Finn Balor’s Demon character returns on WWE SmackDown

It will be Roman Reigns vs. The Demon at Extreme Rules.

Finn Balor’s Demon character made its return as Balor confronted Reigns at the end of tonight’s SmackDown at Madison Square Garden. Following the main event, Balor entered wearing his Demon King face and body paint. He went face-to-face with Reigns, The Usos, and Paul Heyman to close the episode.

The main event of tonight’s show was The Usos defending their SmackDown Tag Team titles against The Street Profits. As Montez Ford went to pin Jimmy Uso after hitting a frog splash, Reigns broke up the pin and caused the match to end in a disqualification.

Reigns put Ford in a guillotine, then cut a promo responding to a challenge that Brock Lesnar had issued to him earlier in the show. Reigns said he’ll smash Lesnar as soon as he’s done smashing Balor. Balor then made his way out as The Demon to have a staredown with Reigns.

The return of The Demon was teased after Reigns and Balor’s Universal Championship match on last week’s SmackDown. Balor chose to continue with the match despite an angle where he was attacked by The Usos before the match started. There was a point near the end of the match where Balor hit a Coup de Grace and went to pin Reigns, but Reigns hit a low blow to kick out. Reigns retained the title when Balor passed out in a guillotine.

The lights briefly turned red and a heartbeat played after last week’s Reigns vs. Balor match.

Reigns will defend his Universal Championship against Balor at Extreme Rules on Sunday, September 26.

This is the first time Balor has used the Demon character since 2019.

Lesnar’s appearance on tonight’s SmackDown was the follow-up to him returning and confronting Reigns at SummerSlam. Lesnar said he wants a shot at the Universal Championship. WWE hasn’t announced when Lesnar will be getting his title shot.