During an appearance on 'Insight with Chris Van Vliet' on Thursday, Balor recounted reporting to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. He acknowledged that many fans, and even he himself, questioned the decision to place a wrestler of his caliber in NXT.
A lot of people were of the opinion of, ‘Hey, he’s an experienced guy, knows exactly what he’s doing in the ring. Why is he in NXT? He’s wasting his time in NXT.’ You hear this so much and I started to maybe believe it as well. I just wrestled [Kota] Ibushi in front of 42,000 people at the Tokyo Dome like four weeks ago, and now I’m in the performance center in a factory doing drills with kids who’ve never wrestled.
Terry, I don’t want to be here. I feel like I’m just wasting my career. I’m 34, I need to be wrestling.
Taylor responded with critical advice that would ultimately shape Balor's career longevity:
Finn, I’m teaching you a style that you can perform for another 10 years. If you continue wrestling the way you’ve been wrestling in New Japan, you’ll last about two more years, and I want you to last longer than that.
Balor has now been with WWE for over 12 years, signing a five-year contract extension in April 2024. He credits Terry Taylor for playing a crucial role in transforming his in-ring approach.
He was very instrumental in kind of helping me tweak my style to be more economical with my movements Featured names
- Why Finn
- Balor Initially
- Questioned Starting
- Vliet Thursday
- Terry Taylor
- Universal Championship
- Seth Rollins
- Rick Ucchino
- Assistant Editor
- Content Coordinator
- The Takedown
- Cincinnati Bengals
- Bleav Podcast
- Traina Thoughts
- Broadcaster Questions
- Questions Why
- Shocked Over
