Finn Balor talks Balor Club, NXT Takeover: Dallas

Finn Balor took the time to talk NXT Takeover: Dallas and a possible Balor Club debut soon

WrestleMania weekend has finally arrived here in 2016, and the event has become so big nowadays that it’s not just the main show on Sunday that takes center stage. No, there are a lot of activities to take in during WrestleMania week, and with the emergence of the NXT brand, there’s now some more amazing wrestling action to enjoy over the course of the weekend.

Of course, at the moment there is no one hotter on the NXT roster than the man that holds the championship, Finn Balor. Balor has taken the NXT world by storm since his arrival, and he’s now getting set for his second WrestleMania weekend with the company as a performer.

While this is the first year that WWE is holding a Takeover show on the WWE Network during WrestleMania weekend, last year Balor was a part of NXT’s weekend out in San Jose, California, which was more or less announcing their arrival to the wrestling world.

“We had a, it was kind of NXT’s, for lack of a better word, breakout show,” Balor said. “It was definitely our biggest show to date and I don’t think anyone expected what was to follow in the year to come. In San Jose, we blew the roof off the place and I was lucky enough to get to wrestle in the main event against [Adrian] Neville, which was actually his last match for NXT, which really was a double honor for me. But yeah, in the last year the place has grown unbelievably and it’s a testament to the hard work we’ve put in at NXT.”

Not only has the company as a whole grown over the past year since last WrestleMania, but Balor has grown as a performer as well.

“I think my growth has been very by the growth of the company,” Balor said. “It’s not just my own growth. I think everyone has grown. This time last year, Jason Jordan and Chad Gable were just kinda finding their feet, and now they’re a truly established tag team challenging for the tag team championship, so it’s not just the growth of the brand itself, it’s the growth of all the individuals combined that has led to the growth of NXT.”

Of course, a lot of the growth and the success of the company has a lot to do with the amazing WWE Performance Center in Florida.

“Having the WWE Performance Center at my fingertips every day and being able to go in there with the likes of Matt Bloom and Terry Taylor, I feel like I’ve grown ten-fold. I’m hoping to be able to showcase that in Dallas.”

This Friday night at NXT Takeover: Dallas, for the second Takeover special in a row, Balor will be defending his title against one of the more experienced veterans on the entire WWE roster at the moment, Samoa Joe. So what’s it like being in the ring and working a program with someone who possesses the experience of Joe?

“Despite any personal differences myself and Joe might have, I like being in the ring with him,” Balor said. “It’s always an experience. For me, even if it might be physical, hard-hitting and a lot of action on the body, it’s always a learning experience and I always try to take as much positivity away from that as I can. Joe has been doing this a long time. He has been well traveled, he has all the credentials. Being in the ring with him makes me raise my game and I thrive on pressure. There isn’t any more pressure than being in a match one-on-one with Samoa Joe on a live Takeover special. When all the lights are on and the cameras are rolling, that’s when I’m at my best. And that’s what I plan on being at Takeover.”

Having been in NXT for so long, many believe that it’s soon time for Balor to make his way up to the main roster. So, will Friday night be the last time we see Finn Balor perform on an NXT live special?

“You know, I’m very proud of what we’re doing at NXT,” Balor said. “You know, when I first started at NXT, it was definitely considered a developmental brand. Well, you know, especially in the last year it’s grown into WWE’s kind of third brand, and it’s right up there with RAW and Smackdown. And obviously I do hope to someday be involved on RAW and Smackdown, I do want to be in the WrestleMania main event.”

While those aspirations are great, Balor is focused on one thing right now.

“Right now, I’m the NXT Champion,” Balor added. ” I will be after Takeover and I have a responsibility to fly the flag for NXT, so I can’t say it’s gonna be my last Takeover, no, absolutely not”

Of course, when it comes to Balor, there is the elephant in the room involving some friends of his, Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows, coming to join him sooner rather than later. So how does he feel about the “likely” arrival of these two in the near future?

“Well, I know this, and I can tell you this for 100 percent fact, that on Easter I had dinner with Karl ‘Machine Gun’ Anderson,” Balor admitted. “And that is the only fact that I can tell you. As excited as I am at the possibility of working with Gallows and Karl Anderson. Nothing from where I’m standing has been confirmed.”

Even with this, Balor did admit that he likes to stir the pot a little bit, something we’ve learned from his activity on social media.

“I’m a huge fan of rumors, creating rumors, stirring up the pot,” Balor added. “I wish I could in this case, like, tell you that Balor Club was gonna be three members and not one, but sadly right now I do not have any information to divulge. I really, really wish I did but sadly I’m as in the dark as anyone else. We have NXT Takeover in Dallas and that’s going to be the only thing on my radar right now, I’m not looking past that at all.”

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