Finn Balor congratulates Kevin Owens on WWE Universal title win

Finn Balor took to Twitter to chronicle his bout with shoulder surgery, as well as to congratulate his successor as WWE Universal Champion.

In the world of WWE, it has been a roller coaster two-week span where one champion was crowned, then injured, and another emerging in one of the most exciting conclusions to Monday Night Raw in recent memory.

The latter beneficiary is Kevin Owens, who emerged as the new WWE Universal Champion — the top title on the Raw Brand — after a surprise return from Triple H, who attacked Roman Reigns before double crossing Seth Rollins as well in favor of Owens.

However, this mayhem only ensued because of the injury suffered to the inaugural winner of the new title, Finn Balor. Balor was forced to relinquish the belt on last week’s Raw due to a labrum tear in his right shoulder which was suffered early in his championship match versus Seth Rollins at SummerSlam on August 21^st.

Despite being able to finish the match and claim the title, Balor’s run with it was less than 24 hours, as he relinquished the title the next night, which set up a two-week tournament to determine a new champion. Balor meanwhile underwent surgery last week to repair his shoulder, which is predicted to keep him out of action for four-to-six months.

Balor recently chronicled the path through the injury, his relinquishing of the championship and surgery on Twitter, starting that his rehab would begin the day following the procedure. However, he did pop back into the social media world briefly upon the finale of last night’s main event on Raw to share words on the new champion, which were not what may have been expected.

On-screen personas aside, Balor and Owens have a long history together as international competitors, but to their days as Prince Devitt and Kevin Steen. The two joined the WWE at the same time in May 2014 and established themselves at the NXT level simultaneously. It was Balor who defeated Owens for the NXT title in July of 2015, before Owens departed for the main roster. Balor in turn embarked on the longest NXT championship run to date.

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While Balor is clearly disappointed in the brevity of his title run, it is also clear that he is happy for his real life friend being the beneficiary of his misfortune. This says a lot about his true character and appreciation for the unforeseen turns of his profession. However, it is clear that he still has his sights set on reclaiming the title he never lost, as well as Owens is also anticipating the possible encounter with the newly uncrowned Demon King: