Finn Balor On His History With Roman Reigns, Says He Has Unfinished Business There

Finn Balor has quite the history in WWE with Roman Reigns, and he recently reflected on his matches with the OTC in a new interview. Balor faced Regns all the way back in his first match on the WWE main roster, defeating Reigns for a WWE Universal Championship shot on the July 25th, 2016 episode of Raw. The two have met again on and off over the years, but never more significantly than Extreme Rules 2021. Balor challenged Reigns for Universal Title and nearly got the win, but the ring ropes “broke” and that allowed Reigns to defeat Balor to retain his title.

Balor is set to challenge CM Punk for the World Heavyweight Championship at Elimination Chamber this weekend. Should he win the match, he will face Reigns at WrestleMania 42 and not Punk. Balor spoke with Adrian Hernandez for Unlikely and recounted his history and unfinished business with Reigns. He also responded to fans who might think that he doesn’t “deserve” to be in the main event of WrestleMania the way Punk and Reigns do. You can see highlights below:

On Reigns:

“As a professional? He’s one of the greatest of all time. I remember the first time I locked up with Roman was my first night on Raw. And when I locked up with him, it was just like a different feeling. I was like, ‘Oh, this is how they do it here.’ And it was a real eye-opening moment for me. I had one very similar in Japan when I wrestled with Justin Liger. But I — you know, with Roman he’s just at another level. And it’s someone who I admire and respect.

“But obviously, there’s still that little bit of bitterness that like, that top rope malfunction of — that’s another ‘What if?,’ right? What if the top rope didn’t break? Roman was laying in the middle of the ring and I was about to hit the foot stomp. So you know, that’s something that I’d not really forgotten about, but maybe moved on from. But with what’s been going on with Punk and Roman, I felt like, ‘Oh.’ It kind of like reminded me, ‘Oh, I still got an issue with him, too.’

On People Who Say He Doesn’t Deserve To Be On the WrestleMania Poster:

“You know, doubters online that are sitting on a computer tweeting and talking doesn’t really enter my mind space at all. The people who I listen to are my bosses and my colleagues. And to have the respect of your peers is something that is way more valuable than the support of a small group of doubters.

“So if after 25 years of doing everything in the business, from learning catch wrestling for six years to going to Japan and studying in the djos for eight years, to coming to WWE and being a success. Not a ‘What if?,’ not a failure. ‘Oh, he got injured and relinquished the title.’ No, I showed up in WWE, beat Roman my first night, and beat Seth on my first PPV three weeks later to become the first Universal Champion. Being from a small town in Ireland with no wrestling schools, no wrestling promotions, barely wrestling on the TV. So for me, that’s a success story. So if I don’t belong on the Wrestlemania poster, I don’t know who does.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Adrian Hernandez with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.