With SmackDown Live’s AJ Styles stepping in tonight (Sun. October 22, 2017) against Finn Balor at the WWE’s Tables Ladders and Chairs (TLC) pay-per-view (PPV), there have been rumors going around that The Club could use this opportunity for a reunion. Karl Anderson took to Twitter to respond to a fan’s question about a possible reunion, saying he will be enjoying the PPV from Green Bay on the WWE Network like everyone else:
– Bray Wyatt has been forced out of tomorrow night’s (Sun. October 22, 2017) Tables Ladders and Chairs (TLC) pay-per-view (PPV) event, which means that SmackDown Live’s AJ Styles will step in to fill his spot against “The Demon King” Finn Balor. WWE posted the following video in which Balor responded to his new challenger on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BafakvAAw_Z/
– In addition to the shuffling the TLC PPV card has undergone, the evening’s main event has seen the removal of Roman Reigns, who will no be replaced by Monday Night RAW General Manager Kurt Angle. Angle will make his return to the WWE ring in over a decade to team up with Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose; taking on the team of The Miz, The Bar (Sheamus and Cesaro), Braun Strowman, and Kane. SmackDown Live General Manager Daniel Bryan – who has been hoping to make an in-ring return of his own soon – had this to say about the news:
The WWE world is in for a massive shock. Due to medical issues the WWE has been forced to shuffle the Tables Ladders and Chairs (TLC) pay-per-view (PPV) card. Roman Reigns will now be replaced by Monday Night RAW General Manager Kurt Angle; teaming up with Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose to take on the team of The Miz, The Bar (Sheamus and Cesaro), Braun Strowman, and Kane. SmackDown Live’s AJ Styles will replace Bray Wyatt to take on Finn Balor. Here’s the official announcement from WWE:
“Due to medical issues impacting two WWE Superstars scheduled to appear at WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs, streaming live on WWE Network this Sunday, the special event will now feature Kurt Angle competing in a WWE ring for the first time in more than 11 years, as he replaces Roman Reigns. In addition, former WWE Champion AJ Styles will replace Bray Wyatt and face “The Demon” Finn Bálor.
“A WWE Hall of Famer and the current General Manager of Raw, Angle will join forces with Raw Tag Team Champions Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose to battle the daunting combination of Braun Strowman, Intercontinental Champion The Miz, Cesaro, Sheamus and The Big Red Machine Kane in a Tables, Ladders & Chairs 5-on-3 Handicap Match.
“The showdown between “The Demon” and Styles is one that the WWE Universe has been wanting for a long time and promises to be one of the most exciting matches of 2017.”
We previously reported that the WWE locker room has been dealing with Viral Meningitis, affecting Superstars such as Bo Dallas and Bray Wyatt. We’ll keep you updated as more news becomes available.
It was reported earlier this week that Bo Dallas has been suffering from Viral Meningitis as of late, and his brother Bray Wyatt could be suffering from the same illness. This is why the pair have been off WWE TV for the past few weeks.
Justin LaBar notes that JoJo has also been affected by the outbreak.
Seems Bray, Bo and JoJo haven't been at TV or events because of viral meningitis. Unfortunate. I have NO INFO on Sunday for Bray.
Per a report from Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Wyatt is in fact ill and his status for this weekend’s Tables Ladders and Chairs (TLC) pay-per-view (PPV) is unknown.
Wyatt is scheduled to take on Finn Balor at the event for a match between “Sister Abigail” and “The Demon King.”
Finn Balor spoke with Metro Sport this week to promote WWE Tables, Ladders and Chairs pay-per-view. Balor will channel the Demon King this Sunday for his showdown against ‘Sister Abigail’ (Bray Wyatt).
Balor said he’s enjoyed working with Bray Wyatt and the whole feud is “starting to click” because they’re understanding each other’s in-ring styles. He feels their matches are getting better, but doesn’t know how much longer they can keep the program going.
The most interesting topic was Balor stating that he wants to work with WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar next. Despite Lesnar’s size and the destruction he unleashes in the ring, Balor said “I would absolutely love to be in there with Brock Lesnar.”
