00:00.
00:02.
00:02.
00:02.
00:02.
00:03.
00:03.
00:06.
00:07.
00:08.
00:10.
00:11.
00:13.
00:13.
00:13.
00:13.
00:14.
00:14.
00:15.
00:15.
00:18.
00:20.
00:20.
00:26.
00:47Seven long years.
00:51Finn Balor has been waiting for this moment.
00:56At SummerSlam in 2016, Finn Balor won the Inaugural Universal Championship with a victory over Seth Rollins.
01:07However, he suffered a torn labor, a torn biceps.
01:12Among other injuries in that match and was forced to relinquish the championship 24 hours later.
01:20Finn Balor claims that Seth Rollins laughed in his face when he had to do that.
01:26And he will never, ever forget that night.
01:31Finn Balor doesn't have to claim that at all, Cole.
01:34We've all seen video evidence of that very act.
01:38.
01:38.
01:38.
01:38.
01:38.
01:38.
01:38.
01:39.
01:39.
01:40.
01:40.
01:40.
01:40.
01:40.
01:40.
01:40.
01:40.
01:40.
01:40.
01:40.
01:40.
01:41.
01:41.
01:41.
01:41.
01:42.
01:42.
01:42.
01:43.
01:43.
01:43.
01:43.
01:43.
01:43.
01:43.
01:43.
01:43.
01:43.
01:43.
01:43.
01:43.
01:43.
01:43.
01:44.
01:44.
01:44.
01:45.
01:45.
01:45.
01:45.
01:46.
01:46.
01:46.
01:47.
01:50.
01:54political seven years of pent-up rage i will personally commend finn balor for doing his best
02:02to restrain himself for seven years while this must have been eating him alive it is admirable
02:09that finn has spent seven years suffering in silence with this inner turmoil
02:17on the cory graves after the bell podcast finn balor said this will be brutal tonight
02:26burn it down
02:54burn it down
03:05burn it down
03:21burn it down
03:22burn it down
03:35burn it down
03:39burn it down
04:09Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.
04:41Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.
04:59Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.
05:06The following contest is scheduled for one fall, and it is for the World Heavyweight Championship.
05:18Introducing the challenger, representing the Judgment Day, from Bray County, Wicklow,
05:24Ireland, weighing in at 190 pounds, Finn Balor.
05:36And his opponent from Davenport, Iowa, weighing in at 225 pounds, he is the World Heavyweight Champion,
05:48Seth freakin' Rollins!
05:55I'd like to talk about, well, eventually.
06:20Wade, you notice the Kinesio tape on the left side of Seth Rollins' ribcage.
06:26Seth has been the target of frequent attacks and has suffered rib injuries at the hands of Finn Balor
06:31over the past couple of weeks.
06:32In fact, last night in a live event in Newcastle here in the United Kingdom,
06:37Finn Balor, well, another hit-and-run attack on Rollins.
06:41Those ribs could come into play in a major way in this match tonight.
06:45Undoubtedly.
06:46You know what?
06:46Several coup de grasses in a row will certainly cause some damage to that ribcage.
06:53And doesn't Finn Balor know it?
07:09And Balor goes right up to Rollins, who takes him down, and now Seth pounded away at Balor,
07:14and Balor now turns the mound around on Seth Rollins.
07:16Rollins winning a tournament, defeating AJ Styles in the finals,
07:20and this man Finn Balor in the semi-finals!
07:22Oh!
07:22Oh my God, right to the ribs!
07:25Like a cannonball to the stomach, Seth instantly went right down,
07:30sucked the entire life out of him there.
07:32Rollins is nowhere near 100% in this matchup,
07:35but you're talking about Seth freakin' Rollins here.
07:37So if anybody can pull things out, it's gonna be Rollins,
07:39who delivers a suicide dive to Finn Balor.
07:42Yeah, and took a bit out of himself in the process.
07:45You know, it's one thing, you know, Wade, when you win, right?
07:48You wanna be the working man's champion,
07:50you wanna defend the championship all the time,
07:52and have all these open challenges.
07:54Oh, sometime it's gonna come back to haunt you,
07:56and you're gonna suffer through injuries,
07:58like Seth is suffering through right now.
08:01Yeah, there's one thing being a chest-beaten alpha male,
08:04so I'll take it all comers.
08:05It will come back to haunt you.
08:08And this is what Finn Balor predicted on After the Bell.
08:11This is not gonna be a technical masterpiece.
08:13This was gonna be a brawl, it was gonna be a personal war,
08:16and Rollins running through Balor with a clothesline.
08:29Rollins grabbing the ears of Balor and dragging him back into the ring.
08:33Yeah, make no mistake.
08:36Oh my goodness, what a leg drop by Seth!
08:39Seth Rollins has grown as a human being over the last few years,
08:43but it's that assassin that's inside him that has taken him to the top repeatedly.
