Bray Wyatt and Finn Bálor’s intensifying conflict comes to a head this Sunday at WWE SummerSlam as The Eater of Worlds collides with his Irish adversary in Brooklyn, N.Y. in a highly anticipated rematch.

 

Wyatt set this rivalry ablaze when he delivered an eerie warning to Bálor on the July 17 episode of Raw. Then, a week after proclaiming his need to punish Bálor, Wyatt delivered a Sister Abigail to his embattled rival.

 

Despite Wyatt’s ability to get inside the head of his opponents, he has yet witness the power of Bálor’s own dark, demonic personality. The typically reserved Bálor made it clear that if Wyatt wanted to play mind games, he was ready.

 

The first-ever Universal Champion backed up his ominous message with his own show of force on the July 31 edition of Raw. While Wyatt was busy condemning the WWE Universe’s hero worship of Bálor, the lights went red and the sound of a heartbeat pulsed throughout the arena. Bálor appeared with his back turned to his foe before kicking him from the ring. The following week, Bálor countered Wyatt’s theatrics once again, but The Eater of Worlds had the last laugh against the indomitable Irishman when he vanished from the squared circle. When a backstage brawl moved their match up six days, Wyatt claimed the win, dousing his foe with a viscous, acidic red fluid. Bálor successfully petitioned Raw General Manager Kurt Angle to uphold the SummerSlam bout as a rematch, promising to show Wyatt the full power of his own “demons.”

 

With Wyatt set on proving the beloved Bálor to be nothing more than a “shell of a man that never was,” will we witness the fall of Bálor at SummerSlam? Or will The Reaper of Souls’ mind games backfire and awaken Bálor’s demonic dark side?

 

See which charismatic Superstar stands tall at SummerSlam when Bray Wyatt and Finn Bálor wage war inside the squared circle this Sunday at 7 ET/4 PT, streaming live on the award-winning WWE Network.

As Finn Bálor prepared to finish off Elias in a No Disqualification Match this past Monday night, Bray Wyatt emerged to lay out the Irishman with Sister Abigail, helping Team Red’s loathed crooner pick up a tainted victory over WWE’s first Universal Champion.

 

Following the bout, Bálor told WWE.com, “If Bray Wyatt wants to play games, let’s play.”

 

This cryptic statement could mean many things, but if Bálor is saying what we think he’s saying, The Eater of Worlds just made a massive mistake.

 

Don’t miss Raw at 8/7 C on USA Network.

Finn Bálor has no shortage of confidence heading into the Extreme Rules Fatal 5-Way Match this Sunday; he even received a ringing endorsement from Paul Heyman last Monday night. However, tonight on Raw, the charismatic Irishman goes up against Samoa Joe and Bray Wyatt, two Superstars who, while hardly allies, were successful against Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins last week’s main event.

 

As will be the case at WWE Extreme Rules, it will be every man for himself in this Triple Threat contest, and it will be a true test for the Irishman as he looks to officially begin his journey to Suplex City, where Universal Champion Brock Lesnar will be waiting. Can Bálor back up his boasts and defeat both The Samoan Submission Machine and The Eater of Worlds, or will one of his sinister opponents have their arm raised in victory when the chaos concludes?

Who will be the first Superstar to challenge The Beast? This is a question that will be answered in historically chaotic fashion.

 

At Extreme Rules, for the first time ever, in a battle that could change the course of the New Era, an Extreme Rules Fatal 5-Way Match between Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Finn Bálor, Bray Wyatt and Samoa Joe to determine who will compete with Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship.

 

Raw General Manager Kurt Angle announced the historic showdown on the May 15 edition of Monday Night Raw, and speculation is already running rampant as to who will emerge victorious and get the chance to tangle with The Beast for Raw’s top prize.

 

Though Reigns’ unbreakable determination helped him overcome The Undertaker at WrestleMania and put Braun Strowman on the shelf for six months, it remains to be seen whether The Big Dog will be able to simultaneously conquer four of the best Superstars in the business under such extreme circumstances.

 

In addition to the absolute bedlam that such a showdown promises, Rollins and Samoa Joe will both need to get past the enormous animosity that they have for one another in order to concentrate on the entire field of battle in this epic free-for-all.

 

Lest we forget that the first Universal Champion, Bálor, was never beaten for his title, but was instead forced to surrender it due to injury and is now hungry for an opportunity to challenge The Beast Incarnate.

 

And one must never count out Wyatt, arguably one of the most cunning competitors in the contest, who continues to show time and time again why he is The New Face of Fear by thriving in the very mayhem that the Fatal 5-Way Match will unleash.

 

Who will triumph in the Fatal 5-Way Match and become the first Superstar to attempt to conquer The Conqueror? Find out on June 4 at 8 ET/5 PT, steaming live on WWE Network.

After The Miz called Finn Bálor a “failure” during “Miz TV” on the WWE Payback Kickoff, the charismatic Irishman proved he is nothing of the sort when he nailed the arrogant A-Lister with a Sling Blade before dropkicking him into the corner. We’d like to believe this will teach Miz to keep his mouth shut, but we know better.

 

Last night, Bálor made it clear that he’s focused on reclaiming the Universal Championship, which he was forced to relinquish one night after winning it at SummerSlam last year. And yet, before the mysterious Superstar sets out to slay The Beast Incarnate, it seems like he might have some unfinished business with The Miz. Might we see a “sequel” encounter between Bálor and The A-Lister tonight?

Since returning from the cataphoric injury that forced the first-ever Universal Champion to surrender his title just 24 hours after winning it, Finn Bálor has been seizing victories on every front. He teamed with one-time foe Seth Rollins to overcome Kevin Owens & Samoa Joe, he defeated Curt Hawkins and Jinder Mahal in singles action and most recently emerged on the winning side of a Six-Man Tag Team Match along with Seth Rollins and Big Cass.

 

On the flip side, since coming to Raw as part of the Superstar Shake-up, it’s safe to say that The Miz has not been having a very good time, whether it be experiencing the unhinged aggression of The Lunatic Fringe Dean Ambrose or suffering Sister Abigail from his surprise tag team partner Bray Wyatt in this week’s Raw main event.

 

However, if The Miz has taught us anything, it’s that he is at his most dangerous when he is feeling disrespected, and perhaps nowhere is this truer than on “The Most Must-See Talk Show in WWE History.” Then again, with Bálor on such a role as of late, does the A-Lister really want to cross him? If he pushes the Irish Superstar too far, Payback Kickoff may just witness a “Must-See” Coup de Grâce.

 

Don’t miss WWE Payback Kickoff this Sunday, streaming live on the award-winning WWE Network at 7 ET/4 PT. In addition, the Kickoff streams live on WWE.com, the WWE App, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Google+