“Once I handle Bray Wyatt, I need to be going after the Universal Championship which I was never beaten for. Yes, Brock Lesnar is the current champion, but make sure you don’t forget that I relinquished the title due to injury, I was never beaten, and I definitely think that I deserve a title shot.”
Lesnar is a very physically imposing talent, but that doesn’t scare Balor away. He said he was always a fan of ‘David vs. Goliath’ matches when he was growing up and their clash of styles would make for some entertaining matches.
“Right now, there’s a lot of interesting matches that could happen in WWE right now, but for me personally I think that Finn Balor vs Brock Lesnar is the most interesting match from a fans perspective that can happen right now. It’s something that has never happened before, with completely different styles inside and out of the ring. This could be a really big spectacle.”
Other topics discussed include WWE 2K18 and the possibility of UFC’s Conor McGregor getting involved with WWE one day. You can read the full interview at Metro.co.uk.
The first ever WWE Universal Champion Finn Balor recently talked to the In This Corner Podcast and discussed his current feud with Bray Wyatt and more. Below are some of the highlights from his interview:
On ‘Balor Club’ vs. ‘Demon King’ and his WWE 2K18 ratings:
“I’m not sure which one the fans prefer, I’m not sure which one I prefer, but what I do know is in [WWE] 2K18, Finn (Leather Jacket version) is not as strong as Demon King Finn Balor. And I’m a little bit curious about that because clearly Finn Balor created the Demon King. So, I don’t know if it’s a compliment to the Demon King, if it’s an insult to Finn Balor, but I’m still trying to work out the kinks with 2K18. We might have a big problem then next year because they’ve been asking me to be the cover to 2K19 next year, but I might have to decline them because of this issue.”
On his feud with Bray Wyatt taking a more supernatural turn:
“I’m loving it. I’m seeing it as a challenge; it’s something new, it’s something fresh. I’ve been wrestling for almost 18 years now. I’ve done grappler versus striker, striker versus wrestler, high flyer versus mat technician, I’ve done every style of match that you could possibly think of. And to be put in this situation, with probably one of the most interesting characters of our time, and being given to work with this opportunity in this program and adapt to the situation and learn his character and figure out how he works… it’s been a challenge for me. You can only get better by challenging yourself. I don’t know how fans are reacting to it, I don’t know how critics are reacting to it, but for me, I’m welcoming the challenge and I’m enjoying it.”
The biggest challenge he has faced in his feud with Wyatt so far:
“I think the biggest challenge is getting the opportunity to talk more than I had previously been given the opportunity to do. I’ll be honest, I’m not someone who likes to go out there and talk, I like to have fun, but I kind of have to adapt to this storyline. There’s a lot more talking involved and it’s something I know that as a performer I have to improve on my talking skills… It’s a new challenge. It’s something that keeps me pushing myself and I feel like I’m growing and developing another skill set”
Goldust has been a part of the never-ending feud between Finn Balor and Bray Wyatt recently. First, Bray Wyatt took a towel and rubbed off his face paint. Goldust then asked RAW GM Kurt Angle to face Bray Wyatt as Dustin Rhodes. Angle made the match and Goldust was quickly defeated by Wyatt. Goldust then attacked Finn Balor backstage on Monday’s episode of RAW. This led to a match between Finn and Goldust later on the show.
Finn Balor defeated Goldust rather quickly, but the lights went out in the arena after the match. “He’s got the whole world in his hands” was echoing throughout the arena before Wyatt’s face was briefly shown on the screen laughing. Even though Balor has defeated Bray Wyatt as “The Demon King” and as Finn Balor at No Mercy, his feud with Bray Wyatt seems to be continuing.
Some fans took to Twitter yesterday to complain about the feud and Goldust responded to them:
This describes how I've felt about wyatt for about 3 years
Goldust then sent out another tweet later last night stating that fans should enjoy the product WWE puts on for them and that they will not always get what they want.
While it hasn’t been very long since Brock Lesnar overcame the challenge of Braun Strowman and retained his Universal Championship at No Mercy, people have already started speculating about his next opponent.
