Finn Balor: My Favorite Career Moment Was Losing The NXT Title To Samoa Joe

Finn Balor captured the NXT Championship at WWE Live From Tokyo: The Beast In The East in July 2015, defeating Kevin Owens in a WWE Network special.

Balor rose to prominence during his time in Japan, specifically in NJPW as part of Bullet Club. Winning the NXT Title in Japan was a return home of sorts for Balor and a special moment in his career.

“What was really cool for me is that in Japan, the company I was working for, we weren’t allowed to use the streamers for safety issues. That night in Tokyo at the WWE show, when they did the announcements and the streamers came in, I was like, ‘Oh man, this is super cool,'” Balor said in an interview with Ryan Satin on Out of Character.

Balor would hold the NXT Title for nearly 300 days before losing it to Samoa Joe at a live event.

When talking about his favorite opponents in NXT, Balor named Owens and Shinsuke Nakamura before recalling his wars with Joe.

“I really feel like he brought the best out of Finn Balor. I was a technical wrestler and considered smooth and would have a match a certain way. Joe taught me to have a match in a different way. It was more of a battle or a fight or a scrap. That really helped elevate Finn to the next level. My favorite and most memorable moment of my career was losing the title to Joe at the house show. I remember just laying on the mat and the crowd was completely blown away and surprised. Someone who I had wrestled pretty much every night for a year straight got his hand raised and I’m watching and it was such a cool moment to share that with Joe and experience it as a fan because so much is predictable in this business and that night I feel was one of the most unpredictable moments I’ve experienced,” he said.

Balor had a chance to regain the NXT Championship on Tuesday, but fell short against Karrion Kross.

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