Backstage Details on Why WWE Traded Finn Balor to SmackDown

More details have emerged behind WWE's decision to flip former Universal Champion Finn Balor to the SmackDown brand.

During this week's episode of Raw, Byron Saxton revealed that Finn Balor had been traded to SmackDown. Saxton made the announcement while he interviewed two of Balor's former Judgment Day allies, Dominik Mysterio and JD McDonagh.

WWE stopped running the annual draft last year, and storyline superstar "trades" are rare in today's product.

Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio (h/t WrestlingNews.co), Dave Meltzer explained that Balor was traded to SmackDown in order to move past his storyline feud with Dominik and McDonagh, and to give the veteran wrestler "a fresh start" on the blue brand:

"I never heard anything about a draft. The idea is they just want to get him away from Dominik Mysterio and JD," Meltzer explained. "He beat JD, and if he stays on Raw, theoretically, how does he not work with those guys?

"So they just figured they're done with that, they're done with Finn Balor doing that, and they wanted to give him a fresh start, and there you go. I mean, that's kind of a lot of times they do that, they just run a feud, it's over, and it's the nature, the nature of the feud is they just don't want these guys interacting."

Balor had spent four years in the villainous Judgment Day stable, replacing Hall of Famer Edge as the leader. He left the group and turned face on the March 9 edition of Raw after being attacked by his allies. Balor would defeat Mysterio in a singles bout at WrestleMania 42.

Finn Balor Returns to SmackDown for First Time in Five Years

Balor had been part of the SmackDown brand from 2019 to 2021, before getting moved to Raw in the 2021 WWE Draft. Five years later, the inaugural Universal Champion is finally back to competing on the blue brand.

The veteran superstar is competing in the 2026 King of the Ring tournament. He'll square off against Jey Uso, Royce Keys and LA Knight in a fatal four-way match, with the victor advancing to the semifinals.

This story was originally published by Men's Journal on Jun 2, 2026, where it first appeared in the Entertainment section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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This story was originally published June 2, 2026 at 2:46 PM.