How Finn Balor Fits into WWE WrestleMania 33 Season After Return from Injury

Thanks to Finn Balor's return from injury, WWE is faced with the best kind of problem weeks away from WrestleMania 33—an excess of talent.

The April 2 pay-per-view is already set to feature the likes of Goldberg, AJ Styles, John Cena and Undertaker. And now that former universal champion Balor's shoulder is healed, WWE has another star to add to that mix.

At a live event in Buffalo, New York, on Friday, Balor competed in a six-man tag team match. After the bout, he told the camera: "Just happy to be back in the ring. See you soon."

After his six-month absence, Balor finds himself in the middle of WrestleMania season. He's too talented not to be a part of WWE's biggest show of the year, but many of the company's top Superstars are already set to face other rivals. A good number of WrestleMania stories are well underway.

So where does The Demon King fit into all of this?

Thanks to the PPV being only three weeks away, Balor is likely to find himself added to a narrative already in progress—to be a player on a well-populated stage.

As either an ally or an enemy, Balor is bound to find himself involved with Triple H. The Game will be the key to The Demon King's return to the Raw brand, deepening an existing feud.

The first hint of that came on Friday night in Buffalo.

Balor teamed with Chris Jericho and Sami Zayn against Triple H, Samoa Joe and Kevin Owens. This was the first match for the Irish grappler since he injured his shoulder at SummerSlam last August. Per Cagematch, WWE repeated this match at a live event in Toronto the next night.

This could well be a hint of what's to come for The Demon King.

Speculation about Triple H forming a heel faction has run rampant after the heel ordered Joe to pounce on Seth Rollins in January and had a backstage conversation with Owens on Raw a few weeks later. If The Game is indeed forming a super group of some sort, his rival Rollins is going to need to recruit his own posse to balance things out.

Balor would be a great fit for that role.

He had heated rivalries with Joe and Owens in NXT. And while Balor was battling Rollins last August when his shoulder injury happened, WWE could easily explain a partnership between those two.

In their SummerSlam battle, Balor gained great respect for Rollins. He's now ready to fight alongside him against his old enemies. Done.

This way, WWE has itself a backup for Rollins, whose status is unclear after re-injuring his MCL. The Architect could hobble to the ring, bemoan the fact that he won't be cleared before WrestleMania and introduce Balor as the man who will take his place.

That would allow WWE to delay the Rollins vs. Triple H matchup while still providing a big-time bout for WrestleMania.

Alternatively, Triple H could create a fearsome force with the addition of Balor, who along with Joe and Owens, were all NXT champs. Triple H has long run the developmental brand. Making a connection between all those men would be simple.

Balor would likely be a part of WrestleMania as a special attraction in this scenario, perhaps lying in wait for Rollins.

Last Monday, Triple H warned his rival not to come to The Show of Shows. "All that is waiting for him there is a nightmare," The Game said in an interview on Raw:

Balor could be that nightmare. His demon alter ego is certainly nightmarish. 

That route would allow Balor and Rollins to restart their rivalry with plenty of new developments. Balor would enter as the heel rather than the fan favorite. He would have intimidating backup in the form of Joe, Owens and Triple H. The change in dynamic would give the feud freshness.

At WrestleMania, Balor's heel turn would provide a major surprise moment, somewhat making up for the fact that he wouldn't have a WrestleMania match.

It beats throwing him into the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal or rushing some other rivalry from scratch. At this point, WWE has to be thrilled to have Balor back, but the timing of his recovery limits its options. Attaching him to a story already in motion is the best bet.