt, Balor has been stuck in neutral. Lesnar wages war with one Superstar after another, while Balor sits still. Wyatt can't elevate Balor because WWE rarely does anything with The Eater of Worlds. Balor can't really improve Wyatt's situation to a large degree because it could hurt his own situation, at least in the short term.

SummerSlam was a showdown that could have ended a feud that should have been much bigger. However, one bit of nonsensical booking after another has led Balor and Wyatt to this point now. They are stuck in limbo, fighting for a spot that neither man is able to attain at the moment.

They will entertain, because that's what they do. They will give fans their money's worth, because that's what they're good at. Balor and Wyatt will battle at No Mercy, and they will leave it all in the ring. They will do this as fans applaud their effort yet question the reasoning behind it all.

Maybe this is leading to bigger and better things for both men; maybe the Universal Championship will be next on the horizon for one of them. Or perhaps something more is in the works that WWE has yet to reveal, something that will make all of this actually mean something.

Balor and Wyatt both deserve to come out of this in great shape. With any luck, that will indeed be the case.

Tom Clark can regularly be seen on Bleacher Report. His podcast, Tom Clark's Main Event, is available on iTunes, Google Play, iHeart Radio, Amazon Android, Windows Phone and online at boinkstudios.com

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Source: https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2733276-why-didnt-wwe-end-finn-balor-vs-bray-wyatt-feud-after-summerslam