One big struggle of being a WWE star or pro wrestler in general that usually goes unmentioned is being away from your family for most of the year. For someone like Finn Balor, the struggle is even more gruesome because his family lives in a different county. Growing up in Ireland means that Balor has spent the majority of his wrestling career away from the people he grew up with.
The former Universal champion opened up about this during his appearance on Corey Graves‘ After The Bell podcast. He mentioned how it’s the strive to prove people wrong that has kept him going because the money alone wouldn’t be worth the sacrifice:
“I’ll be honest, the money’s not that good for the amount of pain we go through and being away from my family for 20 years. I wrestle with myself the whole time as the money versus being away from Ireland for 20 years. In 10 years’ time, when like, my family, people start to pass, or my friends you know, move on. Is money gonna be worth the sacrifice? [The things] that I have given up.
Not the Physical sacrifice, the sacrifice of being away from your loved ones for literally 20 years. Having phone call relationships with people or text relationships with people that you grew up with or you love. I don’t have any kids, but I’ve got 12 nieces and nephews. I love them and they know me as Finn Balor. They don’t know me as Fergal. They don’t know their uncle, The real person. They just know their uncle on TV. So I kind of wrestle with these things all the time. Is money worth the sacrifice? Not the physical sacrifice, life sacrifice.”
How Finn Balor Balances His Emotions
Corey Graves then asked Finn Balor how he deals with the mental pressure of all this to which he replied that he doesn’t. Balor explained how his parents would question his decision if he stopped doing what he loves. On the same time, he constantly has to question himself on if doing it is worth staying away from his family:
“I don’t know if I balance it or not. I think I just bottle it up inside. Like a true Irishman, who bottles up his real emotions (laughs). It’s something that weighs on my mind a lot. Especially as I see my parents getting older now. I know, that they have so much respect for what I’ve done. They’re so proud of, where I have came from and where I am now. I know that they would be disappointed if I stopped doing it. They would be heartbroken. ‘He’s not following his dreams. Why is he not doing it?’ For me, I’m questioning ‘Why am I doing this to be away from them?’ So it’s like, what’s the right answer? It’s so hard to know.”
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