FanPost

The Beauty of Finn Balor vs. Kevin Owens

WWE.com

I’m sure you’ve seen the match by now, yes? Right? Because good grief, if you have not watched Finn Balor vs. Kevin Owens for the NXT Championship in Tokyo, Japan yet, you really need to watch it.

The match was beautiful.

I don’t recall ever thinking that word, that adjective to describe a wrestling match before. "Awesome," sure; plenty of matches are awesome. There are some matches like Hogan vs. Ultimate Warrior where you may think a word like "powerful." Others, like Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker at WrestleMania could be considered "iconic" or "legendary."

But none, in my relatively short time as a wrestling fan could be considered "beautiful." Until today.

Let me explain.

The match started with the entrances and this may be my favorite Finn Balor entrance yet. We get a drawn out shot of the entire Ryougoku Sumo Hall as the heartbeat of Balor’s music begins. That shot alone was pretty spectacular – but then we got Balor’s entrance from one camera, trailing after him as the spotlight shone in our faces, masking most of Balor in its light.

Again, another phenomenal shot. A truly artistically inspired shot.

Owens slinks out to the ring next, mean-mugging like the heel that he is. He poked fun at a few Cena fans before climbing into the ring.

And then we got the streamers. The color. The pageantry. Finn Balor was welcomed back to Japan as if he were the country’s favorite son.

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"Get it out! Get it out, get it out!" Owens demanded, kicking impatiently at the streamers. He would end up throwing his flower bouquet as well.

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The match starts and Balor slings himself around like a bat demon out of hell. He’s jumping off the turnbuckle. He’s dropkicking Owens through the ropes. He’s dropkicking a groggy Owens slumped over in a chair. The camera work on that spot was wonderful too, trailing behind Balor as he charged into Owens.

Beautiful.

Suddenly, Owens gains the upper hand. Balor goes for a backhand chop that Owens blocks with his forearm. Owens then hits Balor with a punch, knocking him to the mat.

"That’s not gonna work with me, buddy!" Owens chided the fallen Balor.

Beautiful.

Owens gets a few minutes to heel it up in front of the Japanese crowd. He sarcastically boos himself before mocking the crowd with a few bows. There was a scary moment – at least for me personally – where Owens threw Balor into the steel stairs. Balor hit the stairs so low and near his head; he looked as if he had been knocked out.

The Demon would not leave it there, however. He shuffled back into the ring at the count of nine.

"I don’t care!" Owens would shout a few minutes later after putting Balor back into a headlock. "I hate this stupid country and everybody in it!"

Owens did everything he could to spite everybody in this match. He mocked Cena fans. He mocked Japanese culture. He mocked Cena himself by emulating Cena’s Five Moves of Doom.

And then we got our first false finish of the match and it was chillingly beautiful. Balor launched himself from the ring, hitting Owens with that somersaulting suicide senton of his. A double foot stomp to the back of Owens’ neck was quickly followed up by an Inverted Bloody Sunday.

And Owens kicked out.

You know, that’s the true beauty of professional wrestling. You know what’s probably going to happen…and then Owens kicks out of all of that and you no longer know what to think.

Owens counters quickly. He rolls out of the way of a Coup de Grâce attempt from Balor and hits his own combination of a German Suplex, a Cannonball, and his Package Spinny Sit-out Whatever the hell it is.

(I never said I was good at naming moves, folks.)

Balor kicks out.

You know, I could go on and on about this match. We got both men’s best. Owens hit Balor with this move:

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And Finn Balor would counter with his first true Bloody Sunday on WWE television:

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Owens would wind up kicking out of the Bloody Sunday. He kicked out of a Coup de Grâce, too, further showing his resiliency as an opponent.

This match. I don’t know what it was. Perhaps it was the Japanese crowd or the different culture surrounding the match. Perhaps it was the story. Or perhaps it was Kevin Owens, who evolved during the course of this match. His loud mouth and brash antics fell by the wayside as Finn Balor kept coming back for more. In the end, Owens fell victim to the Demon.

Regardless of the true cause, there’s only one word to describe this match: beautiful. When pro wrestling is as good as it was this morning between Owens and Balor, it becomes an art form. It becomes two maestros composing a piece of music. And the tune tonight was as lovely as you could ever hope to hear.

Fight on somewhere else, Kevin Owens. There are other titles to focus on for you. But for now...Finn Balor is your new NXT Champion.

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