Finn Balor recently did an interview with Newsweek.com. Here are a few highlights:
It’s been about 11 months since you made your return to NXT. Looking back, how do you view your time in NXT so far?
“It’s definitely been a reset for me. I feel rejuvenated, refreshed and I’m feeling better than I ever have in the ring in regards to stamina, performance and confidence. So I think it’s all come together. It was definitely the right move for me [to go back to NXT].”
You say you’re rejuvenated, how so? Are you talking about the grueling travel schedule?
“The traveling has had a huge effect on it. The world is in a bad place with COVID, and the fact that we’ve been based in Florida for the last couple months as a result, I think it’s helped a lot of performers with regards to physical conditioning and shape and just help them to heal up and not be so exhausted.
Something that a lot of people don’t know, but a lot of the matches that you see on TV with me, whether it’s with [Matt] Riddle, whether it’s Damian Priest, Gargano or Ciampa, all those matches were the first time I’ve locked up with them.
There’s very much a feeling of not only excitement, but of that ‘virgin lockup’ and the feeling of getting to know someone right there, in the moment, on live TV. There’s something very beautiful in that. You can’t ever get complacent, you can’t rest on what you know, you don’t have any kind of concept of their body language, their movements, their nuances. Getting to learn that on live TV is something that really made me feel that it’s been a very energetic 11 months.”
Not only has NXT changed, but your character has since your return. What brought about that change?
“I don’t want to say it was a new character, it was just more me and it wasn’t a return to NXT, it was a return to being who I am and being true to myself.
I feel like maybe on RAW and SmackDown I was guilty of trying to please too many people and I’m not pleased myself. I feel like when I went to NXT for my second run, I wanted to first and foremost be true to myself. It’s not necessarily a character change, it’s not necessarily an attitude change, it’s just a reflection of how I’m feeling in that moment. Sometimes it might come across as a baby face, sometimes it comes across as a heel, but it’s not a character, it’s just the evolution of me as a human being: 39 years old, 20 years in this business and kind of adapting to the situation and putting my personal feelings into that moment.
The character [of Finn Bálor] will continue to adapt and will continue to change and won’t feel one-dimensional, as what we’ve seen on RAW and SmackDown. Hopefully that can be something that can keep people entertained.”
