‘The Career Killer’ vs. Finn Bálor: What to Expect in 2026 Title Eliminator Feud

This past episode of SmackDown took place at the world-renowned Madison Square Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. An episode loaded with tense matches and segments, one backstage segment started a new feud. This occurred when former World Heavyweight Champion Gunther interrupted SmackDown general manager Nick Aldis’s conversation with inaugural Universal Champion Finn Bálor. Bálor was backstage with Aldis, wondering why he and Sami Zayn didn’t get any notice before their impromptu Fatal Four-Way opening bout on night two of SummerSlam with Gunther and the returning Kevin Owens.

It was officially slated as a singles bout between Bálor and Zayn before the SmackDown general manager dropped the two latter competitors on them last-minute. Aldis would apologize to the inaugural Universal Champion before Gunther demanded answers as to why he had to wrestle Matt Cardona in street clothes in an impromptu opening bout at the Garden. ‘The Ring General’ demanded another shot at the Undisputed WWE Championship while mentioning the other person standing in the room was the shadow of Bálor. This caused the two to fall out yet again and tease a title eliminator bout to decide who would be in the fold for the Undisputed WWE Championship.

Both wrestlers are accomplished in their own right and are on a warpath to regain the notoriety they once had. Bálor is, arguably, the most influential wrestler of the 2010s. ‘The Prince’s’ success in NJPW as a face and as the founder of the Bullet Club inspired countless indie and mainstream wrestlers to follow a similar path. WWE noticed his potential and following in the wrestling community. They pushed him hard in NXT, where he became a two-time NXT Champion. They even deemed him fit to be the inaugural WWE Universal Champion in 2016 on the main roster once he was called up. A serious shoulder injury during the match caused ‘The Demon’ to relinquish the title the following day. Bálor would capture both the Intercontinental and United States Championships before ousting Edge as the leader of the Judgment Day in 2022. He would win the Tag Team titles multiple times and guide future WWE superstars like Damian Priest, Rhea Ripley, Liv Morgan, and Dominik Mysterio to become champions in their own right, but his singles run has been underwhelming, at best. Bálor’s booking in 2026 has made him look strong and worthy of title opportunities, giving fans some hope that WWE might give him another major title run before he retires.

Gunther has made his impact immediately felt since his WWE debut at NXT UK Takeover: Blackpool in 2019. A hulking bruiser with legendary, heavy-handed chops, ‘The Ring General’ brought back old-school wrestling and character work in the modern wrestling era. His presence, whether alone or as the leader of Imperium, commands respect and attention from every arena and room he walks into. Gunther has been a monster heel during his entire WWE run, so much so that he’s retired present and future WWE Hall of Famers like Goldberg, John Cena, and AJ Styles. This tendency created ‘The Career Killer’ character. There’s a legitimate chance his mind is set on retiring Bálor through this feud, but hopefully that’s not the case.

The feud between Gunther and Bálor seems quite flexible given the scope of the SmackDown roster. It could be a short feud meant only for one of them to go after the Undisputed WWE Championship. It could be a long-term feud revolving around ‘The Prince’s’ legacy, ‘The Ring General’s’ history of killing careers and being a big bully, and potentially have both wrestlers fight one-on-one for SmackDown’s top prize. The blue brand is loaded with talent, limiting the amount of title opportunities for the brand’s top prizes. Other high-profile feuds are building on the blue brand, and this feud could follow suit.

It makes more sense for the matches between Gunther and Bálor to take place at a premium live event. Both men are high-profile wrestlers in the industry. ‘The Prince’ is open to fighting anywhere, but ‘The Ring General’ rarely fights on Raw or SmackDown. The impromptu match with Cardona was a surprise to most fans. Gunther could work an angle where he says he’d rather fight Bálor on a PLE rather than on television because the crowd doesn’t deserve a televised match between the two superstars. The next PLE is Money in the Bank in September, and they could have a match with a legitimate chance to steal the show. That’s saying a lot, since Money in the Bank matches are known for stealing the show at bigger PLEs like WrestleMania, where the match debuted over 20 years ago.

So how could the feud play out? Under the assumption that their next bout is a title eliminator at Money in the Bank, where the winner gets one step closer to a title shot, Gunther is more likely to win than Bálor. The former World Heavyweight Champion has been a staple of the company's main events over the past couple of years. He should only be losing to wrestlers who are getting a massive push or are comparable in star power. The inaugural WWE Universal Champion is similar in superstardom to Gunther. Still, he’s lost the past several championship bouts he’s been in, most notably against CM Punk earlier this year for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. ‘The Prince’ has finally regained the main event status he held a decade ago, but WWE is notorious for dropping the ball on wrestlers who should be main eventers. The most recent example is LA Knight, who, despite being a main event staple, fan favorite seller, and top merchandise seller, has yet to touch main event gold. It’s more likely that WWE is going to book the inaugural WWE Universal Champion like that rather than a future Undisputed WWE Champion. This would cause massive backlash from the WWE Universe and the wrestling community as a whole. A loss to Gunther, as regular Bálor could see the Grand Slam Champion bring back ‘The Demon’ persona to try to become a world champion one more time. It would make sense for Gunther to lose to ‘The Demon’ rather than ‘The Prince’ since the former is known for being a near-invincible character. The 45-year-old deserves one more main event title run, but Gunther also deserves to beat “the shadow of Bálor” and lose to ‘The Demon’. Hopefully this feud is long-term so we can see most, if not all, of this play out.