During the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer talked about the Beast and revealed the name who could possibly be next person to challenge for the Universal Championship.
Dave mentioned that the first ever Universal Champion Finn Balor may finally get his rematch for the title he never lost against Brock at Survivor Series or Royal Rumble PPV.
According to him, WWE originally had plans for both Seth Rollins and Finn Balor to challenge for the title before WrestleMania 34. Since Rollins is busy in a storyline with Dean Ambrose, the most likely person next in line for a shot at the Universal title is Balor.
Though it’s worth mentioning here that Lesnar is expected to hold the belt for a while and drop it to Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 34 next year.
So even if Finn does end up being the next opponent of Brock Lesnar, he is not expected to win the title and instead, he will most likely be just another stop on Lesnar’s road to WrestleMania, much like Samoa Joe and Braun Strowman.
– During a WWE Live Event last week in Brisbane, Australia, Monday Night RAW star Finn Balor was attacked by Bray Wyatt prior to their match-up getting officially underway. Shortly after, Balor took to social media and posted the following picture of his signature leather jacket getting ripped during the attack by Wyatt, and he wasn’t very happy about it. The pair will go one-on-on at No Mercy on pay-per-view (PPV):
– WWE held its first Live Event in China yesterday (Sun. September 17, 2017) as part of the company’s overseas tour. Prior to the show getting underway, SmackDown Live stars Lana, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Natalya got to hang out around the country. Check out some photos here:
Former WWE Universal Champion Finn Balor recently did an interview with Al Arabiya English where he talked about one of his fellow wrestlers advising against using face paint for his “Demon” character. Balor said the first time “the Demon came,” it wasn’t referred to that yet, but was just something he was trying out to get more heat with fans.
“The first time I did that, I said to my best friend Karl Anderson that I’m going to do this thing,” Balor recalled. “I explained to him what I was doing and he said, ‘Do not do that, you’re going to be laughed out of the building.’ Obviously this didn’t happen. The whole Demon character was designed for people to hate me more and to be scared of me, and it kind of backfired in the sense that people kind of like it now.”
Balor says leaving New Japan Pro Wrestling and entering the WWE Universe changed him, and he points out that now in every country he goes to there are kids painted up like the Demon.
“When we go to anywhere—when we go to Germany, or any country we go to, there are kids that look up to you, that are wearing your face paint, wearing your t-shirts, making signs,” he said. “The reach that WWE has through its television, its social media, and the WWE Network—that WWE Universe that we speak about—all the fans—that’s what drives me now. Reaching those, and influencing those people, and to give them something to cheer for, in a way. Before, I was wrestling for me, but now I feel like I’m wrestling for other people, and I feel like that’s much more important.”
It was one of the most highly anticipated bouts this century. Last night Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor fought until the tenth round when McGregor appeared out on his feet and the referee declared it was all over.
The Pro Wrestling world has taken to Twitter to voice their opinions on the super fight:
On this week’s edition of Jerry Lawler’s podcast, Dinner With The King, the WWE Hall of Famer discusses Finn Balor’s match at SummerSlam this Sunday. Balor will be facing Bray Wyatt, and had hinted on RAW that he’ll be appearing as the “demon.” Lawler feels that Balor needs to bring out the “demon” character and ring attire more often.
“I’ve been waiting on this for a long time — Demon Finn Balor,” Lawler said. “That’s been my one gripe about Finn Balor. I think we need less Finn Balor and more Demon. I realize that’s cumbersome and time-consuming to get into that character and to become the Demon. But I think it’s worth it.”
The podcast episode was dedicated to Ric Flair, with some classic audio clips from Flair’s career. Lawler says a Tweet from Flair’s daughter Charlotte gave him hope that The Nature Boy’s situation may not be as dire as he feared earlier.
“We think the world of Ric Flair, he’s the greatest of all-time,” Lawler said. “It’s a well-deserved handle for Ric. And we wish him the best. And hopefully he’ll make a full recovery from this and be back walking past us at a bar sometime in the near future going wooo! C’mon, Ric. Kick out!”
