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Finn Balor On Why The Demon Won’t Appear at NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver, Deciding To Go Back to NXT

April 8, 2021 | Posted by Jeremy Thomas

Finn Balor is set to face Karrion Kross tonight at NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver, but he won’t be bringing the Demon out to play and has explained why. Balor spoke with ITN WWE ahead of his NXT Championship defense and discussed his approach to the match, his decision to go back to NXT and more. You can check out some highlights below:

On why he’s not appearing as The Demon tonight: “As soon as Karrion Kross came to NXT, people kinda had this idea of a dream scenario of Karrion Kross versus The Demon. The Batte of the two entrances, and the battle of the two darker characters. But for me, in this moment of my career, I feel like The Demon would be a step back. I feel like right now with my ring work as the Prince, I feel very comfortable. I feel very controlled. And I feel that’s the direction I have to go at TakeOver. So I don’t wanna let anyone down. In the moments, there’s gonna be no Demon. But there’s gonna be the very dark side of the Prince that is gonna meticulously take apart Karrion Kross.”

On his decision to go back to NXT: “It was kinda like a joint decision between myself and the office. Dave kinda asked me what I’d be interested in going to NXT I had kinda felt for a long time that I needed to change with what I was doing in the ring a long time that I needed to change with what I was doing in the ring and not that this is anything bad but I became very familiar with a lot of the performers and that were on RAW and they were on SmackDown. and I wasn’t feeling like I was pushing myself to the limits.”

On being able to face the talent in NXT: “And I felt like there was such an incredible talent pool at NXT with such great performers like Gargano, Ciampa, Kyle O’Reilly, Adam Cole. All these guys that, although I was very familiar with, I’d never had an opportunity to work with in the ring and get to challenge myself against. so that was really the genesis of the idea is I wanted to push myself harder and challenge myself against some of the best wrestlers in the world and I’m very happy with how it went over the last year and a half and hopefully it will remain to Continue that way.”

On what matches he’s looking forward to at WrestleMania: “The top picks at WrestleMania for me it’s a friendship born out of a feud with Bobby Lashley that I think we build a lot of mutual respect with each other. And so I’m very excited to see how his match with Drew McIntyre goes. But really, for me, I’m just focusing on the match with Karrion Kross at TakeOver. Once I have that out of the way, I think I’ll be able to sit back as a fan and enjoy Wrestlemania, both nights. But right now, I’m very much focused on what I have to do.”