"I was exhausted" - Finn Balor on WWE's backstage politics
Former two-time NXT champion Finn Balor has spoken of the difficulties he faced backstage during his first stint on WWE's main roster.
Balor is a stellar athlete and made a name for himself in New Japan Pro-Wrestling before arriving to the WWE. The Irishman has gathered a legion of loyal fans from around the world.
It's crazy how starkly different Finn Balor is on main roster television. This version was a bad man twitter.com/NicoleeReignss…
Balor first debuted in the WWE in 2014 and wrestled in NXT. He found immediate success as champion as well as bringing forth his enigmatic alter ego to the fray, The Demon.
However, after defeating Seth Rollins at SummerSlam in 2016 to become the first ever WWE Universal Champion, Finn tore his labrum, resulting in a severe injury that subsequently derailed his main roster run.
Speaking to fellow wrestler and NXT UK's own Mark Andrews on the My Love Letter to Wrestling Radio show, Finn Balor spoke of how exhausted he felt when having to maneauver around the backstage politics of the WWE.
“I feel like I got a little bit stale. I was tired. I was exhausted. I was worn out by dealing with the politics, the office, the writers, and everything that goes with it. I just had enough.” (H/T WrestlingNews.co)
Although Balor has not been able to capture a world title while on the main roster since 2016, he appears to retain a very loyal fanbase. The former NXT Champion still looks to be in top form even at the age of forty. 2021 saw the Irishman feud with the likes of Sami Zayn, Baron Corbin, and Roman Reigns.
The pandemic gave Finn Balor a chance to reflect on his career
For so many, the global pandemic was a hindarance to people's personal and professional lives.
However, when speaking on My Love Letter to Wrestling, Finn Balor talked about how the pandemic forced him to rediscover his love for wrestling. The Irishman touched on how the lack of fans forced him to "get back down to the nuts and bolts."
"I would produce a match to get a yea or a boo or a holy sh*t, but then when you take that element out of it, you can get back down to the nuts and bolts of what I actually learned in Japan which is 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 really get back to wrestling for me and the way I like to wrestle." (H/T WrestlingNews)
Having recently returned to WWE's main roster after a second successful spell in NXT, it appears Balor is focused on crafting his own journey, with the hope that backstage politics will no longer interfere.
Have you been impressed with Balor since his 2021 return to the main roster? What type of program would you like to see him enter next? Sound off below!