At the start of 2026, things looked a lot different for Finn Balor. He was on Monday Night Raw as a member of the Judgment Day. Things were looking up, as Dominik Mysterio was WWE Intercontinental Champion and Liv Morgan was the 2026 Women’s Royal Rumble winner.
But over time, things started to break down between him and everyone else. Mysterio’s championship reign ended on the March 2, 2026 episode of Monday Night Raw, when he refused to help him, giving Penta the title.
He was then kicked out of the faction, leading to a victory in a street fight over Mysterio on night 2 of WrestleMania: Vegas. Then he won two matches out of three against JD McDonagh, which would be his last matches on Raw.
He was sent to WWE SmackDown last month, reuniting with his former Judgment Day stablemate Damian Priest and Bullet Club stablemate Tama Tonga. Unfortunately, reconciliation with Tama and his brother Talla has led to many problems for him.
Finn Balor Takes Care of Talla Tonga in Close Match
Balor has had a huge history with Priest, but he’s had even more history with Tama. He was the founding member of the Bullet Club in New Japan Pro Wrestling, and Tama was one of the founding members. Forming the faction in May 2013, he left eleven months later to join WWE. Tama left in 2022, with the last six years in the faction spent alongside Talla, who was called Hikuleo in Japan.
Since leaving Solo Sikoa last month after months of tension, they’ve had many backstage segments with Balor. On the June 26 SmackDown, he complemented Tama for doing that, reminding him of their days in Bullet Club. The next week, he got attacked, with Tama saying that he’s closing up everything from the past, including him.
That led to a match last week where Balor won. Now he has to face Talla, who has a height and strength advantage. Could he get the win against a massive opponent?
The match started with Talla backing Balor into the corner and swinging at him. The swing was dodged, with Talla getting his face and stomach punched. That happened two more times before he sent Balor down with a shoulder tackle. A flurry of offense followed, including pinning Balor against the ropes before letting him go.
After Talla was tripped over the ropes, the two men brawled on the apron. When both men were back in the ring, Talla gave Balor a running powerslam for an unsuccessful pinfall. Balor responded by sending him into the turnbuckle and delivering a Wicklow drop for a failed pinfall of his own.
Talla then went for a modified Samoan drop, called a Tongan drop by commentary, to shift the match his way. But he then got hit in the head and stomach to get sent down to the ground. Balor went for the Coup de Grace, but was grabbed by the throat. Talla was going to do a t-bomb chokeslam, but was countered with a DDT.
Tama went up to the ropes, but Balor punched him to send him back down. He got hit with a big boot, leading to another unsuccessful pin by Talla. After getting tangled in the ropes, he got hit with a headbutt, but dodged a kick that left Talla in the ropes himself.
Tama went to argue with the referee, leading him to jump on the ropes to cause Talla to get hit below the belt several times. He then hit a running Tama with a slingblade before delivering a shotgun dropkick and two Coup de Graces for the pinfall victory. For the second week in a row, Balor has beaten a member of the Tongans. Is this their final meeting, or will the two of them want another match with him?