You can listen’s to Lawler’s full podcast at PodAvenue.com
Posted August 16th, 2017 in WWE. Tagged: Finn Balor.
Former WWE Universal Champion Finn Balor recently spoke with ESPN while promoting this Sunday’s SummerSlam pay-per-view event. The Raw Superstar talked about various topics including if the Demon King will return at SummerSlam and facing Bray Wyatt at the upcoming event. Here are the highlights:
Wrestling Bray Wyatt:
“[Wyatt] talks in riddles. He talks in tongues. Half the time I don’t even understand it. I know he can talk a lot, that’s for sure. You give him the mic, you’re gonna have a hard time getting the mic back. He certainly likes to talk. Whether it makes any sense or not is up to the people listening. Regardless of what he says or for how long he says it, when the bell rings he is one of the absolute best out there for the last four years he’s been at the top. He’s been doing tremendous things. You can’t ever discredit his ability in the ring. I think people forget how big Bray is. Bray is like 300, 320 pounds. He moves like he’s 220. He’s definitely a force to be reckoned with in the ring, and it’s something I’m going to have to adjust my style every day to help cope with it.”
If the Demon King is coming back for SummerSlam:
“Maybe we will, maybe we won’t [see the Demon King at SummerSlam]. A lot of people are under the impression that Finn Balor relies on the Demon King, but that is certainly not the case. If it’s required and emotions are running high going into SummerSlam then maybe the Demon King will show up. If not, we’ll see the Demon King in the near future I’m sure.”
Balor also talked about feuding with Samoa Joe while in NXT and more. You can read the entire interview here.
Sami Zayn to match donations to his Syria campaign until SummerSlam
Sami Zayn’s campaign reached it’s goal of $48,000 and that money will be donated to the Syrian American Medical Society. It will prepare a vehicle as a Mobile Medical Unit to provide assistance to those in need in Syria. Sami has now announced that he will match any additional donations up to $10,000 before next week’s SummerSlam PPV.
WWE Cruiserweight Champion Neville took to Twitter earlier today to offer some words of encouragement to those that have experienced failure. Neville will defend his Cruiserweight Championship against Akira Tozawa at WWE SummerSlam on August 20th.
WWE is having a Live Event tonight in Worcester ahead of tomorrow night’s RAW in Boston, MA. Finn Balor posted on Twitter that he sat in the crowd in the DCU Center 17 years ago and watched The Hardy Boyz perform. Balor noted that he will be tag team partners with Matt and Jeff Hardy at tonight’s event.
RAW June 26th 2000 I sat in these seats to watch #WWEWorcester The Hardy Boys wrestled that night Tonight they are my tag team partners pic.twitter.com/ds78hlw08L
When Finn Balor started his feud with Bray Wyatt many people believed it was the perfect opportunity to bring back the ‘Demon King’ on WWE Television.
Since SummerSlam is the stage where the Demon was last seen, it was rumoured that WWE may bring the Alter Ego of the first Universal Champion for the Biggest Event Of The Summer.
However, it appears fans will have to wait some more time before they can witness the return of Demon Balor on WWE Programming and it’s not going to happen at the upcoming PPV.
During a recent interview with IGN, Finn Balor was asked if the Demon can become awoken next Sunday. Replying to it Balor said that he is capable of handling Bray on his own:
“You know the Demon only comes out in certain special situations and I don’t think my match at SummerSlam against Bray Wyatt calls for it necessarily. I think I’m perfectly capable of handling that on my own, as Finn Bálor.”
It’s not very likely that WWE will not inform Balor about Demon’s appearance before the show. In fact, they would rather promote it in advance to make it a selling point for the PPV.
So while you can never say never in WWE, considering the comments of Balor and the fact that there has been no mention of him on WWE Programming despite SummerSlam being only 10 days away the chances of the Demon Balor appearing at SummerSlam are pretty stiff.
Finn Balor and Baron Corbin trade shots on Twitter
Finn Balor posted yesterday that he forgot to do his ab crunches. Baron Corbin then responded and started to make fun of Balor’s size. Finn fired back with a shot of his own about Baron Corbin’s mid-section.
