Even by his standards, Finn Bálor has had an extraordinary last few days: The Irishman started the weekend as a guest of honor at the opening of the UK Performance Center, ended up fighting his student Jordan Devlin at NXT UK TakeOver, and in the course of one Raw, went from long-shot title hopeful to winning two matches and becoming the next man up for Universal Champion Brock Lesnar.

Not bad for a guy who Mr. McMahon supposedly didn’t believe in, especially considering he defeated John Cena (the man The Chairman has called the greatest of all time), Drew McIntyre (the onetime “Chosen One”) and Baron Corbin (who Mr. McMahon once trusted to run his show). The Irishman played the match perfectly, weathering the perfect storm of conflicting agendas until he finally picked his moment to strike: Big Match John had the big match moves, but was a hair too slow to close. McIntyre was a marvel, but seemed more focused on making a statement than winning the match, and Corbin’s desire to slowly dismantle everyone with a steel chair left him vulnerable to a retaliatory strike from The Cenation Leader that set up the conclusion.

After the 16-time World Champion downed The Lone Wolf with an Attitude Adjustment, McIntyre blew him off his feet with a Claymore Kick, and Bálor pounced, disposing of the Scotsman and drilling Cena with a Coup de Grâce to seal the match. Despite suffering the deciding pinfall, Cena still got to his feet to deliver proper respect to the victor, declaring that Bálor had made a believer out of him. If The Extraordinary Man walks out of the Royal Rumble with the Universal Title, there won’t be a person in the world who doesn’t agree, from the kids on the floor to the man in the office.