08:48It's still there, he's as cutthroat as ever.
08:52Well, let's not forget the, went for the ribs, and Seth rolled out of harm's way.
08:56Rolled through now by Balor.
08:57Went for the stomp.
08:59Kick to the midsection by Seth, looking for a pedigree.
09:02Yeah, needs to end this one quick, that's why, Cole.
09:04Balor's though, now the stomp.
09:06Now you saw Seth, he tried to cross his arms across his ribs to provide himself some protection.
09:11But again, Balor stomping right through that into the ribs.
09:15Yeah, offered no protection whatsoever.
09:18It was clear from the off exactly what Finn Balor is talking about.
09:20Watch his arms, see how he has his arms.
09:24I'll tell you right now, absolutely no protection whatsoever.
09:28A suit of armor is what you would have needed there to get protection on that midsection.
09:33And exactly from the off, the game plan of Finn Balor has come to the fore.
09:38And it is working perfectly.
09:40And again, Wade, you talked a lot about the evolution and the maturity and the growth of Rollins, right?
09:44How about Finn Balor?
09:45How about the aggressiveness and the passion that we've seen out of this man as of late?
09:50Driven, cover for the title and a kick out.
09:52Well, take a look at this right hand from Finn.
09:55Once again, targeted.
09:57Boom.
09:57Boom, right on that.
09:59X marks the spot ribcage of Seth Rollins.
10:02You're right, Seth Rollins has grown, developed.
10:06It's a level of bitterness that he has in his soul right now.
10:09That is what he's driving.
10:10That was Balor you were speaking of, correct?
10:12Completely right.
10:13I'm a little disheveled, I'm not-
10:15We all are.
10:15It's been quite the night here.
10:16Been one of those disheveling kind of nights.
10:19Balor mocking this crowd of nearly 19,000.
10:27You know this audience singing Seth Freakin' Rollins' song over and over again,
10:32must be like nails on a chalkboard to Finn Balor.
10:36Yeah, but Balor now tying Rollins up in the ropes, exposing the ribs,
10:40and continues to punish Seth Rollins, who has welts developing all around his body.
10:51Balor right to the ribs.
10:53And I gotta tell you, Cole, I lost months of my own career,
10:56thanks to individuals being reckless in that ring.
10:59And every single time I close my eyes, I just saw their face.
11:03I know exactly what Finn Balor is going through.
11:06He has a demon inside of him right now that he needs to exercise.
11:11And the only way that's gonna happen is by winning this World Heavyweight Championship.
11:14Now Finn's gotta be careful because remember the champion's advantage lies with Seth.
11:20Balor has to pin or submit Rollins.
11:23And he can't do it getting counted out.
11:26Yeah, there's rage inside Finn, but he is a savvy competitor.
11:30He knows exactly where he's at in the count.
11:33That's a level of experience that has taken Finn to the top of four and might do again tonight.
11:38And that Balor, again, backing up Rollins into the corner, delivering shoulders to the injured ribs of Seth,
11:44who's trying to cover up but to no avail.
11:46And at some point, this rib injury is gonna be too much for Rollins to handle.
11:51He's gasping for breath.
11:54Here's the thing.
11:56Finn Balor, this might be a two-pronged attack.
11:59Finn Balor doesn't just want to take the World Heavyweight Championship.
12:03He might potentially wanna end the career of Seth Rollins here.
12:07Well, that's how personal this has become.
12:10Rollins ripped across the ring and he caught Finn with a boot.
12:13The bicep for a little bit of time.
12:15Seth will turn things around with a clothesline and now looks to try to catch his breath.
12:23Watch the impact.
12:24Boom!
12:26Cleaning the clock of Finn Balor, but in the process,
12:30landing on the mat, knocking the stuffing out of himself once again.
12:35It has been an incredible couple of nights, SmackDown last night.
12:39Of course, Money in the Bank tonight.
12:4118,885 sold out, watching the World Heavyweight Championship from the 02 in London.
12:48Rollins the champion in trouble with injured ribs.
12:50The number one contender is Finn Balor.
12:55Just have to admire the durability of Seth Rollins.
12:58It's not surprising, we've seen it time and time again.
13:01That's why he is the future Hall of Famer here who has done it all.
13:05But this might be a mountain too high even for him.
13:08And that knee doubled Balor over.
13:12And now Rollins with kicks to the face, Seth trying to feel it, build a little momentum.
13:19Rollins down, a knee to the spine.
13:23And running knee by Seth, Balor's down.
13:27But here's the issue, Seth Rollins doesn't have enough in him to even make a cover in what could be
13:34a KO Finn Balor.
13:38Just hasn't had any opportunity.
13:41It's been all Finn for the majority of the matchup up to this point.
