Finn Balor think fondly of his years in NXT.
The former 3-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Finn Balor came over to WWE from Japan in 2014 and throughout his time in the sports-entertainment company he has captured the NXT Championship and was the first-ever WWE Universal Champion. It has been three years since Balor last held the top prize on Monday Night RAW but this Sunday at WWE's Royal Rumble pay-per-view, he will have the opportunity to hold that title once more as he faces Brock Lesnar for the belt.
Balor has picked up a number of victories over the past few weeks leading up to his match against "The Beast Incarnate" and one of those victories happened in Blackpool, England at NXT UK's TakeOver show earlier this month. Balor filled in for former PROGRESS World Champion Travis Banks to take on and defeat Jordan Devlin. Once the match was all said and done, Balor spoke with a number of media outlets including the 'Daily Star' and during their conversation Finn talked about how his days in NXT are the fondest memories of his WWE career.
"The whole experience is probably two of the fondest years of my career that I look back on. It feels like the greatest period of growth, and also the happiest I was in terms of contentment with life, and not being on the road so much. I was enjoying just focusing on wrestling again, and retraining myself in a different style. It was a great two years, and something that I treasure." Finn continued, "I remember when I first signed with WWE, a lot of people were frustrated WWE had 'forced' me to go to NXT. But it was quite the opposite. I wanted to go to NXT to help me adapt to life not just in WWE, but life in America. It was a huge change from Japan and Ireland to set up a new home and adjust. NXT helped me adapt to the WWE style, working with the coaches in the Performance Center."
To read about how Balor earned his shot at the Universal Championship, check out Fightful's published article on the topic.
