Fergal Devitt is an Irish professional wrestler signed with WWE. He is best known for his work as Prince Devitt and Finn Balor in NJPW and WWE, respectively. He is a former IWGP Junior Heavyweight, NXT, Universal, Intercontinental, and United States Champion. He is also the founder and the first leader of the popular pro-wrestling faction Bullet Club. In WWE, he is the current Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champion in his first reign.
Finn Balor was born Fergal Devitt, which is his real name, on the 25th of July in 1981. He was born in Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland. He did his schooling in his hometown only where he attended St. Cronan's High School. Before he chose pro-wrestling as his career path, Balor also played Association Football and Gaelic football.
In 2001, Devitt finished his training at NWA UK Hammerlock. Devitt quickly climbed the ranks and won several championships on the independent circuit. After spending a few years on the independent circuit and touring countries, Devitt went to NJPW.
In 2006, Devitt signed a contract with NJPW and went by Prince Devitt. A year later, he turned heel and joined Control Terrorism Unit. After his injury, Devitt and Minor joined RISE and won the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship. They lost the title after 90 days to No Limit. In 2009, Devitt teamed with Ryusuke Taguchi and formed Apollo 55. At Circuit 2009 New Japan Soul, they won the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship.
In April, they were stripped of the titles after not defending them for over 30 days. In June, Devitt defeated Marufuji to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. In July, they won the title for the second time. Devitt has won the WGP Junior Heavyweight Championship on three occasions and IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship on six occasions.
After 364 days, Devitt lost the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship to Kota Ibushi. Devitt has won two J Sports Crown Openweight 6 Man Tag Tournaments. In 2011, Devitt defeated Kushida to win his second IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. In 2012, Devitt spent time in CMLL and NJPW, where he was defending his IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship.
In 2013, Devitt joined forces with Tama Tonga and Karl Anderson to form Bullet Club. In May, he won the 2013 Best of the Super Juniors. After winning the tournament, he began feuding with Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, but failed to win. In 2014, he lost the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship to Kota Ibushi. Devitt's final match was with Taguchi before he left the company.
In May, Devitt signed with WWE and began working for NXT. They changed his name to Finn Balor. By the end of the year, Balor became the number one contender for Kevin Owens' championship. At The Beast in The East event, Balor defeated Kevin Owens to win the NXT Championship. After 292 days and several TakeOver events, Balor lost the title to Samoa Joe. In 2016, Balor was the first NXT pick during the draft. They drafted Balor to RAW and quickly reached the finals for the vacant Universal Championship.
At SummerSlam, Balor defeated Seth Rollins to become the first Universal Champion. However, Balor got injured during the match and relinquished the title the next night on RAW. After WrestleMania 33, Balor returned to RAW and aided Seth Rollins. At Extreme Rules, Balor lost to Joe in a fatal five-way match to determine the number one contender. Balor spent the year feuding with Joe, Elias, and Bray Wyatt and was victorious. At TLC, Balor faced AJ Styles and won.
Balor was the iron man of the match but couldn't win the rumble match. At WrestleMania 34, he faced The Miz and Seth Rollins for the Intercontinental Championship and lost. At Money in the Bank, Balor entered the ladder match but failed to win. Balor began feuding with Baron Corbin. At SummerSlam, Balor brought his Demon person to defeat Constable Corbin. After failing to recapture the Universal Championship, Balor defeated Drew McIntyre at TLC.
At Royal Rumble, Balor faced Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship, but lost. On RAW, Balor defeated Bobby Lashley and Lio Rush to win the Intercontinental Championship. In March, Lashley won the title back from Balor. At WrestleMania 35, Demon Balor defeated Lashley to win his second Intercontinental Championship. After Mania, Balor was drafted to SmackDown where he feuded with Andrade and won. At Extreme Rules, Balor lost the title to Shinsuke Nakamura. At SummerSlam, Balor lost to The Fiend Bray Wyatt.
