Finn Balor Rejects Narrative That His WWE Career is a Failure

A day before challenging CM Punk for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at Elimination Chamber, Finn Balor spoke with the New York Post Sports to shut down a long-running narrative about his career. Nearly a decade after an injury forced him to relinquish the inaugural Universal Championship, Balor says he is tired of the endless “what ifs.”

“Those what-ifs have been asked for 10 years now,” Balor said. Rather than viewing that setback as a tragedy, he sees his overall journey as a massive triumph. “I grew up in a small town in Ireland, in a country with no wrestling schools, no wrestling promotions, barely wrestling on TV. I moved to England to study catch wrestling with the goal of having one match. Sixteen years later, I debut on Raw. I pin Roman on my first night. Three weeks later, I pin Seth at my first pay-per-view. I become champion. That sounds like a success story to me — not a failure.” Balor also pointed to his multiple mid-card and tag team championship runs as proof of his success, noting that some critics will simply never be satisfied unless he holds a world title again.