Finn Balor has racked up a number of accomplishments on WWE’s main roster, winning not only the Intercontinental and United States Championships but also having the honor of being the company’s inaugural Universal Champion.
However, long before he was turning heads as part of The Judgment Day, Balor was a standout in NXT, where he became a two-time NXT Champion. Speaking in an interview with Rob Armstrong of BT Sport, Balor fondly recalled his first NXT Championship win when he defeated Kevin Owens at 2014’s Beast in the East in Tokyo, Japan.
“That was one of the most full-circle moments that I’ve had in my career because not only it wasn’t in Japan, but it was in Ryogoku, which was Sumo Arena, where we wrestled for New Japan quite a lot. I actually had my final match for New Japan, in that arena, in the paint also, against Taguchi.
“When I left that night, I figured, ‘I may never return here ever again.’ I think it was maybe almost a year to the day that I returned. I was in the ring against Kevin Owens, someone I didn’t know very well going into NXT apart from, like, on the indie circuit, and we bonded over the journey we were making, adapting to life in NXT, in WWE, in the USA; to get the share the ring with him that night was very cool.”
Finn Balor Explained Why Losing The NXT Championship Was The Coolest Moment Of His Career
Continuing, Finn Balor recalled another NXT Championship match that saw him lose his championship to Samoa Joe at a live event in Lowell, MA. Balor called this loss even more special than his win in Japan as it’s such a rare occurrence for a title to change hands on a non-televised show.
“An even more special moment for me was when I actually lost the title against Samoa Joe, and we’d done that on a house show. That was something that was so rare, and I remember this sheer surprise and shock of the people in the front row that just couldn’t believe what they had witnessed on a house show. After [292 days], I had been champion, and Joe pins the champion at a house show in Lowell. That was a special night.
“That, for me, is probably the coolest moment of my career, I think. Just the sheer shock and then joy of the fans; having Joe as champ, you know, someone who’d had such a long career and really paid his dues and had become such an integral part of NXT. The, for me, someone who had learned so much from, not only in NXT but before that. We obviously have a very close relationship as well. So that was one of my favorite nights of my career.”
h/t Fightful