Heartbreak for Finn Balor in Ireland Homecoming After CM Punk Loss on Raw

CM Punk didn't let a hostile crowd ruffle him at all. He kept his cool and eventually put away Finn Balor after an incredible main event on Raw.

Heartbreak for Finn Balor in Ireland Homecoming After CM Punk Loss on Raw

CM Punk beat Finn Balor on Raw [via- WWE]

🔍 Explore this post with:

ChatGPTPerplexityGrok AIGoogle AI

Finn Balor may not have walked out of this week’s Raw with the World Heavyweight title, but he reeked of a career resurgence. ‘The Prince’ reverted back to his old theme song in Belfast, a place two-and-a-half hours away from his backyard of Bray County.

He received a sustained crowd reaction throughout his entrance, which was expected since the 45-year-old had returned to his home turf. His opponent for the night, CM Punk, despite being a babyface anywhere else in the world, had his back against the wall last night as he waged war against an Irish wrestler.

‘The Best in the World’, unsurprisingly, got booed by the crowd for the majority of the match, and being the veteran Punk is, doubled down on the negative reactions by mocking Finn Balor many a time.

The inaugural Universal Champion was able to power out once after Punk landed a GTS on him. ‘The Second City Saint’, however, got the job done after nailing ‘The Prince’ with a second Go To Sleep. It shattered Balor’s dream to win the world title in WWE after almost a decade of becoming the Universal Champion, but unfortunately having to relinquish the title within 24 hours due to a dislocated shoulder.

Punk picked up a crestfallen Balor and raised his hand before a white-hot Belfast crowd. The former AEW star even went for a hug, and the Irishman embraced it beautifully.

While both men had their share of taking jabs at each other in the lead-up to the actual bout, the end result was a highly riveting world title match on TV that kept everyone on the edge of their seats. This was CM Punk’s second title defense in three weeks after having dispatched Bron Breakker in Brooklyn on the 1-year anniversary of Raw on Netflix.

Finn Balor stayed in the ring even after Raw went off air

After Raw went off-air, Finn Balor had not yet left the ring. In some exclusive footage released by WWE on its digital platforms, one could see ‘The Prince’ soaking in all the love from his countrymen. The Judgment Day member encouraged them to keep going and said there’s nothing like home.

Finn Balor
Finn Balor (via- WWE)

Even though he couldn’t oust CM Punk to become the new World Heavyweight Champion, the sort of performance he delivered last night affirmed that he hasn’t lost a step. Several media reports have recently noted that the former Bullet Club leader is expected to have a much better year in 2026.

An insider account, WRKD Wrestling, posted a picture of Finn Balor and Dominik Mysterio without a caption on its X handle after Raw. Cory Hays of BodySlam quoted a GIF reply of the Judgment Day member’s ‘Prince’ version to hint that he might be officially turning babyface soon.

WWE spent the majority of 2025 teasing Finn Balor’s breakup with the Judgment Day, where he’d butt heads with Mysterio in backstage segments. However, the company never pulled the trigger, even in times when the fans were clamoring for it to happen. The stars appear to have finally aligned for that inevitable discord between Balor and Mysterio heading into this year’s WrestleMania.

While ‘Dirty Dom’ is currently out due to a minor shoulder issue, he’s expected to be back by the Royal Rumble. It’d be interesting to see how WWE would approach teasing further tensions between Balor and Mysterio, possibly leading to a match at the ‘Grandest Stage of Them All’ in Las Vegas.

It’s also worth noting that ‘Dom’ had pinned Finn Balor at last year’s WrestleMania to win the IC title for the first time in his career.

Also Read: