WWE Star Thought They Were ‘Wasting Their Career’ In NXT

WWE

A WWE star has recalled beginning their WWE career in NXT, believing they were ‘wasting their career’ at the Performance Center.

Back in 2014, a highly acclaimed group of major independent signings joined the NXT roster, including the arrivals of KENTA (Hideo Itami), Kevin Steen (Kevin Owens) and Prince Devitt (Finn Balor).

Balor would debut in NXT at the end of 2014, with him still a key player in WWE to this day.

Finn Balor Said He Was ‘Wasting His Career’ In NXT

Balor had signed with WWE from New Japan Pro Wrestling in 2014 after competing in the Tokyo Dome at that year’s Wrestle Kingdom 8 event.

Speaking on Off The Ball, Balor reflected on his arrival in NXT, and a conversation he had with Terry Taylor where he believed he was ‘wasting his career’ in NXT.

He said:

“I always go back and think if I hadn’t have went to NXT, I probably would have burnt up like a meteorite in WWE in the first two years. The stuff I learned in NXT I’m still applying to my craft now.

“I remember being in NXT about 3 months, and a couple months previous I just done the Tokyo Dome in front of 50, 60 thousand people, then all of a sudden I’m doing bumps and rolls in a warehouse in Florida, preparing me for what? I feel like I am prepared.

“I remember having a conversation with my coach at the time Terry Taylor. ‘Terry, I’m 34, I’m wasting my career here, these are my prime years, I need to be in the ring’. He said ‘Finn, the style of wrestling you’ve been wrestling the last 16 years, if you continue that, you have like 2 or 3 more years left in the tank. I’m trying to teach you a style that’s going to extend your career and get you another 10 years, and here we are 12 years later and I feel better than ever.

“I owe a debt of gratitude to Terry Taylor and a lot of the coaches at the Performance Center; Norman Smiley, Matt Bloom, all those guys really helped me kinda adapt to the different style WWE is because it is different.

“It’s still a wrestling show, it’s still in a ring with four sides, but it’s a very different style, the cadence of the matches are different, how the crowds react to things.”

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Finn Balor Reflects On Working With CM Punk In WWE

Earlier this year, Finn took part in a series of matches with CM Punk for the World Heavyweight Championship, including a match in Belfast on Raw, as well as at Elimination Chamber in Chicago.

Balor reflected on working with Punk, admitting that there were concerns about him coming back to the company.

He said:

“There was a lot of concerns that when he was coming back in, is this going to be the Punk of old that you’ve heard all these horror stories about, or is it going to be a different person?

“I experienced a completely different person. Super professional and nice guy, great to work with and hopefully I get the chance to work with him again in the future.”

If you use this transcription or any portion of it, please credit WrestleTalk.com and link to this page.

Balor and Becky Lynch announced during the interview that WWE Raw will be coming to Dublin for the first time next year.

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