Finn Balor On Who Initially Told Him Not To Use Face Paint, Choosing His Looks, The WWE Universe
Finn Balor spoke with Al Arabiya English on a number of wrestling topics. You can see the full interview in the video above, here are some of the highlights:
How working for WWE changed him:
"Obviously, New Japan was something I was very passionate about at the time. I was fully invested in what I was doing there at the time, and what I felt like I was doing was just for me and no one else. Being in WWE?the term 'WWE Universe' gets thrown around so much right? But for me that's a real thing. When we got to Singapore, there's 20 kids painted as the Demon. I've never been to Singapore before. When we go to anywhere?when we go to Germany, or any country we go to, there's kids that look up to you, that are wearing your face paint, wearing your t-shirts, making signs. 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."
When he first started to use face paint with his character and who initially said not to:
"Honestly, the first time the Demon came, and it wasn't referred to as the Demon at that point?I just wanted to use body paint The first time I did that, I said to my best friend [WWE Superstar and fellow NJPW alum] Karl Anderson that I'm going to do this thing. 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. That 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."
How he decides on the paint design:
"What happens is, on the morning?it's like art. You can't predict how you're going to paint the painting in advance. If I'm going to draw something, I don't know the day before what I'm going to draw. It's just very much an interpretation of how I'm feeling that day, and what I think is the coolest thing in my brain at that very moment. I'll have a couple concepts here and there, maybe I'll do this, maybe I'll do that, but the actual decision won't come until about six o'clock when I sit down and start getting painted."
Again, you can see the full interview in the video above or read more highlights by clicking here.