Finn Balor recently appeared on Edge & Christian’s Pod Of Awesomeness. The inaugural WWE Universal Champion discussed a number of topics including his severe labrum tear that made him relinquish the title.
The injury took place in the first ever Universal Title match at Summerslam 2016. Balor faced Seth Rollins and said that his shoulder was dislocated immediately. Finn also said that he did not know the extent of the injury when it happened. While the match continued Balor realised that his shoulder was “totally destroyed.” He also realised that he would be out of action for a long time.
“Straight away, I knew the shoulder was out because I could feel it out. I didn’t realize how bad it went out.” Balor stated.”I’ve had a shoulder separation before where, like, I could pop in back in and it wasn’t so bad. But when I hit the deck, I said, ‘oh no, your shoulder’s out of place.’ So instinctively, I pulled it forward and it pops back in.”
Balor continued, saying “I go, ‘okay, phew, breathe, calm down, get your bears, [and] get back in the ring.’ So I get back in the ring, and I start working, and it feels pretty loose. And I think [Rollins] shoots me off and I reverse him, and I’m, like, pushing him in the back, and I give him a little push with my right hand on the back, and it pops out again. I go, ‘oh no, this is going to be a big issue.’
In And Out of The Ring
Balor elaborated further, saying he “ended up coming out [of the ring] three or four times in the match where I kept resetting it, resetting it, but it was totally destroyed. There was, like, a bicep tear, a pec tear, the socket was broken. The labrum was torn, so, like, that’s pretty much why I kept slipping in and out. Kind of halfway through the match I realize. ‘You’re not going to be wrestling, not for a long time.’ But they said, ‘stay the course,’ and I finished the match. And the rest is history.”
*Credit to WrestlingINC for the transcription
