Armchair Booking: The Demon vs The Fiend

Since Bray Wyatt’s re-reincarnation as a maniacal kids show host with demonic tendencies, the question has loomed: When is he going to face The Demon? By The Demon we mean Finn Bálor’s darker side, not ‘The Devil’s Favourite Demon’ Kane. Too many demons these days.

We almost had it straight off the bat with The Fiend vs Finn Bálor being set for SummerSlam 2019. However, it was the standard edition of Bálor that faced Wyatt instead of his nigh-on unbeatable alter ego.

Looking back, this was the correct choice. It was The Fiend’s first televised match and Bálor was set to take a short break, so the result was inevitable going in. By keeping The Demon strong and jobbing the Irishman to the new hottest thing in wrestling, it managed to make the most of a strange booking decision and, I believe, set up the beginning of a main event worthy storyline that will culminate in a true Wrestlemania moment.

 

The Problem

Even though there has been no indication so far that this is the route that WWE are wanting to take, it would be a foolish move to miss such a colossal opportunity on the ‘Biggest Stage of Them All’, but with missing prime opportunities being the WWE’s forte, we wouldn’t be surprised.

Balor hasn’t lost a match while under his ‘Demon’ persona since the loss to Samoa Joe at NXT Takeover: The End in 2016. The fact that The Demon very rarely comes out to play does slightly take away from the three-year undefeated streak, but it is still an impressive run regardless. The character has maintained an aura of dominance and made for one of the last remaining spectacles in modern day WWE — until now.

With Bray Wyatt’s gimmick change came a buzz that is rarely seen in professional wrestling and it is of vital importance that WWE don’t ruin it. When you have something that makes money, use it to make money; simple economics. But overexposure can damage a wrestler more than a string of losses ever could. When a superstar is booked to appear in the main event on a weekly basis they can quickly become stale, whoch is why characters such as The Demon and The Fiend work because of their irregularity.

So the question is: how can the WWE build two similar rare characters into a WrestleMania worthy feud? Here’s how.

 

The Beginning

Let us consider SummerSlam 2019 as the start of the build to WrestleMania. The Fiend squashed Finn Bálor in around three and a half minutes. Not good news for our internet darling. Since Bálor is on his current two-month hiatus and set to be back sometime around mid-October, Finn’s build should commence from that point. During this time, Wyatt is already on a run of destroying WWE legends such as: Mick Foley, Jerry Lawler, Kane and Kurt Angle.

For this armchair booking, to get around this overexposure problem we will only look at pay-per-views:

Hell in a Cell: 06/10/19
Crown Jewel: 31/10/19
Survivor Series: 24/11/19
TLC: 15/12/19
Royal Rumble: 26/01/20
Elimination Chamber: 16/02/20
Fastlane: 08/03/20
Wrestlemania 36: 05/04/20

 

The Fiend

Wyatt already has a match lined up for Hell in a Cell 2019 with his Universal Championship match against Seth Rollins. They have a good back and forth before Rollins hits The Stomp, Wyatt gets straight back up, another, Wyatt gets straight back up and flattens Rollins with Sister Abigail. Braun Strowman comes to the ring, rips the cage door off and pulls Seth out of the ring, suddenly the lights go out, when they come back on The Fiend is gone. Firefly Funhouse plays on the screen and Bray tells them: “He isn’t happy with Braun Strowman and he never forgets”. Hell in a Cell finishes and Seth retains. Wyatt does not need the title going forward and Strowman gets revenge for the attack on Raw.

Crown Jewel comes along and The Fiend doesn’t have an opponent. In spirit with how these Saudi Arabia shows normally go, The Undertaker is taking on, let’s say, Dolph Ziggler in a standard squash match. Now, imagine this, The Undertaker is stood in the ring after the victory. The music, fireworks, lighting, that weird eye thing he does, all the usual pageantry.

Lights off. Lights on. The Fiend is stood in the ring, face to face with ‘Taker.
Lights off. Lights on. The Fiend hits Sister Abigail. The Undertaker sits up.
Lights off. Lights on. The Undertaker hits a chokeslam. Wyatt sits up.
Lights off. Lights on. The Mandible Claw follows and Bray makes his slow exit, dragging a prone Ziggler with him. Ziggler’s picture appears in the next Firefly Funhouse on Raw. The match is set.

The bout takes place at Survivor Series, ‘Taker vs Wyatt. The Fiend puts The Undertaker away in a match that is shorter than their combined entrances, so about ten minutes. Whether Undertaker calls it a day or not isn’t part of this prediction, but with Survivor Series being the place he debuted, it would seem fitting and it gives Wyatt the rub he should’ve had at Wrestlemania 31.

