Former WWE Universal Champion Finn Balor recently did an interview with Al Arabiya English where he talked about one of his fellow wrestlers advising against using face paint for his “Demon” character. Balor said the first time “the Demon came,” it was referred to that yet, but was just something he was trying out to get more heat with fans.
“The first time I did that, I said to my best friend Karl Anderson that I’m going to do this thing,” Balor recalled. “I explained to him what I was doing and he said, ‘Do not do that, you’re going to be laughed out of the building.’ Obviously this didn’t happen. The whole Demon character was designed for people to hate me more and to be scared of me, and it kind of backfired in the sense that people kind of like it now.”
Balor says leaving New Japan Pro Wrestling and entering the WWE Universe changed him, and he points out that now in every country he goes to there are kids painted up like the Demon.
“When we go to anywhere—when we go to Germany, or any country we go to, there are kids that look up to you, that are wearing your face paint, wearing your t-shirts, making signs,” he said. “The reach that WWE has through its television, its social media, and the WWE Network—that WWE Universe that we speak about—all the fans—that’s what drives me now. Reaching those, and influencing those people, and to give them something to cheer for, in a way. Before, I was wrestling for me, but now I feel like I’m wrestling for other people, and I feel like that’s much more important.”
You can check out the full interview with Balor at Al Arabiya English on YouTube.
