Finn Balor is keen to face Brock Lesnar. (Picture: WWE)

Ireland’s Finn Balor is one of WWE’s most popular and mysterious wrestlers.

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After a decade of wrestling in Japan, Balor became one of the longest-reigning champions in NXT, before becoming the very first WWE Universal Champion at Summerslam 2016.

Balor was forced to relinquish the title a day after his victory after suffering a shoulder injury, but returned to WWE earlier this year to continue his ascent to the top.

The man know as the Demon King spoke to Metro Sport about all things wrestling, including potential future matches with Brock Lesnar and Conor McGregor.


Hi Finn. You’re currently in the midst of a lengthy feud with Bray Wyatt on Raw. Are you enjoying it?



Of course. I feel like we’re only starting to get to know each other now, and the whole feud is starting to click and we’re beginning to understand each other.

The battles we’ve been having in the ring are getting better, and the mind games are getting better and a little bit out of control. I don’t know how long we can keep this going, but I can wake up every day and look forward to beating up Bray Wyatt. If I can do that for the rest of my life I’ll be happy!

You utilise the ‘Demon’ character on occasion in WWE, while also maintaining a more regular personality on Raw. Do you have a preference between the two?

I like variety. I’m the sort of person with a very short attention span and I lose interest in things very quickly. I like to challenge myself as much as possible, so going back and forth between both personalities helps me stay focused with what I’m doing.

In regards to which one I prefer, I do really believe that we’ve all got a darker side and the man did create the demon, so I don’t know which one is actually more dangerous!

I do enjoy a level of intensity that I bring when I’m the Demon, but it’s a mindset that takes a couple of days to get into, it’s not something I can do every day.

It’s tough not just on the body but on the mind.

This sounds a lot like method acting. How much of that do you put into the Demon days?

It very much is like method acting. The physical process of transforming into the Demon is just torture, I have to sit in that chair for four or five hours when I’m supposed to be warming up, loosening and getting ready for a match.

In reality I’m doing nothing, I’m sitting still and static and trying to make sure that the paint looks good. It obviously has a huge effect on my mood because I’m just the most pissed off version of Finn that you’ll ever meet on those days.

The whole process prepping everything, getting to the venue early to get everything early, plus getting into the mindset is something that changes my personality on the day.



I’m not a fun person to be around on the day the Demon comes to town. Most people have learned by now not to come bother me on the day of, they wait until the next day.

In what ways have you developed as a wrestler since moving to the main roster last year?

I think I’m more confident in my own abilities right now. Obviously I’ve traveled all over the world wrestling and a lot of people were surprised when I signed with WWE that I went straight to NXT.

People were even more surprised when I spent so long in NXT, but for me I found I grew more in those two years in NXT than I had in the previous ten years of wrestling all around the world.

It was such a crash course in sports entertainment, handling yourself, believing in yourself in the ring and believing in your own ability and skill.

Getting to learn from other people at the Performance Centre in Orlando was an incredible benefit to me as a performer.

Balor in action (Picture: WWE)

Now I look back from making my debut on Raw to where I am now, and I feel like I’ve completely changed my game as a performer and had the same level of growth that I experienced in NXT.

It’s about stepping up. You can be a big fish in a small pond, but you’re only going to be competing against people at that level. Right now I’m working with the absolute best performers in the world, and they’re pushing me to become better.


On the indies you think ‘do I belong in WWE’ and in NXT you think ‘do I belong on the main roster’ and now I feel very much that I do belong.

You never lost the Universal Championship after being forced to give it up due to injury. How much of an ambition is it for you to wrestle for it again, especially against current champion Brock Lesnar?

Listen, I don’t shy away from a fight for one second and I would absolutely love to be in there with Brock Lesnar.

I would love to get in there with The Undertaker and Triple H too, these are guys that have been active at the top of the game for the last 20 years.

They’re the type of guys I want to be in the ring with. We talk about stepping up and taking things to the next level, and I think that’s what I need to do next.

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.

From an artistic perspective, how do you think a match with Brock would be?

For me as a fan growing up I loved David vs Goliath style 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.

Your fellow Irishman Conor McGregor has been heavily linked with a match at Wrestlemania in the ring. Would you be interested in competing with or against him if he makes the move to professional wrestling?

That’s the first I’ve heard that he’s been heavily linked to WWE as I try and stay out of the media, but I’m a huge fan of Conor McGregor and have ultimate respect for what he’s done.

How he handled himself against Floyd in the boxing ring was a credit not just to himself, but to his country.

Whether he’s side by side with me which I’d take great pride in, or across the ring, everyone in WWE would love to have Conor involved at Wrestlemania.

I think a team of Finn Balor and Conor McGregor against someone like Triple H and Floyd Mayweather might be an interesting tag-team match!

Finn Balor in WWE 2K18

You’re featured in the brand new WWE 2K18 game. Are you a video gamer yourself?

As a kid growing up I was a huge gamer. The NES, SuperNES, N64, GameCube, and I had a GameBoy which went everywhere with me. Right now I’ve got a Switch. FIFA just came out last week, and that’s what I play on the Switch with a little bit of Mario Kart, and I’m waiting for Mario Odyssey to come out.

Obviously I love WWE 2K18, but I’m not very good at the wrestling games.

Is it still surreal to see yourself in a game?

It can be, but the thing I find weird is that the graphics are so real, and they render it so perfectly. I look at Karl Anderson and I look at Luke Gallows and they’re absolutely spot on, from the back as well.

And then I see myself from the back and think ‘holy cow, is that how I look from the back?’ I didn’t think I looked like that!

It’s a bit weird to be able to see your own back in the video game and in the 360 mode. That’s the most surreal thing for me thinking, ‘I’m not that fat am I?’

A lot of fans like to create their own wrestlers from other companies in WWE games. From everyone you’ve competed against in the past, who do you think fans should create?

For the longest time I’ve been a huge fan of Gedo, and he’s been one of the biggest influences on my career in Japan.

He’s a very economical wrestler with what he has, which I’m not sure would translate into the game, but I believe before I came to WWE I had probably the best match my career with Gedo back in July 2013.

Okada without a doubt is someone who in the game would look fantastic, but I think a lot of people forget about Zack Sabre Jr. He’s someone in the game who would be very easy to slip on a couple of submissions on people and tap them out, because he’s the absolute master when it comes to mat wrestling.

Final question, and perhaps the most important one of the day. Can you talk us through how to wear a leather jacket? It’s a look that can look massively cool on some people, but on other people it can look terrible. What are the secrets?

The secret to buying a great leather jacket is to go to WWE.com/shop/FinnBalor where you can get a Balor Club jacket like mine.

And the key to wearing it is to get it almost too small. Get a size you think you should wear, and then go a little bit smaller.

WWE 2K18 is rated PEGI 16 and is available Tuesday 17th October, on PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, Xbox One and Windows PC, and will follow in the Autumn 2017 for Nintendo Switch™.

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