WWE Star Talks Living Out 'Ultimate Fantasy Dream' Winning Tag Titles With Finn Balor

Throughout the early 2000s, Finn Balor, along with Paul Tracey, trained a number of future wrestling stars out of Fight Factory Pro Wrestling in Ireland, including Becky Lynch and JD McDonagh. Two decades later, Balor's coaching came full circle as he and McDonagh won the WWE World Tag Team Championships on "WWE Raw" — something the latter will never forget.

"If you had to put a gun to my head when I was 14 years old and said, 'What's your ultimate fantasy dream in wrestling?' I would have said, 'Win the tag titles with Finn,' honestly," McDonagh told "Insight With Chris Van Vliet." "I looked up to him a lot because obviously, the age difference, he's nine to ten years older than me. He's lit the way for me in a lot of ways, showing me that it is possible."

For many years, McDonagh felt he was chasing his former trainer in an effort to catch up to his success. Eventually, McDonagh did just that as he toured in Japan, America, and later signed to WWE, much like Balor had done before him.

"For it all to kind of culminate with being his partner and lifting the tag team titles together, it was super hard for me," McDonagh said. "I feel like, if I talk about it for too long, I'll get emotional. It was so, so fulfilling and such a full circle moment for me and him training me. He felt the same way about it."

McDonagh and Balor's reign as WWE World Tag Team Champions spanned 175 days, with successful title defenses against The New Day and the War Raiders. Currently, McDonagh remains on the sidelines as he recovers from broken ribs and a punctured lung.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Insight With Chris Van Vliet" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.