13:52Balor measuring his man, went for the stomp.
13:54Finn Balor, though, rolls around, almost had him.
13:58Rollins was measuring his man, Finn, though, with the counter.
14:00And now Finn Balor again to the spine.
14:02Oh, cover for the championship and a kick out by Seth.
14:13Rollins just inviting the pain and the punishment, the torture.
14:20Rollins, the fighting champ, perhaps just a little too proud tonight.
14:26Balor a proud man as well.
14:30Rollins has talked ad nauseam how he wants to be a fighting champ.
14:36How he wants to make this World Heavyweight Championship a huge part of his legacy.
14:41How he wants a long reign with that title.
14:44Well, it might be one of the shortest runs in history.
14:47Oh, slick blade by Balor.
14:50That'll rattle the rib cage.
14:55And that super kick by Seth.
15:02And there's the buckle bomb.
15:03Now remember, that was the move that injured Balor into the barricade back at SummerSlam seven years ago,
15:09that forced him to relinquish the Universal Championship.
15:12And he might have just turned this match on its head with that buckle ball.
15:17Rollins splash, knees up to the bad ribs.
15:20And that was a high risk by Seth, and it didn't pay off.
15:26Driving Seth.
15:28Every shot.
15:29Ribs first into the corner.
15:30Straight to those ribs.
15:32And now, it could be the nail in the coffin.
15:37Finn Balor going up top.
15:39Rollins, though, rolls out of harm's way.
15:42He's gonna meet Seth now at the top.
15:45Oh, man.
15:49Again, midsection first.
15:52Seth's grip on the World Heavyweight Championship.
15:55Balor went for the coup de grace.
15:56Was about to slip, but there's still enough left.
15:59Went for the stomp, roll up by Balor.
16:01Rollins able to roll through.
16:03Went for the stomp again.
16:04Balor with the shoulders down to steal the championship and a kick out of two.
16:08Witnessing.
16:10Otherworldly athleticism from these two, despite the beating both have taken.
16:15Depa Benziguri by Rollins.
16:17Balor is stunned.
16:18Balor caught him, though.
16:19Almost caught him.
16:20Pelé kick after Pelé kick.
16:23Pedigree!
16:25Can Seth capitalize?
16:30Seth can barely move.
16:33Just crawls into a cover.
16:36Balor gets the shoulder up.
16:38Seth didn't have anything left to hook a leg or put any sort of weight on Balor.
16:44Seth could have been a millisecond.
16:46Oh, man!
16:48And here is Finn's Judgment Day buddy, Priest.
16:53Things just took a dark turn for Seth's chances of retaining the World Heavyweight Championship.
17:03Well, Priest isn't necessarily out here to help his Judgment Day buddy.
17:08Remember, in that briefcase is a contract that Priest can cash in at any time, and he could do it
17:15right now.
17:18President is left from behind.
17:19Finn Balor rolls Rollins up off the distraction and a kick out.
17:23But once you're absolutely right goal.
17:25Well, listen, there's precedent, right?
17:27Because Seth Rollins, back when he cashed in Money in the Bank, did the same thing Priest is doing.
17:32He walked out here and Seth, what he did was cash in for a Triple Threat opportunity.
17:38Now, Priest hasn't done that yet.
17:39He's just out here watching.
17:41Watch it!
17:42Watch it!
17:43Watch it!
17:44Watch it!
17:46Watch it!
17:46Watch it!
17:49Watch it!
17:50Watch it!
17:51Watch it!
17:52Watch it!
17:54Watch it!
17:54Watch it!
17:55Watch it!
17:56Watch it!
17:59Watch it!
18:01Watch it!
18:02Watch it!
18:02Watch it!
18:03Watch it!
18:04Watch it!
18:04Watch it!
18:07Watch it!
18:07Watch it!
18:07Watch it!
18:08Watch it!
18:09Watch it!
18:10Watch it!
18:11Watch it!
18:11Watch it!
18:13Watch it!
18:13Watch it!
18:14Watch it!
18:15Watch it!
18:16Watch it!
18:16Watch it!
18:21Well, the arrival of Damian Priest certainly paid dividends for Finn Balor.
18:27And another coup de grace.
18:29Balor fired up.
18:31But what happens if Balor wins?
18:34Will Priest try him?
18:36He's got to get the job done first.
18:38We'll worry about that later goal.
18:43Balor drives Rollins into the corner.
18:48And one for good measure.
18:51Finn Balor could be closing in.
18:55Damian Priest, however.
19:00And that slight distraction may have cost his Judgment Day money.
19:05Stumped by Rollins.
19:09Cover.
19:10One, two, three.
19:12Rollins retains.
19:15Here is your winner.
19:16And still the world heavyweight champion, Seth Franken-Rollins.
19:26So I want to rollins!
19:38Hold it!
