NXT champion Finn Balor spoke with Justin Barrasso from Sports Illustrated about his newfound love of the classic comedy sitcom Seinfeld, and how he fell in love with the entire series during quarantine. Highlights are below.
Says his wife was the one who turned him onto the show:
My wife thought I was really going to like Seinfeld. I’ve been a huge fan of comedy my whole life, especially English/Irish comedy where the humor is very fast, but I had thought Seinfeld was more along the lines of Friends or Cheers. I thought I’d watch one episode but wouldn’t ever get super invested in it. I’d never seen an episode before. Growing up in Ireland, it wasn’t on TV. When I came to the U.S., I didn’t have cable and I didn’t watch much TV. But because of my wife, I gave it a chance.
How he began a deep dive of the series after watching two random episodes:
I wanted to start deep into it. Starting later in the series allows a good sense of how the actors play their characters, so we started with Episodes 1 and 2 of Season 6. I watched those two episodes, and I was completely hooked. “It was absolutely priceless. So we went all the way back to the beginning and watched the whole thing in chronological order from start to finish.
How much the show influenced other tv shows he’d watched:
I had no idea how much the show influenced other TV shows. I’d seen comedies in Ireland and England that I thought were innovative and hilarious, but when I went back and checked the time stamps, I learned a lot of those stories were first used in Seinfeld. It’s reached so many different corners of the world, and it completely stands the test of time. I love it.
How the show reminds him of pro-wrestling at times:
The show is based around four people, but I became very aware that they only really have three characters in a scene,” Bálor says. “One person leaves and goes to the bathroom, or Kramer goes back to his apartment. They’re tagging in and out the way they keep it rolling and keep it moving.
His favorite character:
George Costanza was absolutely incredible,” Bálor says. “Even when he wasn’t involved in the dialogue of the scene, or if he’s just in the background, he was so great. The show is amazing. It’s a piece of art.