WWE TLC 2017: Finn Balor vs. AJ Styles full match preview

Two days notice

Two former leaders of NJPW’s Bullet Club meet for the first time ever at Sunday’s WWE TLC pay-per-view.

The story so far

Finn Balor vs. AJ Styles is a dream match come to life. The origin to Sunday’s chance encounter traces back to April 6, 2014 and NJPW’s Invasion Attack 2014 event. On that night Balor, then going by Prince Devitt, made his final NJPW appearance before signing with the WWE as the Irish wrestler was unceremoniously booted from the Bullet Club on his way out.

That same night Styles made his NJPW debut, laying out Kazuchika Okada and revealing himself to be the newest member of the Bullet Club.

The build to TLC

Stuck on two separate brands, Balor and Styles were headed in vastly different directions heading into TLC. Balor has continued his SummerSlam feud with Bray Wyatt going on nearly four months. The latest wrinkle to the Balor/Demon feud with Wyatt was the reintroduction of Sister Abigail as a separate individual character on Raw.

Styles spent his summer chasing after Kevin Owens and the US title on SmackDown. After Styles won the title, his 75 day reign came to the end at the hands of Baron Corbin during a Triple Threat match at Hell in a Cell where The Phenomenal One was not pinned.

The go-home show

With Wyatt taking a backseat, Balor transformed into The Demon (AKA Pumpkin Spice Balor) on the TLC go-home show. Will The Demon still come out on Sunday for what basically amounts to an top shelf exhibition match?

Will Wyatt’s supernatural powers allow him to interfere even though he’s no longer on the card?

On last Tuesday’s SmackDown, it looked like Styles was set to begin a new feud with Jinder Mahal over the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Coming off a recent defeat to Corbin, can Styles afford another high profile loss, even if it is on short notice and on a different brand?

Follow along tonight right here on Cageside Seats for all your TLC bell-to-bell coverage.