Finn Balor: NXT 2.0 Was Needed; In My Second Run, It Felt Like All The Matches Had Taken Place

Finn Balor is a fan of NXT 2.0.

Finn Balor was one of the faces of NXT to start 2021 as the NXT Champion. He lost the title in April 2021 and returned to the main roster in July 2021.

In September 2021, NXT officially re-branded at NXT 2.0, moving to a brighter production and focusing on talent that had previously not been on television.

Speaking on WWE After The Bell, Balor explained why he believes the change to NXT 2.0 was needed for the brand.

“It was needed,” he claimed. “I don’t want to say it was getting stale, but having been there for a year and a half in my second run, I felt like all the matches had taken place, it was going in a cycle and something needed to change. As soon as I left, 2.0 came in and it was a completely new crop of superstars, young fresh people. Me, as a fan, when I was younger, I never took joy out of seeing the same matches or same people every week. I was always hungry for, ‘who is this new guy, what’s his backstory? where did he come from? I wonder what moves he does.’ I was so curious about wanting to learn about these new guys. As a fan, that’s what I want.”

He continued by saying, “As soon as I moved back to SmackDown and NXT 2.0 came out, it was so cool to see completely new people. I was only gone about a month and there were people I had never even met on TV. It was hugely surprising. Maybe a lot of people in the business were like, ‘that’s stupid, who are these guys? They haven’t paid their dues,’ but for me, as a fan, I think, ‘this is cool. These are guys I’ve never even heard their names and now they’re on TV and succeeding.’ I remember watching WarGames and these four relatively new guys in the ring with four experienced guys and it’s incredible and something fresh. Maybe I’m so jaded and exhausted from seeing so much over the years, but it was cool to see new guys doing new stuff. It’s unpredictable in the sense that you don’t know their spots, routine, or shtick. You’re getting to see and witness something new for the first time and that’s pretty rare. Hats off to NXT for risking it all and really committing to 2.0.”

By the end of 2021; NXT mainstays such as Johnny Gargano, Kyle O’Reilly, and Adam Cole had left the brand and other names who were prominently featured over the years such as Karrion Kross and Keith Lee were released.

Meanwhile, Balor has found more success on the main roster after being off television, capturing the WWE United States Championship on Monday’s WWE Raw.

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