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As Stephanie McMahon’s personally-appointed Constable of Raw, Baron Corbin may make the rules, but Finn Bálor laid down the law at WWE Extreme Rules, adding another wrinkle into a brief but scathing rivalry that had taken the classic big-man-vs.-little-man rivalry into a highly personal realm over the last couple of weeks.
Given that The Constable already owns a win over the first-ever Universal Champion (albeit in tag team action), Corbn’s boasts weren’t exactly empty. As if to prove his point, The Lone Wolf completely overwhelmed his opponent thanks to a combination of pitch-perfect scouting and a ground-and-pound strategy that often left Bálor peeling himself off the mat. Even when The Extraordinary Man began to create separation with his speed, he found himself often leaping headlong into Corbin’s clutches, where more punishment awaited in the form of a chokeslam backbreaker and Deep Six.
Bálor showed his grit by kicking out of all Corbin’s big maneuvers, though it seemed unlikely he could survive the onslaught for much longer as the match wore on. Even after suffering tremendous punishment, Finn escaped Corbin by the narrowest of margins, reversing the End of Days into a small package that put the livid Corbin down for three. It was as much of an escape as it was a victory, though above all, it seemed to be a statement from Bálor. For all Corbin’s size and strength, the match came down to the most important muscle of all: The heart.