— According to the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the previously scheduled Finn Balor vs. Brock Lesnar match for Royal Rumble may not take place after all.

— For the last several months, the general idea was for Balor to be one of the challengers to Lesnar before Brock went on to battle Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 34. The seeds for this were planted a few times, first by Paul Heyman who specifically addressed Balor and then by Balor himself when he talked about wanting to go after the Universal title – a championship that he technically had to give up without losing.

— When Balor went over Smackdown’s AJ Styles – who himself is being readied for a program with WWE Champion Jinder Mahal – it was expected that it was the beginning of Balor’s build towards Lesnar. However, the next night on Raw, Balor was squashed in a very one-sided match by Kane and then was not protected in any way during the beatdown by Smackdown wrestlers as he was grouped in with Matt Hardy and Jason Jordan.

— With WWE’s seemingly 50-50 booking though, it’s possible Balor could be pushed again later this year in preparation for Lesnar with the company simply banking on the fact that no one will remember what happened this week.