Why Finn Balor Lost The Intercontinental Title To Shinsuke Nakamura – Backstage News

Finn Bálor

Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Finn Balor last night at WWE Extreme Rules Kickoff to become the new Intercontinental Champion.

Nakamura won the title in a short match. After Balor missed the Coup de Grace, Nakamura hit Balor with the Kinshasa to the back of the head and then hit him with a traditional one to score the win.

This is Nakamura’s first reign with the Intercontinental Championship. Balor won the title at WrestleMania 35 by defeating Bobby Lashley.

According to Brad Shepard of Pro Sports Extra, it was Heyman’s decision to have Balor lose the Intercontinental Championship. Balor’s character is going in a new direction as their are plans for him to join The Club on Raw.

Shepard also claims that Heyman got upset with Balor and Nakamura wrestling on Extreme Rules Kickoff instead of the pay-per-view.

It should be noted that Mike Johnson of PWInsider and Ryan Satin of Pro Wrestling Sheet are disputing the rumor of Heyman being upset over the Intercontinental Championship Match taking place on Extreme Rules Kickoff. According to Johnson, some WWE talent brought the rumor to Heyman’s attention backstage during Extreme Rules and joked about it with him.

Shepard responded to both Johnson and Satin with the following: