Finn Balor says he craves a mega “cheat meal” powered by McDonald’s once a week.
Balor known for having one of the best physiques in wrestling. However, looks can be deceiving. In previous eras, we’ve seen men with eye-popping physiques who were anything but healthy. Balor says the older he gets, the better he feels.
At 41 years old, he’s never felt better. He’s not sure if that’s because he’s getting better in the ring and learning to work a safer style, or if he’s getting smarter with his training. Back when he was 31, he was wrestling in Japan, which was a much more physical style and may be a factor.
He also credits sleep as the key to feeling good. His worst day of the week is Tuesdays, because he’s traveling late after Raw and doesn’t get the sleep he needs.
Finn Balor’s Ultimate Cheat Meal
Finn Balor considers himself “super OCD” with his diet and it shows. However, he does allow himself a break once a week.
Balor used to never cheat on his diet, but eventually convinced himself that he needs to treat himself once a week. Now, he goes big on cheat days. So big that his wife jokingly telling him to reign it in.
“I’ve got super OCD with everything, including my eating, but now, Tuesdays, I’m just craving McDonald’s. I’ll get home on Tuesdays, it will be 10pm and I’ll be moping around the house. I’ll Uber Eats two double cheeseburgers, a McFlurry, a sundae, large fries and large coke. Now it’s to the point where [my wife is] telling me, ‘We can’t have that today.’ But I will keep everything in line the rest of the week, so it’s just the one cheat meal.”
– Finn Balor
Balor said he loves ice cream so much, he can’t decide whether to order the McFlurry or an ice cream sundae from McDonald’s, so he orders both. His wife taught him to dip french fries into ice cream and “Man, it is just delightful.”
Listen to Finn Balor’s appearance on the Out of Character podcast with Ryan Satin:
Finn Balor debuted a new theme song on this week’s episode of Monday Night RAW, and it may be his best one yet.
Balor has been undergoing quite a bit of changes over the past several weeks. Initially, it looked as though a trio was forming between Balor, AJ Styles, and Liv Morgan to take on The Judgement Day.
The original three members of The Judgement Day were made up of Edge, Damian Priest, and Rhea Ripley. However, Balor eventually turned heel, joining Judgement Day and helping Priest and Ripley toss Edge out of the group.
Now, still aligned with Judgement Day, Balor is a full-blown heel on Monday Night RAW, and he’s spicing things up with a new entrance theme.
(via WWE)
Finn Balor’s New Theme Music
Prior to his match with Dolph Ziggler, Balor made his way to the ring accompanied by Ripley. It was during this entrance where Balor debuted his new song.
Prior to the matchup, Balor had a backstage segment with Ziggler, in which Ziggler struck Balor, knocking him down to the ground. This set up their matchup just moments later, which Balor would go on to win.
Balor re-appeared later that night, assisting Ripley and Priest in attacking Edge after “The Rated-R Superstar” picked up a big win in singles action over Priest.
Luckily for Edge, his wife and WWE Hall Of Famer Beth Phoenix came to his aid, fending off Judgement Day with a steel chair to close the show.
It’s safe to say Balor and The Judgement Day haven’t seen the last of Edge and Phoenix moving forward.
Rey Mysterio wants a match with Finn Balor at WrestleMania.
Mysterio was recently interviewed by Inside The Ropes where he discussed his professional wrestling career, including his current run on Monday Night RAW.
Currently, he and his son, Dominik, are locked in a feud with The Judgement Day – Rhea Ripley, Finn Balor, and Damian Priest.
With that being said, Mysterio has had the opportunity to work quite a bit with Finn Balor. When asked who his desired opponent for WrestleMania would be, Mysterio named the Irish star.
“The one guy I had in mind, and it’s actually happening right now as we speak is Finn Balor. The opportunity of working against Finn, and these last couple of weeks that we have been on Raw, I really feel like we have great chemistry together.
“It was bound to happen just because I know how dedicated he is, and how committed he is, so I think the program I have been doing with Finn has been incredible.”
At the moment, Mysterio and Dominik have been feuding with The Judgment Day for the past few weeks. They’ve seemingly aligned themselves with ex-Judgement Day leader Edge, who was kicked out of the faction several weeks ago.
Judgement Day has been attempting to lure Dominik into their faction for some time. If they ultimately succeed, perhaps a father vs. son angle could be on the horizon. It’s something The Mysterios have admittedly talked about amongst themselves.
However, they’d only want to do it if it felt right at the moment. Given where their current storyline seems to be heading, the perfect moment might be right around the corner.
When asked if things will change for him now that Triple H is in charge of creative instead of Vince McMahon, Balor mentioned how he gets a feeling of familiarity with The Game because of their history:
“Yeah, obviously I have a very good relationship with Triple H, but with most of the people in the company too. We have worked together a lot in NXT, you know, first and second run in NXT. So I definitely have like a familiarity, more so than I did with Vince.”
However, Finn Balor later explained that Vince McMahon was always good to him too. Balor claimed that McMahon was ‘blown away’ by his heel work as part of the Judgement Day faction:
“But, you know, Vince has always been great to me. He was absolutely blown away by my heel work, which he didn’t think I had in me. So that was nice to hear.”
The Judgement Day is currently feuding with The Mysterios. Balor is scheduled to compete in a match against Rey Mysterio on Raw this Monday.
For the past two years, WWE has been releasing talent in massive waves, all under the reasoning of ‘budget cuts.’
Dozens of Superstars have had their time with WWE come to an abrupt end, with many finding success in AEW, New Japan or other promotions.
Wanting Out
While WWE has cut several Superstars in recent years, some names haven’t wanted to wait to be out of the company.
Several Superstars, including Cody Rhodes, Mustafa Ali, Brodie Lee/Luke Harper and Andrade El Idolo have all requested to be released from WWE, to varying degrees of success.
Speaking on the Cheap Heat podcast, Finn Balor was asked about Superstars who feel they don’t want to work for WWE anymore and has some surprising advice (via Wrestling Inc.)
“Yeah, for sure, and I tell them to go,” Balor said. “There’s a whole other world; I tell them to go. Sometimes we get caught up in the bubble that’s WWE, and there’s a whole world of wrestling outside there. If someone doesn’t want to be here, they should go.”
“There’s a whole other world; I tell them to go.”
Finn Balor on Superstars who want to leave WWE.
The Judgment Day gave a similarly curt reasoning for why he’s stayed with WWE after seeing so many Superstars, including old friends, leave.
“If you don’t want to work in WWE, don’t be here,” Balor said, reiterating his stance on what he tells talent who don’t want to stay. “… For me, I want to be to here, so that’s why I’m here.”
Finn Balor has not only switched up his character after joining the Judgement Day but he has changed up his long-used ring gear as well.
A match between The Mysterios and The Judgement Day faction had been announced in advance for this Monday’s episode of Raw.
The father-son duo picked up a disqualification victory in this match. This came after Rey paid homage to the late great Eddie Guerrero and used a chair to make the referee believe that he had been attacked.
However, what got fans talking was the new ring gear of Finn Balor worn during the bout. The former Universal champion ditched the trunks for leather pants:
There was also a purple bandana hanging out of the Raw star’s back pocket, though its significance is not known. This is the first time Balor has worn pants in 14 years.
Later in the show, the team of Balor and Damian Priest attacked Rey and his son Dominik as they were walking in the backstage area. This segment suggests that the rivalry between the two teams is far from over.
WWE has also been teasing the return of Edge after he was kicked out of Judgement Day last month. We will have to see what the company is planning for his comeback.
As advertised, Edge revealed the latest member of The Judgment Day faction on Monday Night Raw and it’s Finn Balor. However, there was a twist.
Edge, Rhea Ripley, and Damian Priest came out to the ring for a promo. Edge talked about how proud he is of them and says Rhea is a superstar wrecking machine. He said Priest has confidence like no other because they listened. He introduced the newest member of the group, which was Balor.
At Sunday’s Hell in a Cell pay-per-view event, Judgment Day went over AJ Styles, Balor, and Liv Morgan in a six-person tag team match.
Edge said Balor reached out and put Balor over for being so great. Edge wanted to know what made Balor change his mind. Balor said he saw clarity after Hell in a Cell and joining the group was a calling that he refuses to fight because he’s tired of pretending who he is.
Priest said they were finally to let go of what was the last thing holding them back, which was Edge. They beat down Edge and kicked him out of the group. Edge was seemingly written off TV after Priest hit him with a chair.
Over the last few weeks, The WWE Hall Of Famer has been teasing that the group would be getting another member and hinted at several different names including Ciampa, Paige, Beth Phoenix, and Corey Graves.
Finn Balor has cleared the air on his absence from the 2022 Royal Rumble.
Balor’s exclusion from the big event left many confused. Wrestle Votes reported that Balor wasn’t injured but he wasn’t in the United States during the Royal Rumble. The report also noted that he’d make his return well before WrestleMania.
Why Finn Balor Missed Royal Rumble
During an interview with BT Sport, Finn Balor explained that he had visa issues, which prevented him from attending Royal Rumble this year (h/t Fightful).
“I’m gonna give you an exclusive here because I haven’t spoken about this once. I didn’t want to take any time off, I didn’t want to miss any shows. I didn’t need any time off, I wasn’t injured. Legally, my visa needed to be renewed and I needed to go home to Ireland to go to the U.S Embassy to get a new visa.
“That’s why I wasn’t at the Royal Rumble and that’s why I wasn’t there for a month. And everyone is asking questions, Finn’s not there, Finn’s not here, and it was strictly because of legal paperwork that needed to be done. It had to be rectified. It had been pushed and pushed because we couldn’t travel and because of COVID, and then it was kinda like a window opening and I said ‘Look, we’re gonna have to do it so let’s just do it now.’
“The time off was taken reluctantly in January to take care of that paperwork but it’s now taken care of for the next ten years.”
As of this writing, Balor doesn’t have anything locked up for WrestleMania officially. With that said, he is the WWE United States Champion and has been feuding with Damian Priest. Perhaps a title rematch between the two will take place on “The Grandest Stage of Them All.”
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
Finn Balor as the US champion
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.”
If you use any quotes from the article please credit SEScoops with an H/t for transcription
Finn Balor was competing in NXT around the time of WrestleMania 37, but the kid inside him still wanted to be a part of the Show of Shows.
The United States champion recently appeared on WWE After The Bell. He discussed things such as moving back to the main roster and more.
Speaking of WrestleMania 37, Balor mentioned how he watched the show from his couch. He admitted that not being part of the event was not a good feeling:
“You can be jaded in any walk of your life, but when you’re a kid and you watch wrestling and love wrestling. The idea of being involved in WrestleMania is so far-fetched.
Every time that WrestleMania comes around, you want to be involved.” said Finn Balor, “Even though I wasn’t involved last year, I watched, and I’ll be honest, it hurt.”
Speaking of the upcoming WrestleMania 38, the former NXT champion said that he is super excited to be a part of the event and the festivities surrounding it.
Finn Balor defeated Damian Priest to win the US championship during the February 28 episode of Raw. He hasn’t been announced for a Mania match so far but he is expected to be a part of the show.
A lot of people believe that the rebranding of NXT was unnecessary and it should have been left as it was, but Finn Balor feels the opposite.
The US champion recently appeared on Corey Graves’ After The Bell podcast. Among other things, he talked about the revamp of WWE’s development territory.
Balor claimed that the change was needed because he felt all the possible matches had already taken place during his second run with the brand:
“It was needed. I don’t want to say it was getting stale, but having been there for a year and a half in my second run, I felt like all the matches had taken place, it was going in a cycle and something needed to change.”
Finn Balor explained that as a young fan, he was always interested in new personalities and matches. He then offered some praise to the people behind the endeavor for risking it all:
“You’re getting to see and witness something new for the first time and that’s pretty rare. Hats off to NXT for risking it all and really committing to 2.0.”
Balor also talked about the WarGames match between team Black and Gold and team 2.0. He noted how it was refreshing to see new guys doing things that people were not familiar with.
On Monday Night Raw, Finn Bálor snapped Damien Priest’s impressive reign as United States Champion. Priest, who won the coveted championship at SummerSlam from Sheamus, showcased how important the championship is in building future stars.
Priest’s reign spanned over 191 days where he defeated Drew McIntrye, Sheamus, Jeff Hardy, AJ Styles, Kevin Owens, Dolph Ziggler, Apollo Crews, and Sami Zayn. That’s 6 former World Champions Priest was able to defeat in his title reign making him arguably one the best booked US Champions in history.
This would eventually come to a skirting halt as on the February 21st episode of Monday Night Raw after defeating Shelton Benjamin, Bálor would answer his challenge for a title match the following week.
On Raw, these two athletes put on a barnburner of a contest with Bálor stomping his way to the US Championship, hitting a Coup De Grace.
The first-ever Universal Champion accomplished a major feat in one pinfall. The championship’s origin began as a part of Jim Crockett Jr.’s NWA Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling territory in 1975.
Harley Race would become the inaugural NWA United States Heavyweight Champion after defeating Johnny Weaver in Tallahassee, Florida on January 1st at a house show. Since Race, there have been 99 unique champions, and Bálor just became the 100th.
The United States Championship has been held by some of the industry’s biggest names from Ric Flair, John Cena, Bret Hart, and Booker T. Finn Balor has now added his name to an extensive list of Hall of Famers, legends, and the industry’s best in-ring grapplers.
A number of big names were visibly missing from the Royal Rumble PPV and one of them was the former Universal champion, Finn Balor.
WrestleVotes provided some updates on the former NXT champion. They confirmed that he is not out of action due to any injury:
“Confirmed with a source that Finn Balor is not injured in anyway, he is out of the country however. WWE expects him back in plenty of time for WrestleMania.”
Balor confirmed he was in fact out of the country at the time of the Royal Rumble. He posted the following photo Sunday morning in front of the famous Temple Bar in Dublin, Ireland:
The former NJPW star returned to NXT in 2019. During a recent interview he admitted that he was tired of the politics and has had enough in the main roster before his run at the developmental brand:
“I was kind of like worn out by dealing with the politics and the office and the writers and all the everything that goes with it and I just had enough and when I returned to NXT,” said Finn Balor, “I really feel like that rejuvenated me in the ring.”
The former champion has since returned to the main roster. According to him, he had pitched the idea of going to NXT UK but officials told him that he was needed on SmackDown at the time.
Finn Balor admits he was bogged down before he returned to the NXT brand.
Balor has enjoyed success in WWE on both NXT and the main roster but he got the sense that things were at a bit of a standstill. In 2019, Balor had been on the sidelines for nearly two months before he returned to NXT.
A Second Wind
Finn Balor appeared on Mark Andrews’ My Love Letter to Wrestling podcast and he revealed that he had been burned out by backstage politics before returning to NXT (h/t POST Wrestling).
“I think it’s yet to come [his prime]. I feel like, I had got a little bit stale and I was just kind of like — I was tired, I was exhausted. I was kind of like worn out by dealing with the politics and the office and the writers and all the everything that goes with it and I just had enough and when I returned to NXT, I really feel like that rejuvenated me in the ring and one thing I feel that helped in all the negative effects of the pandemic.”
A lot has changed since Balor was last on NXT. The brand has gone in a new direction, focusing on younger and less-seasoned talent than independent and international wrestlers.
Balor currently competes on the Monday Night Raw brand. WrestlingNews.co reported that Vince McMahon has given up on pushing Balor as a main event player.
Balor was pinned clean by Austin Theory on the Jan. 17 episode of Raw.
A holiday week of wrestling television begins tomorrow night with WWE Monday Night Raw emanating from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Next Friday night’s SmackDown, occuring on Christmas Eve, has already been taped (you can view spoilers at this link).
WWE has announced five matches for Monday’s Raw. They are:
Finn Balor vs. Austin Theory
Bianca Belair vs. Doudrop
WWE U.S. Champion Damian Priest vs. Dolph Ziggler
AJ Styles and Omos vs. Rey Mysterio and Dominik Mysterio
Queen Vega vs. Rhea Ripley
Monday can't come soon enough! Tune in to catch all the action on #WWERaw.
WWE has also announced Bobby Lashley, Maryse, and MVP for the show. Maryse will be appearing on Edge’s “Cutting Edge” segment, while Lashley and MVP will appear to demand respect after the former WWE Champion was victorious over Kevin Owens, Seth Rollins, and Big E last week.
“The Miz is not the only one with the ‘most must-see talk show in WWE’ as Edge returns to host ‘The Cutting Edge’ with special guest Maryse!
“The Rated-R Superstar will hear from Maryse just weeks before squaring off with her husband, The Miz, at Day 1. Edge will look to find out what is going on between Maryse and The Miz after she slapped The A-Lister for using her as a shield to hide from Edge’s attack last week.
“Hear all the drama and find out if it will have any effect on Day 1’s match between Edge and The Miz this Monday night on Raw at 8/7 C on USA.”
Balor vs. Theory was setup last week when Theory attacked Balor and posted for a selfie with him while he was laid out. Belair and Doudrop wrestled last week; Belair was victorious but was attacked by Doudrop after the bout.
Ziggler’s match with U.S. Champion Priest is for a future shot at the title. If he’s able to defeat the champion Monday night during Raw, Ziggler will become the number one contender for the U.S. title. A title match between the two would likely take place at the WWE Day 1 PPV event in Atlanta on January 1st.
Check out the Top Rope Nation wrestling podcast for your weekly dose of pro wrestling talk featuring interviews, analysis and exclusive news: Apple – Spotify – YouTube.
Former Universal champion Finn Balor is currently out of action due to some undisclosed issues, according to reports from PWInsider.
The Raw star was expected to compete at the recent WWE live event from Leeds, England on November 9 but he was kept off the show.
The site notes that holding off Balor from competing at the event was a precautionary decision from the officials for what is believed to be a ‘minor issue’.
The former NXT champion was supposed to face Sheamus on the show. These two faced off at a live event the night prior as well.
Before Sheamus, Finn Balor had been working in fatal four-way bouts alongside competitors such as Kevin Owens, Seth Rollins, and the current US champion Damian Priest on live events.
The former champion is expected to compete at the upcoming Survivor Series PPV. He is announced as part of the Raw team for the traditional elimination match.
There is no word on the exact issue Finn Balor is facing. So it’s hard to say how long he will stay out of action or if his issues can affect the match at the upcoming PPV. We will keep you posted on his status.
Finn Balor will not be in action on Monday Night Raw.
Balor was part of the WWE draft this year. He made the move from SmackDown to Raw. He was even featured in the fatal four-way ladder match to determine the number one contender for Big E’s WWE Championship. Seth Rollins ended up winning the match.
Reason For Finn Balor’s WWE Raw Absence
Fans expecting to see Finn Balor on the Nov. 8 episode of Raw are in for a letdown. That’s because Balor remains overseas for a WWE European tour. He will be facing Sheamus in Leeds tonight.
Balor was last seen on the Nov. 1 episode of Monday Night Raw. He defeated Chad Gable, who immediately called for a rematch on social media and even suggested a potential stipulation.
It’ll be interesting to see if WWE has anything planned for Gable and Otis tonight and if Balor will be mentioned on the show. All signs point to Balor and Gable eventually mixing it up again but obviously, that won’t be taking place tonight.
SEScoops will be bringing you results from tonight’s episode of Raw after the show ends. If anything major takes place, we’ll update you on the homepage immediately.
Finn Balor has not forgotten how John Cena took the opportunity of facing Roman Reigns at SummerSlam from him and he wants to settle his score with the cenation leader at WrestleMania.
The former Universal champion recently had an interview with The Mirror. He talked about things such as his time in the independent wrestling circuit and more.
Speaking of the potential match against Cena, Balor said that he can’t think of a better place to face the 16-time world champion than WrestleMania:
“I can’t think of a better place to face John Cena than at WrestleMania, I’ve got a bone to pick with John, the SummerSlam main event was mine, my name was printed on the contract, however, John signed it.
There’s certainly an issue that needs to be settled between me and John” said Finn Balor, “And if we can do that at WrestleMania all the better.”
The July 30 episode of SmackDown featured a contract signing segment where Balor was attacked by Baron Corbin before he could sign the SummerSlam contract to face Roman Reigns. John Cena then came out and signed the contract.
Though Finn Balor will get his opportunity to capture the Universal title when he faces Roman Reigns in a one-on-one match at the upcoming Extreme Rules PPV.
WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns will face Brock Lesnar at Crown Jewel in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on October 21st.
WWE made the match official today. The company also noted that the match, for now, isn’t for the Universal Championship. Reigns will defend the title against “The Demon” Finn Balor at Extreme Rules at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, on September 26th.
If Reigns defeats “The Demon,” he will defend the Universal Championship against Lesnar at Crown Jewel.
Lesnar returned to WWE and confronted Reigns at Summerslam on August 22nd at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada. He was inactive for over a year. On the September 10th episode of Friday Night Smackdown, he officially challenged Reigns to a match. Both have faced each other in the past. However, Reigns is currently a “Heel” and will have Paul Heyman as his manager. If Lesnar wins, he will become a four-time Universal Champion.
Roman Reigns vs “The Demon” Finn Balor
Reigns successfully defended his title against Balor on the September 3rd episode of Smackdown. Although he won, the WWE decided to have Reigns defend the championship against Balor again at Extreme Rules. However, Reigns was surprised he would be competing against Balor’s alter ego, “The Demon,” at the event.
Balor’s alter ego hasn’t competed in a match in over two years. It’s unclear why he is becoming “The Demon.” WWE also didn’t say if Reigns loses to “The Demon,” will he get an immediate rematch in the press release. The only guarantee is that Lesnar will face Reigns at Crown Jewel.
Finn Balor certainly isn’t opposed to the idea of entering the “Forbidden Door.”
Talks of the “Forbidden Door” got started ahead of NJPW’s Wrestle Kingdom 14 event back in Jan. 2020. Chris Jericho, who was the AEW World Champion at the time, took on Hiroshi Tanahashi in a non-title match. Jericho said he’d give Tanahashi a title opportunity if he beat him at NJPW’s biggest show. Jericho ended up scoring the pinfall.
While the COVID-19 pandemic slowed things down, we’ve seen talents from different promotions cross over. AEW has worked with the likes of NJPW, AAA, Impact Wrestling, and NWA.
Balor, who is seen on WWE’s SmackDown brand, told Cultaholic that he’d love to break through the “Forbidden Door.”
“I love the idea of the ‘Forbidden Door.’ I feel like if I have an opportunity to wrestle in Japan or Mexico or Europe, for whatever promotion, I would love to be able to do. Obviously, contractually in WWE, they take care of all my dates and my bookings and my travel. They organize everything. If we could set up a working relationship between some of these other brands from around the world, I would love to challenge myself against performers from different regions.”
Finn Balor is currently in a feud with WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns. He will challenge the “Tribal Chief” for the gold at WWE Extreme Rules on Sept. 26. There is a bit of a twist to this match, however. Balor will be unleashing “The Demon” at the PPV.
Roman Reigns put the WWE Universal Title on the line against Finn Balor in the main event of Friday’s episode of SmackDown.
Both guys were laying in their strikes and the fans were behind Balor towards the end. Balor avoided the spear with the roll then hit a drop kick in the corner and his finisher, yet Reigns kicked out. Reigns with the guillotine choke for the win.
The match was made official after a challenge that was issued by Balor last week when Reigns and The Usos hosted a family celebration. Balor interrupted them and Balor said he planned on challenging Reigns to a title match at next month’s Extreme Rules pay-per-view, but he doesn’t trust anyone around here. Thus, the match was made official. A brawl broke out with The Street Profits coming out to settle the score. The babyfaces stood tall in the ring to close the show.
WWE had originally teased Reigns defending the title against Balor at the SummerSlam pay-per-view event, but John Cena signed the contract instead despite it having Balor’s name on it.
After Reigns beat Cena to retain the title at SummerSlam, Brock Lesnar made his return to confront Reigns. The belief is WWE could be saving Lesnar vs. Reigns for either Crown Jewel this October in Saudi Arabia or WrestleMania 38 next month.
Finn Balor believes Roman Reigns is one special individual in the wrestling business.
Balor and Reigns are currently involved in a feud on TV. Balor believes he has unfinished business with Reigns after John Cena took his spot at SummerSlam. Balor made his message clear when he and the Street Profits cleaned house on the “Tribal Chief” and The Usos on the Aug. 27 edition of Friday Night SmackDown.
During an interview with Sports Illustrated, Balor said he feels fans are finally starting to see just how valuable Reigns is.
