Ever since Finn Balor returned from an injury earlier this year, he has wrestled and appeared as himself. Fans have been wondering whatever happened to his ‘Demon King’ persona as it has not been used for nearly a year now. Balor last wrestled under the face paint on last year’s SummerSlam show. That show saw him face and defeat Seth Rollins to become the first ever Universal Champion. Unfortunately, he was forced to relinquish the title the very next night due to a shoulder injury that kept him out of action until the Raw after this year’s Wrestlemania. It had been rumored that the ‘Demon’ would be coming back at this year’s SummerSlam.
Unfortunately, this does not appear to be the case. Balor was asked about whether or not he’d be getting painted up for his match against Bray Wyatt on the pay-per-view next week. When IGN asked Balor the question, he replied: “You know the Demon only comes out in certain special situations and I don’t think my match at SummerSlam against Bray Wyatt calls for it necessarily. I think I’m perfectly capable of handling that on my own, as Finn Bálor.” Balor has been known to put one over on the fans before, so It is possible that he could be trying to keep the return a secret. However, it does not appear very likely as WWE does tend to advertise the arrival of the ‘Demon King’ when he is planned to show up.
As if the news that the United Kingdom Championship series was put on hold due to WWE’s recent cutbacks was not enough, it appears that the company now may have lost the actual champion for a while. PWInsider reports that “The Bruiserweight” Pete Dunne wrestled Darius Carter at a Battle Pro show in Brooklyn last night. Dunne suffered a laceration above his left eye during a botched spot involving Dunne’s UK title. Dunne won the UK Championship from Tyler Bate at NXT Takeover: Chicago, but has not defended it on WWE television once. The injury was bad enough to have the match shortened and WWE has officially removed him from future PROGRESS shows. The injury hasn’t been confirmed by WWE or Dunne as of yet.