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On-screen, Finn Balor hates Edge; the “Prince” dislikes how he handled The Judgment Day, going so far as to kick him out of the group on the same day he joined it, dislikes his babyface turn, and really dislikes that he had to receive more than a dozen staples to the head after a botched spot during their Hell in a Cell match at WrestleMania 39.
And yet, behind the scene, Balor is a much bigger fan of the WWE Hall of Famer, as, per his appearance on After The Bell with Corey Graves and Kevin Patrick just before Money in the Bank, he admires how Edge handled his forced retirement from the WWE ring.
“I've been a huge admirer of Edge, not only as a performer but as a person for his whole career. We became close many, many years ago. When he retired, I was personally disappointed for the fact that I'd thought I'd missed out on that opportunity to possibly someday share a ring with him. I always admired how he transitioned out of pro wrestling so gracefully, and I thought, ‘If someday I'm gonna retire from this business, I wanna do it the same way Edge has done it,'” Finn Balor said via TJR.
“A lot of people don't transition out of the business as gracefully or with as much dignity as he returned the first time, and for that, I respect and admire him. On top of that, for him to have the opportunity to come back, that spark that had been extinguished was reignited on the thought, ‘Oh, maybe this match will happen, maybe there is a possibility that I'll get to share the ring with him.'”
Fortunately, Edge was able to make his triumphant return to a WWE ring at the Royal Rumble in 2020 and has been going strong ever since, wrestling 26 matches since that fateful day in January. Of those 26 matches, five came against Balor, a fact that makes the “Prince” very proud indeed.
“Fast foward three years, and all of the sudden, I'm almost in an eight-month program with someone I've looked up to for many many years, in and outside of the ring. Despite the rivalry or the disagreements or the fourteen staples, there's still a mutual respect, certainly from my end, I hope from Edge's end,” Balor said.
“He started something in The Judgment Day that has certainly had a profound impact on my career, Damian's career, Rhea's career, and Dominik's career. If not just for him starting The Judgment Day, there's a lot to be grateful to Edge for.”
Would Balor be featured as prominently in WWE had it not been for Judgment Day? Would he have just worked a month-long angle with the WWE World Heavyweight Champion that culminated in a UK-based title shot if it wasn't for his decision to turn on the “Rated-R Superstar?” It's impossible to know, but fortunately, fans don't have to imagine that reality, as Judgment Day is going strong even after some weirdness at Money in the Bank, and it doesn't look like that's going to change any time soon.
Finn Balor reflects on the biggest injuries of his career.
In the lead-up to Money in the Bank, Marc Raimondi of ESPN decided to reach out to nine different WWE Superstars to ask what the worst bumps they ever received in a professional wrestling ring, including Finn Balor, who had some pretty gnarly stories to tell.
“I was training in a gym in my home country of Ireland and tried this move that one of my friends called a backpack stunner, where you pick someone up like a piggyback and give him a stunner. They land on their butt. But whatever way it was, I was actually taller than the guy, and I landed butt first with all of his weight and my weight. I cracked my tailbone. That's one that sticks out. That was an absolute killer. I was like 20 or 22 years old,” Balor said.
“There's been another couple where I'll do the flip dive over the top rope. I'll miss the guy, or the guy will move out of the way. And those always hurt, too. They'll knock the wind out of you. But the one, that injury to the tailbone lasted three or four months. It was terrible. I was just walking around in pain, trying to wrestle the best I could.
“But I could go on for days. There was one, I got in a small package [pinning position], and whatever way he pulled me was so tight that when I twisted, my ribs popped. A small package, like the silliest move in the world. That was in New Japan Pro Wrestling in 2010, a tag team tournament and the first of four matches over that weekend. It was against Davey Richards. He and Rocky Romero against Ryusuke Taguchi and me.”
Yikes, setting aside the very cool shoutouts for Davey Richards, Rocky Romero, and Ryusuke Taguchi, Balor forgot to mention his most brutal bump of all, eviscerating his shoulder at SummerSlam 2016 in a match that put him on the shelf for a year and set up his match with Seth Rollins at Money in the Bank. If anyone accuses wrestling of being fake, show them Balor's injury report.
