Finn Balor Talks WWE Wanting To Sign Him For Awhile, Why He Finally Signed, How He Got His Name
Finn Balor appeared on Talk Is Jericho this week, and spoke for nearly an hour about tons of wrestling-related topics. Among those were details on his WWE negotiations, and why it took him so long to sign.
Balor revealed that WWE had reached out five years prior to bringing him over in 2014, asking about the Irishman's services. Balor, however, wanted to build more of a profile before making the jump to WWE, and instead signed a long-term contract to remain with New Japan Pro Wrestling.
"Believe it or not, I was contacted in 2009 about the possibility of coming here (to the WWE)," said Balor. "I felt like I hadn't achieved anything at the time in New Japan. I was riding a bit of a wave at the time and decided to stick it out for a while. It was a good decision. The next year I signed a two-year contract that kept me there a little while."
Another hang-up occurred late in his New Japan career, when he contemplated signing with the WWE. The opportunity to turn heel changed that.
"I was on the verge of toying with the idea of coming to WWE again when (NJPW) pitched the idea of me going heel. So then I was like 'I want to stay here and do the heel thing,' and that was another year and a half," Balor said.
Finally, Balor said age was a big factor in his decision to come to WWE after almost making the move twice before. Despite having a red-hot run in New Japan Pro Wrestling with The Bullet Club, Balor said he didn't want to live with any regret later on in live, and decided to make the move to NXT.
"I thought if I'm 35 trying to leave New Japan, it might be too late. With great hesitation and uncertainty, I made the move. I had to take the chance, I didn't want to be 40 looking back and saying I never tried it, but I was apprehensive," said Balor.
Once he got to NXT, he said that the office wanted him to come up with a name that meant something in Gaelic, which is Irish.
"Balor is the one-eyed demon king in Celtic mythology. There's a Celtic folk hero named Finn Maccool, who is the demon king's arch rival, so he's the babyface. Also, a lot of people call my Dad Finn, so it's a no-brainer," Balor said.
You can listen to the full podcast at this link.