Finn Balor's Demon Returns To WWE 6 Months After WrestleMania 42 To Haunt Gunther On SmackDown

Danhausen's Halloween experiment turns out to be Finn Balor's Demon.© NDTV Library

Finn Balor brought The Demon back on SmackDown's Halloween episode, and Gunther was the one who ended up on the floor. The show was the October 30 edition from Charleston Coliseum in Charleston, West Virginia, billed as “Danhausen's Very Nice, Very Evil SmackDown.” Danhausen had promised to reveal his “most evil experiment” that night, but Gunther cut in and attacked him before it happened. A group of Minihausens couldn't stop the beating, and Danhausen stayed in trouble until the arena lights turned red. Then The Demon showed up, went straight at Gunther and finished it with a Coup de Grace from a ladder through the announce table. It was Balor's first Demon appearance since WrestleMania 42 in April.

THE RETURN OF THE DEMON. GUNTHER LOOKED ABSOLUTELY TERRIFYING WHEN THAT MUSIC HIT ???? 2026 MOMENT OF THE YEAR #Smackdown https://t.co/2fwQT8ISTY

— FADE (@FadeAwayMedia) October 31, 2026

Gunther's Attack on Danhausen Goes Wrong as Finn Balor's Demon Emerges From the Experiment

Danhausen had been teasing the experiment for a while before it got to SmackDown. Gunther didn't want to wait for the reveal, though. He broke into the segment, attacked Danhausen and powerbombed him through a table. 

Then the Minihausens came out, but there weren't enough of them to keep Gunther down, and he fought them off, went back to Danhausen and locked him in sleeper hold.

Danhausen managed to curse Gunther before things got worse. The lights went out, the arena turned red, and The Demon appeared from underneath the covered setup on stage. 

That was the experiment Danhausen had been hiding all along. WWE also acknowledged the surprise with a post declaring, “@Gunther_AU woke THE DEMON!”

The Demon Finn Balor Takes Apart Gunther With a Ladder and Coup de Grace Through the Announce Table

Gunther tried to deal with Balor at first, but the returning persona wasn't going down easily. They traded attacks, and then Balor took over. At one point Gunther went for his belt, yet The Demon kept attacking without backing away. 

Dropkicks and Slingblades kept Gunther under pressure, and a running dropkick sent him through a ringside table.

But Balor wasn't done. He brought a ladder into the picture, put Gunther on announce table and climbed to the top. 

The Coup de Grace from up there sent Gunther crashing through it. Balor then went back to the ring and posed alongside Danhausen to close the segment.

That April appearance at WrestleMania 42 was the Street Fight where Balor beat Dominik Mysterio, and before it The Demon hadn't been seen since WrestleMania 39 in 2023. 

As for Gunther and Danhausen, this had been building for a few weeks. On the October 9 episode, Gunther attacked Danhausen and Balor stepped in to protect him. 

A week later, on October 16, Danhausen irritated Gunther by pretending to be SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis.

Reports point towards a possible Gunther vs. Balor match at Crown Jewel on November 7, but WWE hasn't officially confirmed it.