You're a 162 lbs your abs don't have a choice but to show
WWE has posted a new Top 10 list about the greatest SummerSlam entrances in WWE history. The list included Bray Wyatt (2014), Rey Mysterio (2007), Legion of Doom (1992), Shawn Michaels (2002), The Undertaker (1994) and more. You can check out the entire list in the video below.
As noted earlier, Matt Hardy claimed that he was “woken” in a RAW Fallout interview with Mike Rome. Hardy has now taken to Twitter to send out some “Woken” wisdom to the masses.
WWE Superstar Bayley suffered a shoulder injury during her match against Nia Jax on RAW Monday night. WWE released a statement last night that stated that Bayley will be evaluated next week. Her match against Alexa Bliss at WWE SummerSlam is up in the air right now. Finn Balor sent out the following tweet and stated that he was thinking of his friend Bayley:
Randy Orton retweets comment bashing WWE’s gimmick matches
Randy Orton faced Jinder Mahal in a Punjabi Prison match for the WWE Championship at WWE Battleground in Philadelphia. The normally loud crowd was essentially silent during the match. This was due to the general lack of interest in the match and the bamboo prison making it difficult for the crowd in attendance to actually see what was going on in the ring. Orton was also a part of a House of Horrors match with Bray Wyatt at WWE Payback earlier this year. That match was also met with a negative reaction from the WWE Universe. Rusev lost John Cena at WWE Battleground in a Flag Match.
WWE Creative Humor is a popular Twitter account that pokes fun at WWE. Below is the comment that Orton retweeted:
"I'll fight you. Just no Punjabi Prison Matches or House of Horrors or Flag Matches or any other bullshit matches" – @RandyOrton#SDLive
— WWE Creative Humor (a sub of TKO Creative Humor) (@WWECreative_ish) August 2, 2017
Former WWE Superstars and hosts of E&C’s Pod of Awesomeness stopped by the London Film & Comic Con over the weekend. During the event, Edge & Christian posed with fans and one fan asked them to take an awkward prom photo with her. Edge and Christian obliged and the following photo was the result:
Finn Balor congratulates Curt Hawkins on his 100 match losing streak
As noted earlier, Curt Hawkins has not won a match since November 8th, 2016. Hawkins defeated Apollo Crews in that match via a roll-up and has been on the losing end of every match since. Finn Balor took to Twitter recently to congratulate Hawkins on his remarkable achievement in the following photo:
Titus O’Neil posted the following video on Twitter yesterday he and Tozawa on the road. O’Neil found Tozawa’s music choice to be confusing and asked what they were listen to. Tozawa simply responded “Japanese, yo!”.
– Bray Wyatt attacked Finn Balor on Monday’s edition of RAW, causing Balor to lose his No DQ match against Elias Samson. WWE uploaded a video after RAW featuring Balor, who turns 36 years old today, sending a message to Wyatt.
– WWE also uploaded a video of Jason Jordan last night after RAW, where Jordan discusses his victory over Curt Hawkins. Jordan says now that the pressure of his RAW in-ring debut is gone he’s going to step up to the plate because that’s what he was born to do.
– WWE is currently polling fans on their official website to see who fans think has the advantage going into next week’s RAW main event of Braun Strowman vs. Roman Reigns vs. Samoa Joe. As of press time the poll has Strowman in the lead with 55% of the vote. 29% of fans voted for Reigns, and 16% voted for Joe.
WWE’s “Kurt Angle – The Essential Collection” DVD is being released on August 1st. WrestlingDVDNetwork.com has released the intro for the upcoming DVD set. This is the first DVD set WWE has released for Kurt Angle.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8b9A9YBGTo
Bayley Gummy Bears
Bayley has new gummy bears at FYE stores. The box art features “wacky, waving, inflatable, arm-flailing Bayley Buddies” as Byron Saxton would say. Bayley posted the following photo of Carmella posing with the new gummy bears:
Several matches were set up for next week’s RAW on Monday night. Sasha Banks and Bayley approached RAW GM Kurt Angle backstage and both said that they deserve a shot at Alexa Bliss’ RAW Women’s Championship. Bayley stated that she has defeated Alexa Bliss twice recently and Sasha Banks noted that Bliss got herself counted out to retain the title against her at WWE Great Balls of Fire. Kurt Angle then made a match for next Monday between Banks and Bayley to determine who will face Alexa Bliss at SummerSlam for the RAW Women’s Championship.
