News On Finn Balor's Whereabouts After Missing WWE Royal Rumble

By Robert Gunier

The first-ever WWE Universal Champion Finn Balor was noticeably absent from the WWE Royal Rumble last night, not appearing in a match on the card or in the Rumble itself.

An update from Wrestlevotes has emerged online and it sheds some light on Balor's absence at The Rumble last night.

It's been confirmed through a source that Finn's absence is not injury-related. He is healthy, however, he is currently out of the United States. WWE expects him to be back and ready to compete with plenty of time before WrestleMania.

Balor had an ongoing rivalry with Austin Theory on RAW for several weeks, culminating in a loss to Theory on the January 17 episode. He has been off television since that match but, as noted, will be back in the near future.

In a recent discussion with Mark Andrews of NXT UK, Balor explained how he actually was hoping to work with NXT UK at one point. However, WWE wasn't keen on the idea because they "needed him" back on SmackDown.

"Believe it or not I actually pitched to go to NXT UK when they asked me to go to Smackdown," Finn said. "I countered, 'cause I knew the time with NXT was coming to an end, it had been 2 years and I worked with everyone. It was not really much more I could do there I felt. And the idea came that I go to Smackdown and I counter pitched with NXT UK, and they said maybe in a couple of years but we need you on Smackdown right now. Like for me a move to NXT UK would have been the move.

"There are so many great guys there, obviously closer to home. I've been stuck in America for the past two years with Covid kind of heightened the feeling of isolation. In WWE and like in that bubble, like away from my friends and family, so there was kind of multiple reasons why I wanted to go to NXT UK. But the main one was guys like Noam, A-Kid, and all these matches that I've really haven't had a chance to put together and that was like the fresh challenge."

Stay tuned for updates on Finn Balor.

You can see the full update below:

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