Finn Balor Says He Was Burned Out By WWE Politics Before NXT Run
WWE superstar Finn Balor recently joined NXT UK superstar Mark Andrews on his Love Letter To Wrestling podcast on the BBC Radio Wales network. Andrews and Balor discussed their wrestling upbringing in the UK and Balor's run in the WWE. One topic that was broached was Balor's recent NXT run and how he wanted to emulate that on the main roster.
"I really, really want to work on the heel aspect of Finn, at like RAW/SmackDown level," Balor said. "Because I have kind of done it in Japan, we tried to do it in NXT, but it kind of went a different direction. And I would really love to have a real heel run."
Andrews also asked Balor about the prime of his career, which Balor feels has yet to happen. Balor discussed how the backstage politics affected him and how NXT gave his character a boost.
"I think it's yet to come, Balor said." "I feel like I had got a bit stale and I was kind of like, I was just tired, I was exhausted. I was kind of just worn out of dealing with the politics in the office and the writers and everything that goes with it. I just like, had enough. When I returned to NXT, I really feel like that rejuvenated me in the ring.
"One thing I feel that helped and you know all the negative effects of the pandemic, taking the fans out of the equation in wrestling makes you kind of change the cadence and the tempo of the match. Because you're not trying to perform for a large audience, you're literally performing in a one-on-one environment, and you can really work more on the details of the match. You're not so reliant on hearing that audible response from the crowd.
"You know, so I would produce a match to get a 'yay' or a 'boo' or a 'oh, holy s**t.' When you take that element out of it you can get back to the nuts and bolts of what I actually learned in Hammerlock, and what I learned in Japan, and just gritty wrestling. I really feel that despite all the negative things that the pandemic brought us, it brought me that one positive thing that I can get back to wrestling for me and the way I like to wrestle. It's now kind of finding that balance of how can I keep that art form of the way I like to wrestle in front of big crowds when you're on a limited time frame with TV wrestling? So it's trying to find that balance is going to be the most difficult thing."
Starting off Season 2 with a lovely chat with @FinnBalor !
We talk about jumping off the Cathays Community Centre balcony, what he wants to achieve in WWE, and some of his dream matches 🔥
Listen NOW on @BBCSounds ⬇️https://t.co/8xQ5zJDXBt pic.twitter.com/YaBCjMfUkq
— MA92 (@MandrewsJunior) January 27, 2022
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit BBC Radio Wales with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.