[2019-01-27-WWE-Royal Rumble] Brock Lesnar vs Finn Balor

[SmartMark15]

From being one of the most uninteresting characters on TV in ages to being a believable challenge against the Beast himself, Finn Balor has never looked better in his WWE run. This match was brilliantly paced, toying with the Lesnar formula match by pretty much excising the traditional suplex heat segment and turning it instead into an extended babyface shine for Balor. The stomach psychology (has anyone ever done STOMACH psychology) added so much to story and allowed Brock to flex those Top 10 All Time Selling muscles he's been hiding from us for a bit. Brock being unable to hit the Germans was a great hope spot followed by the triple topes that had me entirely invested in the win. MOTY, Brock and Finn showed up Tana and Omega with only 8 minutes. Fucking fantastic.

*****

[ShittyLittleBoots]

Brock Lesnar is a goddamn legend. Finn's offense looks weak & soft as hell, but Brock does such a perfect job selling for him all the way through that the match couldn't be anything less than a banger. Loved the post-match attack on Finn by Lesnar too - that's some great character work there w/ Lesnar being mad about this little man pushing him to the limit by going after his mid-section. If Finn was more interesting on the offense, this would've been great, but it says something about the match when even though he wasn't interesting on the offense, the thing was still borderline great. ***3/4

[RingoPlaysDrums]

This was an incredibly good sub-10 minute match. Balor came out looking great and I think it would've been quite something if he'd have entered the Rumble as the Demon and won after this. Genuinely star making, but alas. This is another reminder that when Brock can be arsed there is no one quite like him. Although I'm not sure you should really need that reminder when the Bryan, AJ, Goldberg and Joe matches (as well as that great Summerslam Fatal 4-Way) have all taken place inside the last two years. This thing started on fire (like most Brock matches) and didn't let up until the finish, which I really liked. Possibly my WWE MOTY so far.

[Tenese Sarwieh]

This was a brilliant sprint and Brock should only work with those who he respects because he steps his game up all the time. He was so giving making Balor's offense look so amazing as a fiery babyface going for broke throwing everything he had. 

[NintendoLogic]

I thought that the wonkiness of Balor's offense actually enhanced the match. It came across like he wasn't planning on having Brock's stomach as a target and had to adjust his gameplan on the fly. And if Finn's strikes were giving Brock that much trouble, he must really be hurt, so he might actually lose.

[KB8]

Man, when Lesnar gives a shit that guy is unbelievable. And he clearly gave a shit here because this was a crazy fun nine minutes. I have no use for Finn Balor and his Lash LeRoux offence but I guess Lesnar decided he was worth working with and boy did Finn take his chance. Lesnar took all of his double stomps right in the guts and I love how he ate those three dives by letting Balor land with his entire weight across his shoulder and neck. He never caught Balor the way most folk would catch a dive, he just lowered his head and let himself be squashed by the wee human full speed somersaulting towards him. Lesnar's diverticulitis coming to bite him after those nasty table bumps ruled and when he can be bothered selling big for someone he's absolutely sensational at it. All of those grimaces, the "ah SHIT!" as he tried to pick Balor up for the German, even struggling to hoist him for an F5 gave Balor that extra bit of time to regroup and reverse it into the DDT. Crazy Lesnar Face making an appearance at the end as he tried to snap Balor's arm like a tree branch was fucking amazing. There have been more than a couple misses in there for sure, but ever since he came back with that Cena match in 2012, motivated and in-the-mood Lesnar is the best big match wrestler in America. This totally smashed my expectations to bits and it was one of the better sub-ten minute matches WWE's had in a while. It's also the most I've ever enjoyed Balor by some distance.
 

[Childs]

I listened to the  Observer recap, and Meltzer was lukewarm about this match, suggesting it needed more time to be great. And I thought that was fucking insane. There was no way this match was  getting any  better. They hit all the perfect beats without a wasted moment, not to mention the timing on the show. I have never looked forward to a Balor match but Ieft this kind of wanting to see them do it again. 

[Boss Rock]

This is the type of Brock Lensar performance that made so many of us believe he truly was a one-of-a-kind special attraction. The absolute monster who could still sell his ass off and make his opponent look great. Excellent story of Finn blitzing Brock early as opposed to letting him dominate the first half of the match like he did against Bryan and A.J. He did eventually get his suplexes in which Finn sold like death for but it was the abdomen selling really took things to another level (Brock hobbling around and not able to hit the F-5 was probably the best part of this match) This was also easily Finn's best match since his title defense against Gedo in 2013. Great fire and great comebacks. Too bad the post-match sucked. Still, a pretty awesome match.

****

[cactus]

This is your standard Lesnar vs smaller guy fare. Balor sends Lesnar into the corner of the announce table stomach first and this limits Lesnar from being able to suplex Balor. Lesnar sells the his ribs by grimacing and staggering all over the place, and Balor manages to eventually picks up steam and is able to hit his finish. Lesnar powering out of the pin and getting a Kimura locked in deep was a great finish. Balor had no chance, but these guys made me believe for one second that he might actually pin Lesnar clean as a whistle.  

★★★¾