Finn Balor has fond memories of his first-run as NXT Champion, which includes the epic way he lost the title to Samoa Joe.
The Demon Prince and Judgement Day leader discussed this topic during his recent interview with Rob Armstrong from BT Sport. Check out what he had to say on the reign in the highlights below.
On winning the NXT championship from Kevin Owens in Japan:
That was one of the most full-circle moments that I’ve had in my career because not only it wasn’t in Japan, but it was in Ryogoku, which was Sumo Arena, where we wrestled for New Japan quite a lot. I actually had my final match for New Japan, in that arena, in the paint also, against Taguchi. When I left that night, I figured, ‘I may never return here ever again.’ I think it was maybe almost a year to the day that I returned,” said Finn. “I was in the ring against Kevin Owens, someone I didn’t know very well going into NXT apart from, like, on the indie circuit, and we bonded over the journey we were making, adapting to life in NXT, in WWE, in the USA; to get the share the ring with him that night was very cool.
Talks dropping the NXT championship
An even more special moment for me was when I actually lost the title against Samoa Joe, and we’d done that on a house show. That was something that was so rare, and I remember this sheer surprise and shock of the people in the front row that just couldn’t believe what they had witnessed on a house show,” Balor said. “After [292 days], I had been champion, and Joe pins the champion at a house show in Lowel. That was a special night. That, for me, is probably the coolest moment of my career, I think. Just the sheer shock and then joy of the fans; having Joe as champ, you know, someone who’d had such a long career and really paid his dues and had become such an integral part of NXT. The, for me, someone who had learned so much from, not only in NXT but before that. We obviously have a very close relationship as well. So that was one of my favorite nights of my career.
(H/T and transcribed by Fightful
)