TLC comes around and The Fiend faces off against Randal Keith Orton in a tables match. Randy isn’t happy that Bray has taken his Legend Killer schtick and wants some revenge. An early RKO through a table and it looks to be all over, but The Fiend sits up in the manner he’s inherited from The Undertaker and he finishes Orton off shortly after. Retribution for that terrible feud in 2017 and the WrestleMania loss.

At the Royal Rumble, Wyatt has his first confrontation with Bálor. Finn has got to the final four in this scenario, booking the actual winner is for another time. The Fiend isn’t in the match – he turns up earlier in the night to attack a legend, maybe Mark Henry as it’s in Texas – so instead he appears at the end of the Royal Rumble match to Sister Abigail Bálor who is then swiftly eliminated by the eventual winner.

At Elimination Chamber, Wyatt eliminates Bálor early on with another interference, coming through the ring in Kane-esque style. Let’s also have Dolph Ziggler panicking in a pod during this attack, it would make for a great call-back and Dolph would sell it brilliantly.

The following Fastlane sees Finn challenging Wyatt to a match at WrestleMania after another Bálor loss due to interruption (more on this later), Wyatt accepts.

 

The Demon

Finn will probably return in time for Crown Jewel where I’m having him face Shinsuke Nakamura for the Intercontinental Title, without The Demon, which was set up the week before from an impromptu challenge. The match needs to be incredible, let the two of them do what we know they can without the limitations set by Vinny Mac. The barn burner that ensues gives Bálor the win and is pushed back into the main event scene off the back of it.

Bálor returns to his workhorse ways by having weekly matches of high quality against the likes of: Andrade, Ali, Black, Murphy, Bryan and Gable. Regain fan appreciation and have him win with more than the three moves of doom: Sling Blade, Dropkick, Coup de Grace.

A Survivor Series match with a workrate theme, Bálor wins it for SmackDown with a showcase display while bringing it back from a three against one scenario.

Recent, not so subtle hints from Jeff Hardy about a possible return of the Willow character has given me the inspiration for a big ladder match at TLC. Bálor vs Willow, but Finn has still not been pushed far enough to bring out The Demon yet. Another big display against a big name with Finn retaining the title. Lots of Hardy ladder spots, lovely stuff.

Finn is the ironman of the 2020 Royal Rumble, going from third entrant to the final four. As it looks like Bálor is getting the upper hand for the eventual win, lights out, as they come back on The Fiend hits Bálor with the Sister Abigail and he is eliminated. As mentioned previously, the feud reignites.

The Elimination Chamber is Bálor’s second chance to become ‘Finny Two-Belts’, but as Finn begins the match he is surprise attacked by The Fiend and is eliminated.

It all kicks off at Fastlane with a title match, Bálor vs Bryan for the Intercontinental Championship. An incredible match for around thirty minutes, but as Finn looks to have the match won, a surprise appearance from The Fiend causes Bryan to win via sneaky rollup. Post-match, Bálor issues the challenge with the ritual pointing to the sign and Wyatt accepts. WrestleMania is just around the corner.

 

The End

So here we are, Wyatt is continuing his dominant run and Bálor is back to a main eventer with his immense workrate – like Kofi and Rollins did in the build up to their title wins. Plus it leaves all titles free for other main event feuds, making WrestleMania more than just a one-match card, as well as: giving a great potential send off for The Undertaker, returning Smackdown to a workrate brand, getting another belt on Bryan, making Crown Jewel tolerable and doing something with Dolph Ziggler, because Dolph Ziggler is brilliant.

Finn finally brings out The Demon to face The Fiend. This can be the non-title match in the pre-main event that fills the slot that The Streak left behind. As long as they don’t go the shoddy gimmick route that Wyatt vs Orton went at WrestleMania 33, they should have a good match. A combination of big spots, hardcore moments and all while telling the in-ring story of Bálor trying to stop The Fiend.

Imagine. The Demon’s entrance begins with more dry ice, pyro and dramatic lighting than ever before, accompanied by an extended version of his Demon theme interpretation. The start of The Undertaker’s theme begins, but instead of going into the Funeral March, it morphs into Wyatt’s theme. The Fiend comes to the ring with a lantern similar to the one that looked like his own head, but this time it is The Undertaker’s head.

It doesn’t even matter which way it goes. If Finn wins, it’ll be a big babyface WrestleMania moment – we know how much Vince loves those – and if Wyatt wins, it sets up a run as ‘The New Face of Fear’, decimating all until he is defeated sometime in the distant future.

So that is how I would book The Demon vs The Fiend and their route to Wrestlemania. Let me know in the comments if you agree or if you’d do it differently.