“I want to address five years ago, when I first locked up with Roman Reigns. The world was talking s— about Roman and his abilities and his performances. From the first moment we locked up, I knew he was something special. He was operating on a different level that people didn’t quite fully understand. Now people are learning he is a once-in-a-lifetime talent. Roman’s proven that over and again, and the masses have accepted and acknowledged that ability and growth. His presence is just unimaginable right now.
“I remember fighting in an Extreme Rules main event in 2017. I’d done my entrance, Samoa Joe did his entrance, a few others did their entrance, and then Roman did his entrance. I remember getting goosebumps as the energy just changed. It’s more raw than the Cena reaction. The Cena reaction is one-of-a-kind, but there is something uniquely different about when Roman steps into the arena.”
Reigns has garnered praise for his “Head of the Table” character. Many believe the transition was much needed for the WWE Universal Champion’s career. For years, Reigns developed the reputation of being a “vanilla” babyface that the WWE brass was trying to force. Now, many believe he’s the best thing going on WWE TV.
Finn Balor will challenge Roman Reigns for the WWE Universal Championship tonight on Smackdown. According to comments he made to BT Sport, however, Balor had actually pitched moving to the NXT UK brand instead of Smackdown to WWE management.
“Believe it or not, before I returned to SmackDown, I could feel the run at NXT kind of coming to an end and I’d kind of exhausted all the resources there, like the guys that I could wrestle against,” Balor said. He continued to say that he pitched the idea of him going to NXT UK to WWE management.
“I actually pitched the idea of moving to NXT UK and obviously that might have been a little bit of a bold move and maybe a bold pitch,” Balor continued. He went on to discuss how he felt he would be able to help the brand.
“I felt like I could not only challenge myself against guys like Ilja, and WALTER, A-Kid, and Jordan Devilin but help the brand the same way I tried to help NXT in the last couple of years. I felt like it was a win-win for all of us but the office had a different opinion on that and they wanted me on Smackdown. But seeing that brand grow, it’s incredible. Some of those guys are some of the best in the world.”
Balor took part in NXT UK tapings in early 2020. He also wrestled current NXT UK champion, Ilja Dragunov, at Worlds Collide 2020. Balor said that it had been the plan for him to spend more time in NXT UK had the pandemic not changed things. His run would have eventually led to a match with then-champion, WALTER.
Balor’s comments can be heard in the player below:
"Before I returned to SmackDown, I could feel the run at NXT coming to an end, I pitched the idea of moving to #NXTUK."
"I feel like I could challenge myself, but also help the brand like I helped NXT."
Finn Balor vs Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship
Balor will challenge Roman Reigns for the Universal title tonight. He is the first-ever holder of the championship, having first won it at SummerSlam 2016. Since then 7 more wrestlers have won the belt. There have been 14 title changes in the championship’s lineage.
The all-time leader in total reigns and days spent with the belt is Brock Lesnar. He’s held the title 3x for a total of 686 days. Roman Reigns has held the title twice for a total of 431 days. Balor’s one reign with the belt lasted less than 24 hours when he was forced to vacate it due to injury.
Finn Balor recently returned to the main roster after completing his second NXT run. Though the former champion is hoping to return to the brand for another run somewhere down the line.
The former NJPW star recently had an interview with WWE Die Woche where he talked about a number of things. He also explained how important NXT is for him.
Balor first explained how he used to think Japan was his home before encountering NXT. He then claimed that his NXT runs have been the most beautiful periods of his career and he hopes to have a third run there:
“The two times in NXT, for different reasons, have been two of the most beautiful periods in my career. Personally and professionally. I feel like I’ve grown so much in NXT and I feel part of the team. I bond with the guys that are there.
Not only the guys in the ring but the staff behind the scenes, the producers, the trainers.” said Finn Balor, “Something that I really feel attached to and feel passionate about. I’ve had two runs there and hopefully, in the future, there will be a third.”
The former NXT champion made his return to the Black and Yellow brand in October 2019. He went on to have his second reign with the NXT title during his run.
Finn Balor made his return to the main roster during the July 16 episode of SmackDown last month. He is expected to face Baron Corbin at SummerSlam.