Finn Balor faced Elias Samson on Monday night and was looking like he was going to be victorious. The action spilled outside the ring while Balor was in control and Elias Samson grabbed his guitar and bashed Balor in the head with it. The strike was so brutal that he busted Balor’s head open. On next week’s episode of RAW, Balor will look to get his revenge in a No DQ match against Samson.
Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins kicked off Monday’s RAW. Ambrose still doesn’t fully trust Rollins as a result of him turning his back on The Shield. Rollins asked Ambrose to get it over with and begged Ambrose to hit him with a chair. Ambrose refused and threw the chair out of the ring. The Miztourage then came down to the ring and beat the hell out of both Rollins and Ambrose with chairs. Later in the show, Ambrose and Rollins had a conversation with RAW GM Kurt Angle backstage. Angle said that they could face any two members of The Miztourage on next week’s RAW. Ambrose said that they wanted to face all three and Angle made the match official. It will be Ambrose & Rollins against The Miz, Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel next week on RAW.
Below is the video promo that WWE has released for next week’s episode of RAW.
Elias Samson shows no remorse after hitting Finn Balor with his guitar
Last night on RAW, Finn Balor defeated Elias Samson via DQ. Samson bashed Balor over the head with his guitar. The strike was so vicious that it created a gash on the side of Balor’s head as you can see in the photo below.
WWE uploaded a backstage interview with Elias Samson and he was asked about the attack. Samson simply kissed his guitar and walked away. Finn Balor will look to get his revenge next week on RAW when the two Superstars face off in a No Disqualifications match.
Akira Tozawa has rematch with Ariya Daivari tonight on 205 Live
Last night on RAW, Akira Tozawa faced Ariya Daivari. Daivari controlled the entire match and focused all of his attack on Tozawa’s shoulder. Titus O’Neil was ringside and eventually asked the referee to stop the match. Tozawa screamed at O’Neil following the match and then demanded a rematch with Daivari on 205 Live.
WWE has posted the following the following about Tozawa’s match with Daivari later tonight on 205 Live:
Is Tozawa too injured to compete?
Despite his loss to WWE Cruiserweight Champion Neville at the first-ever WWE Great Balls of Fire pay-per-view – albeit by some questionable tactics from the champion – Akira Tozawa remains laser-focused on dethroning The King of the Cruiserweights.
However, last week on WWE 205 Live, Tozawa’s match against Ariya Daivari ended prematurely when Neville attacked and locked his nemesis in the Rings of Saturn. The extent of the damage done during the attack was unknown for nearly a week until Daivari and the Japanese Superstar squared off once more on Raw. During the contest, it was clear Tozawa was favoring his shoulder and The Persian Lion pounced. Neville’s attack, combined with Daivari’s merciless targeting of Tozawa’s shoulder led to Titus O’Neil quitting on behalf of his client.
After the match, Tozawa – upset that O’Neil made him quit – demanded that the Founder and CEO of Titus Worldwide secure not only a rematch with Neville for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship, but also a rematch with Daivari.
Tozawa may be over-exerting himself, especially if he’s nursing an injury, and that makes him especially vulnerable to The King of the Cruiserweights. Can The Stamina Monster fight through the pain, or will O’Neil’s decision on Raw turn out to be the right one?
WWE continues to mention Hassan Yazdani
Ariya Daivari dedicated his victory last night on RAW to Iranian wrestler Hassan Yazdani. Daivari is apparently doing the same tonight and there is speculation that WWE is trying to recruit Yazdani to the company. Yazdani is 22 years old and won a gold medal at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Last night on Raw, Elias Samson hit Finn Balor with his guitar. While it looked as though Samson was aiming for Balor’s shoulder, the edge of the guitar collided with the side of his face and head.
