Finn Bálor fights the odds in a Handicap Match that could earn him an Intercontinental Championship opportunity at WrestleMania.

The abolition of automatic rematch clauses has forced deposed champions to work a little harder for a little longer to get another crack at the titles they lost. Finn Bálor, it appears, has fulfilled that new mandate with two consecutive victories over Bobby Lashley, and now he gets an Intercontinental Title bout at WrestleMania for his efforts.

Anyone looking for a caveat would point out that Bálor sent himself to MetLife Stadium on the strength of a Handicap Match win, but the argument holds a little less water when you consider the last-second change — Lashley was supposed to compete alongside Lio Rush, but an injury to the hype man subbed in Jinder Mahal — and the astonishing amount of variables that it brought. Between Lashley, Mahal, Rush and The Singh Brothers, Bálor wasn’t fighting one-on-two so much as one-on-five, so it’s hard to find fault with the sequence that brought him the win: An over-the-top-rope plancha to all five Superstars on the outside, and a Coup de Grâce to The Maharaja for the win.

Of course, Lashley did find fault, dropping Mahal and The Singhs with a ruthless post-match attack. And that might make The All Mighty feel a little better in the short run. But it won’t change the result or make the new challenger any less deserving.