In October, Balor returned to NXT. In the following weeks, Balor teased a feud with Adam Cole but turned heel by attacking Johnny Gargano. At TakeOver WarGames, Balor defeated Riddle. At TakeOver Portland, Balor defeated Johnny Gargano. In 2020, Balor spent several newcomers, such as Cameron Grimes, Damien Priest, Keith Lee, and Timothy Thatcher.
In September, Balor faced Adam Cole and won the vacant NXT Championship. Balor had a successful reign of over 200 days. It made Balor the longest reigning NXT Champion of all time. In April, Balor lost the title to Karrion Kross. In May, Balor faced Kross in a rematch and lost.
In July, Balor returned to SmackDown to challenge Roman Reigns. At Extreme Rules, he faced Reigns and lost. In October, he was drafted to RAW and lost to Xavier Woods in the finals of the King of the Ring tournament. In 2022, Balor challenged Damien Priest for the United States Championship and won. He lost it to Theory a few weeks later.
On June 5, at Hell in a Cell, Balor teamed up with AJ Styles and Liv Morgan against The Judgment Day (Edge, Rhea Ripley and Damian Priest) in a losing effort. The following night, he was introduced by Edge as the latest member of the villanious faction. In a shocking turn of events, Edge was kicked out of the group by Balor, Priest and Ripley.
Thereafter, Judgment Day picked up a feud with The Mysterios who were then assisted by Edge following the latter's return to WWE. At the Clash at the Castle, Judgement Day lost to Edge and Rey Mysterio. On the 12th September 2022 edition of RAW, Damian, and Finn offered Matt Riddle to join Judgement Day, but Riddle declined. After battling in a classic match, Balor captured a win over Riddle.
At Extreme Rules 2022, Balor squared off with Edge in an "I Quit" match which he managed to win, thanks to his friends from The Judgment Day. At Crown Jewel 2022, Balor, Priest, and Dominik defeated AJ Styles, Luke Gallows, and Karl Anderson in a six-man tag team match. Balor and Styles then competed in a single match at Survivor Series 2022 where Balor lost.
Balor entered the 2023 Royal Rumble at Number. 20 but was eliminated by Edge. He would then go on to take Edge out of the match with the help of Damian Priest and Dominik Mysterio. He teamed up with Rhea Ripley to take on Edge and Beth Phoenix at Elimination Chamber in a mixed-gender tag team match, which Balor and Ripley lost.
The long-running feud between Balor and Edge is expected to come to a climax at WrestleMania Hollywood. At the event, Demon King Finn Balor lost to Edge in a hard-fought battle. Balor then partook in the tournament to crown the inaugural World Heavyweight Champion. After picking up a victory in the first round, Balor squared off against Seth 'Freakin' Rollins in the second round in a losing effort.
Following the defeat, Balor challenged Rollins once again after the latter had won the World Heavyweight Championship. The challenge was accepted and the two superstars battled it out at WWE Money in the Bank at the O2 Arena in London, England. Due to an unintentional distraction from Mr. Money in the Bank Damian Priest, Balor lost the match.
However, he sought a rematch and eventually got it. Finn Balor and Seth Rollins then collided at SummerSlam 2023, seven years after their iconic match at SummerSlam 2017 for the inaugural Universal Championship, the match where Balor was injured and had to relinquish his title. However, Balor failed to win the title yet again and shifted his focus to the tag titles.
Balor and Priest then challenge the Undisputed Tag Champions Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens at WWE Payback 2023 in a Steel City Street Fight Match, which they won, bringing another title to The Judgment Day. This also helped Balor become a Grand Slam Champion in WWE.
According to Firstsportz, the first-ever Universal Champion Finn Balor is worth around USD 3 Million as of 2023.
Finn Balor was born in Ireland to Leonie and Fintan Devitt. Including Balor, they are five siblings. Balor has one sibling who is older than him and three who are younger than him.
Finn Balor is married to Vero Rodriguez. Rodriguez is a Mexican Sports Journalist who primarily covers Association Football. They confirmed their relationship in June 2019 in an interview during the UEFA Champions League Final. The couple got married later that year on the 19th of August, 2019 in a private ceremony in Tulum, Quintana Roo, Mexico. The two reside in Orlando, Florida.
