Finn Balor Says He Previously Turned Down Offers From WWE

– Finn Balor discussed his time on the indies and why it took him so long to get to WWE during his appearance on the Not Sam Wrestling show earlier this month. Highlights are below per Wrestling Inc:

On his long road to get to WWE: “I am humbled for that. I can only speak on my path. I believe that there is a lot to be said about doing things the hard way, and I feel like in my career I have done things the hard way the entire time. At the same time, I had a great time doing it. It never felt like the hard way, but it just felt like the long road. There was never any shortcuts taken, which has helped me become the performer that I am today and it helped me remain composed and calm in tight pressure situations for RAW and pay-per-views. The whole process has definitely benefited me, so if people didn’t believe at one point, and maybe some still don’t believe right now, but all I can say is that I started on the bottom at the indies and I started at the bottom in WWE, and now I performed at SummerSlams and at WrestleManias, and now we are getting ready for WrestleMania again in New York. It has been a wild ride.”

On previously turning down an offer from WWE: “The offer was actually there when I was 26, 27 and 28. Every year they came knocking. I had done two years in the New Japan Dojo and was kind of starting to establish myself in New Japan. There were a couple of phone calls made and offers were on the table. For me, it never felt like the right time. Honestly, when I finally came I didn’t know if it was the right time either but I had to roll the dice at some point and so I am the kind of person where I am never ready until I am actually doing it. Sometimes you have to be brave and make that decision and take that risk and definitely it would have been a lot different. When that first phone call came when I was 26 and accepted the WWE offer back then I don’t think I would still be here now. I am very happy with the way things evolved with my career and the slow progression I have made year by year, so I wouldn’t change anything.”

On why he ultimately signed with WWE: “There was a combination of things: I felt like I had pretty much done everything that I needed to do at New Japan, personally. There were storylines that were pitched around that I was going to get into, but I didn’t really feel like it was going to be any sort of different stuff. Then I was 32 years old and was thinking, well if I do another two years with New Japan would the door still be open in WWE? That was almost five years ago and the landscape was a lot different back then. They were a lot into the younger guys. Every time the opportunity had came up it never felt like the right moment but I think when it came up that time kind of towards a year and a half where I was part of the Bullet Club stuff, when the opportunity came I felt that it was the right time to go. I had kind of peaked and maxed out. Not only professionally, but personally and mentally I needed a change. I had been in Japan for eight years and had done everything that I could to get to the top of New Japan so I felt that I needed a reset and start at the bottom and get myself a new goal and a new drive and a new target to set my eyes on. At the time it felt right, and things have worked out so far.”