Finn Balor Admits Career Is Nearing the End After AJ Styles’ Retirement, Says One Stain Must Be Erased First

Finn Balor has admitted that even he doesn't have much time left in the ring after AJ Styles' retirement made him realize so.

Finn Balor Admits Career Is Nearing the End After AJ Styles’ Retirement, Says One Stain Must Be Erased First

Finn Balor and AJ Styles [via- The Ringer]

Finn Balor recently witnessed one of his all-time great rivals in AJ Styles bid an emotional farewell to his wrestling career on this week’s Raw. Experiencing that moment firsthand and letting it sink in for a while made Balor realize that his days in the ring are numbered too. ‘The Prince’ admitted it during a conversation with Shakiel Mahjouri of SHAK Wrestling.

In the said interview, Balor said that he’s always looked up to Styles and tried following in his footsteps. ‘The Prince’ revealed that he did some introspection regarding how he wants to be remembered by the fans once his time is up as well. In his case, there’s no such thing as finishing a story, because he has to rewrite it.

Seeing him retire made it bring home to me that my days are numbered, too. There’s a lot of talk about finishing the story in wrestling, but I feel like my story doesn’t need to be finished. It needs to be completely rewritten ‘cause I have this massive stain on my career from 10 years ago when I got hurt and had to relinquish the Universal Championship.

Finn Balor via SHAK Wrestling

Recalling the time he had to relinquish the Universal Championship in 2016 after dislocating his shoulder, Balor deemed it a stain on his career.

The 44-year-old then mentioned how he’s since been asked in every other interview what if he didn’t get injured. How would it have impacted his career trajectory? Balor’s heard all that for ten years now, and Styles bowing out of this business acted like a wake-up call for the Irishman.

He knows that the clock is ticking, and if he doesn’t fix things on his own and rather quickly, he’d have to live with that stain quite possibly for the rest of his life. At last, the Judgment Day member affirmed that he doesn’t want to retire with that so-called stain tied to his name. Balor has a golden opportunity to right all wrongs tonight at the Elimination Chamber PLE.

The former Bullet Club leader will take on CM Punk for the World Heavyweight title in an environment that’s fully expected to be hostile for him. Balor hasn’t been able to digest the loss he suffered at the hands of Punk in Belfast.

‘The Prince’ asked ‘The Best in the World’ to put the championship on the line only in his hometown of Chicago so that he could make Punk feel how gut-wrenching it is to lose in one’s backyard.

Finn Balor denies awakening “The Demon” for his Elimination Chamber showdown

Amid him showing signs of a face turn in the near future, Finn Balor has been repeatedly asked of late regarding the status of his alter ego. In a conversation with Radio Times, the Judgment Day member was asked about whether the fans will see the return of his “Demon King” character at the Elimination Chamber itself. Balor emphasized the need of using the Demon gimmick effectively and occasionally.

"The Demon" Finn Balor
“The Demon” Finn Balor [via- WWE]

‘The Irish Captor’ explained that it’s not just about the face paint. In fact, it’s a completely different state of mind for which Balor has to submerge himself into so as to do justice with it. Finn Balor said that he definitely wants to bring back the demon, but the timing has to be spot on.

He was confident about its return in the foreseeable future but not at the Elimination Chamber, as beating CM Punk feels like a Finn Balor-only job to the latter. Now that it’s been talked about umpteen times in recent memory, Balor is expected to awaken the demon within for WrestleMania.

WWE does seem on track to have Dominik Mysterio face Finn Balor with the Intercontinental Championship up for grabs. It’d be interesting to see who turns on whom for that to happen. Regardless of that, there are strong rumors of Balor being pushed to a point where he’ll be forced to reignite his alter ego for the Grandest Stage of Them All.

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