Finn Balor Says A WWE Superstar Told Him “The Demon” Was A Bad Idea

Prior to Finn Balor’s arrival in WWE, the Irish grappler came up with the idea to wear face and body paint while wrestling in Japan. However, one wrestler, who’s now a WWE Superstar, tried to talk him out of it.

During a recent interview with Al Arabiya, Balor said that Karl Anderson (who worked with Balor in New Japan Pro Wrestling) tried to tell him not to wear the paint, but he didn’t listen.

“Honestly, the first time “The Demon” came, and it wasn’t referred to as “The Demon” at that point — I just wanted to use body paint,” Balor said. “The first time I did that, I said to my best friend Karl Anderson that I’m going to do this thing. 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.’”

Balor also went on to explain that the creative process for bringing “The Demon” to life is different every time.

“What happens is, on the morning — it’s like art. You can’t predict how you’re going to paint the painting in advance. If I’m going to draw something, I don’t know the day before what I’m going to draw. It’s just very much an interpretation of how I’m feeling that day, and what I think is the coolest thing in my brain at that very moment. I’ll have a couple concepts here and there, maybe I’ll do this, maybe I’ll do that, but the actual decision won’t come until about 6 o’clock when I sit down and start getting painted.”

Balor also revealed how WWE has changed him for the better.

“Obviously, New Japan was something I was very passionate about at the time. I was fully invested in what I was doing there at the time, and what I felt like I was doing was just for me and no one else. Being in WWE — the term ‘WWE Universe’ gets thrown around so much right? But for me, that’s a real thing,” Balor said.

“When we got to Singapore, there’s 20 kids painted as “The Demon.” I’ve never been to Singapore before. When we go to anywhere — when we go to Germany or any country we go to, there’s kids that look up to you, that are wearing your face paint, wearing your T-shirts, making signs. 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.”