Balor posted photos of his injury late last night:
At the moment it looks as though the only injury suffered by Balor were the cuts, and he does not appear to have suffered a concussion. Since debuting on the main roster, Balor has suffered a shoulder injury which required surgery last summer, and a concussion shortly after his return this spring.
Don’t expect a Club or Bullet Club reformation in WWE anytime soon, or at least not one involving Finn Balor. The 35 year old sat down with Sports Illustrated recently, and referred to a Bullet Club reformation in WWE as “regressing”.
He does however, hint at possibly forming a team with the Hardys.
skip to 17:25 of the video below or scroll beneath for highlights:
Finn Balor Interview Highlights
On a Bullet Club reformation in WWE:
“You know, for us as a group, especially myself and Karl, you know, two of the original members, that was you know, very, it was very much like a moment in time,”
“You know, to kind of like reform that now would be kind of like regressing like in our careers, maybe, so to speak. Maybe going forward in the future that could be a possibility but right now I think we’re both, you know, pretty happy doing our own thing.
On a Potential Stable with the Hardy Boyz:
“I was a huge fan of Team Xteme as a kid, growing up in my teenage years. To get the opportunity to tag with those guys and be around and learn from them has been a great experience.
Are we going to be a team? Maybe.”
On Kazuchika Okada Visiting RAW, and Potentially Signing With WWE:
“I don’t know about anytime soon. Possibly, you know, in the distant future,”
“I’m sure, you know, as you say, anything can happen. And nobody thought Finn Balor would be in the WWE. Here I am.”
“True, Okada was backstage at RAW. He was backstage at SmackDown but it’s because he has a lot of friends there,”
“Myself, Karl Anderson, Shinsuke Nakamura, I think he was just visiting friends so I wouldn’t read too much into that.”
Former WWE Universal Champion Finn Balor was recently interviewed by Sports Illustrated Now and commented on the possibility of UFC Lightweight champion Conor McGregor appearing for WWE one day. Balor says “The Notorious” has the charisma and athleticism to be successful in a WWE ring.
“I think he’s a natural fit, to be honest with ya,” said Balor. “He’s a natural showman, he’s an incredible athlete, probably one of the best athletes on the planet. I think given the opportunity to come to the WWE, I think he would thrive.”
When asked about the gimmick that the UFC mega-star would use in WWE, Balor brought up McGregor’s popular “Billion Dollar Strut” – which McGregor has acknowledged is influenced by Vince McMahon.
“I think he’ll just waltz out with his ‘Billion dollar strut’ – very similar like Vince McMahon – and probably lay some people out,” Balor said, before touching on a potential McGregor-Enzo Amore program. “I know Enzo Amore has been mentioning Conor a lot, is that a potential feud going forward? Who knows?”
Of course, Conor McGregor has a huge boxing fight coming up on August 26th against WrestleMania 24 competitor Floyd Mayweather Jr. When asked if he had a prediction for Mayweather vs. McGregor, their shared Irish heritage left Balor no choice but to root for the UFC fighter.
“Us Irish, we have a tendency to kind of bond together,” said Balor. “Despite any kind of differences, when it’s someone from the homeland, you gotta root for them. I’ll be rooting for Conor, for sure.”
Check out more from the Finn Balor over at SI.com.
Just a few weeks ago the WWE was teasing the possibility of a program between WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar and Finn Balor. Prior to the Fatal Five-Way match at the WWE’s Extreme Rules pay-per-view (PPV), Balor had a brief confrontation with Lesnar’s advocate, Paul Heyman, teasing the possibility that “The Beast” and “The Demon King” could come face-to-face down the line.
That match-up was on the WWE’s schedule for later this year, but according to a recent report from Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio, that is no longer in the cards. Meltzer noted that Balor is currently embroiled in his feud with Elias Samson on Monday Night RAW to simply kill time. He also stated that it’s unlikely we see Lesnar vs. Balor anymore, as WWE officials have changed their minds regarding that program.