The Insane Move Finn Balor Refused To Do In WWE
Finn Balor has recalled a time when he told a WWE producer that he didn’t want to do a move that was requested of him.
During his 20+ years as a pro wrestler, former WWE Universal Champion Finn Balor has had many memorable moments. Whether he was working in Japan for NJPW, being arguably the greatest performer on the WWE NXT brand, and of course many years on the Raw & Smackdown brands, Balor has accomplished a lot.
One of the moves that Balor is most known for is the Coup de Grace finishing move that he does. For that move, Balor goes to the top rope and does a double foot stomp on his opponent who’s lying on the mat. It looks like a very painful move that has won Balor a lot of matches.
On the June 26th edition of WWE Raw, The Judgment Day’s Finn Balor and JD McDonagh of The Judgment Day beat The Awesome Truth’s R-Truth & The Miz for the WWE World Tag Team Titles when Balor used the Coup de Grace to win the match for his team.
In an interview with the What’s the Story? Podcast, Balor spoke about a time when he said no when it was suggested that he do the Coup de Grace off a steel cage.
“When I was in my first run in NXT in a Cage match against Samoa Joe, they wanted me to jump off the top of the cage and do the foot stomp and I said no, and this is Michael Hayes, he’s like the main producer. He’s like, ‘What do you mean you don’t wanna do your finish off the top of the cage?’ And I said, ‘Well, A, I might get hurt. B, it’s my finisher and I’m losing the match so, why would I do that off the cage?’ He goes, ‘Hmm, good point.’”
“But in my mind, I’m thinking, hold on, this is NXT. This is the training ground to get me to WWE. I’m not gonna risk getting hurt here to then jeopardize going there, and I’ve kind of kept that philosophy now, saying, hey, I’m not gonna risk getting hurt today because then I won’t be able to wrestle tomorrow.”
“So, that’s pretty much why I don’t take many risks anymore… It’s a marathon, boys, not a sprint. I took all those risks when I was 19 and 20 in Wolverton and Bray, like jumping over the top rope, no one catching me, straight onto the AstroTurf or whatever it’s called.”
Finn Balor Wants To Face GUNTHER
The same interview also saw Finn Balor talk about a man he wanted to face in WWE: GUNTHER. The former longest reigning Intercontinental Champion GUNTHER will receive a World Heavyweight Title match against Balor’s buddy in The Judgment Day, Damian Priest, at SummerSlam. According to Balor, Gunther is the best performer in the world.
“WALTER, GUNTHER, whatever you wanna call him, in my opinion, is probably the best performer on Earth right now. In my opinion, to watch in the ring. I get so oversaturated seeing so much stuff that I just kinda go “ahh cant be arsed watching this”.”
“I’ve not seen it all, but I’ve seen so much. I’m [almost] 43 now, so it’s like watching wrestling for 35 years, so it’s rare that I go, “Ah, I’m interested in this,” but when WALTER gets in the ring, I’m interested. I want to see everything that he does. There’s no bits where I know what he’s going to do for the next five minutes…”
This past Monday on the July 8th edition of WWE Raw, the trio of Finn Balor, JD McDonagh and Carlito defeated R-Truth, The Miz and Braun Strowman in a six-man tag team match when Balor got the win for his team.