Finn Balor was attempting to negotiate a 10-year contract with NJPW before deciding to leave for WWE.
By 2014, Finn Balor had spent eight years of his career in New Japan Pro Wrestling, where he was riding high as the founder and leader of Bullet Club. However, by the end of the year, he had signed with WWE and was a rising star on NXT.
In a new interview with Chris Van Vliet, the star has admitted that it wasn’t his original plan, and he had actually been trying to secure a decade-long contract with NJPW with the intention of finishing his career in the company.
“I started with NXT I think I was 34, which was quite late to start. WWE had came knocking a couple times, and I’d always kind of kicked it back, because I was very happy in New Japan, wanted to do my whole career there, and I was trying to negotiate a 10-year contract, and there was an issue.”
With NJPW itself being under the ownership of another company, it was limited in how much commitment it could give Balor, and that left him with a dilemma that his father ultimately helped him to resolve.
“This was when I was 34; I was trying to negotiate a 10-year contract to stay there for the rest of my life. Then there was an issue, because New Japan was owned by another company, and that contract only lasted for four years, so they could only give me a four-year contract.
“I’d been there like eight years, and I’d seen how when guys got to like their mid to late 30s, they kind of phased them out. I thought, well, this will get me to my mid to late 30s, and I’ll be phased out, and I want to wrestle longer than that. I’m 34 and this is 12 years ago in WWE, where the roster was a lot younger, they were signing much younger guys, and I thought, oh, this could be my last opportunity, so that’s kind of the mindset I had.
“I was talking with my dad about the decision: should I roll the dice in WWE, or should I stay in New Japan? I’ll never forget my dad said, ‘Son, you grew up watching WWF, that was your dream, you’re in Japan, you’re doing great, you’ve done it for eight years, but roll the dice.’ I’m glad I did.”
Finn Balor Addresses A Potential MMA Or Boxing Match
Recently, Finn Balor opened up on whether he would take part in another fighting sport. The star said that while he had the “utmost respect” for boxers and MMA fighters, he planned to stay “exactly in his lane” and only compete in a WWE ring.
