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When Prince Devitt signed with WWE in May 2014, he began appearing on the NXT brand under his new name Finn Balor (Bálor).
Balor is a combination of two different Irish Celtic mythological figures, Fionn mac Cumhaill, and Balor. By using Finn and Balor, he is representing the duality within himself; a shining beacon of light, and the demons and darkness that is within him.
The Origins of The Demon King and Finn Balor
Fionn mac Cumhaill is a mythical hunter-warrior in Irish Mythology originating from the stories of Fionn from the Fenian Cycle (a collection of prose based around the tales of Fionn mac Cumhaill and his band of small, semi-independent warriors.)
Balor literally translates as "Demon King" and is the last king of the Fomorians capable of killing and causing destruction with his deadly eye. Fomorians are a group of malevolent supernatural beings.
The Prince and The Demon King in New Japan Pro-Wrestling
The origins of The Demon King date back further than its first appearance in NXT. The demon first appeared in a New Japan ring after Finn Balor, known as Prince Devitt, turned heel on his Apollo 55 partner Ryusuke Taguchi, creating The Bullet Club with Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga, and ‘Machine Gun’ Karl Anderson.
Finn Balor recalled how he came up with the character and a potential match in the Tokyo Dome:
“I’ve been working like Babyface, straight squeaky teen Babyface for like 6 and half years in Japan and they ask if I wanna turn heel so I figured ‘ok, I wanna take everything away from them that they recognized me as the Babyface. So like I had already worn the bodysuit and I didn’t really want to change my body too much. I thought, ’Why don’t I just cover it all in black paint?”
“The idea was that the babyface Taguchi would be wrestling this shadow on the ring. So it was at Tokyo Dome, this big building so far away it looks like the babyface is wrestling like a shadow,” explains Bálor. “That’s where like the concept of the idea came from and the more I played with it, I found a really good painter to kind of collaborate within Tokyo. We came up with the first demon character and it was supposed to be a one-solve.”
Unfortunately, the two didn't face off in the Tokyo Dome due to an injury to Taguchi. But, towards the end of Finn Balor's run in New Japan Pro-Wrestling, Taguchi returned from injury and, on his last night in the company, we got the Demon King.
The Demon King was defeated by Taguchi. That same night, after telling the Young Bucks not to interfere, the pair would betray The Demon King, sending him on his way to the WWE.
![Finn Balor and Neville [PAC] would go to war at NXT TakeOver: Rival in March 2015](https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2021/09/0ff3a-16308767343305-800.jpg)
Finn Balor and his NXT Success
The first time we saw the body paint on Finn Balor was in NXT. After an intense feud with the Ascension, Balor and Hideo Itami – also known as KENTA – would defeat them at NXT Takeover: R Evolution on 11th December 2014.
His first chance at the NXT Championship came on 25th March 2015 after winning a number one contender’s tournament by defeating Neville in the final at NXT TakeOver: Rival. He'd be unsuccessful in his quest for gold, but came fully prepared the next time he faced Kevin Owens. This would be the third time he would call on the Demon, but the first for a Championship match.
At The Beast in the East event in Tokyo, the Demon King defeated Kevin Owens to capture the NXT Championship for the first time. At NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn, Balor won the ladder match against Owens on 22nd August 2015.
A running theme would occur from here on out. The Demon King would come out only for big bouts and extremely tough opponents, including Samoa Joe, who was his tag team partner in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic (which they won).
Joe turned on his ‘friend’ to challenge him for the NXT Championship. Their first match took place at NXT TakeOver: London where the Demon took the form of Jack the Ripper, defeating Joe before their rematch at NXT TakeOver: Dallas. That same month, Balor became the longest-reigning NXT Champion, overtaking Neville’s record of 287 days.
Five days later, Balor lost the NXT Championship to Samoa Joe with a rematch at NXT TakeOver: The End in the brand's first-ever steel cage match. Joe successfully defended his title, ending The Demon’s undefeated run in NXT. This proved that Joe was the only man that could not be vanquished by the creature that resides inside Finn Balor.
Overuse of The Demon on WWE's Main Roster
In July 2016, Balor was drafted to RAW making a huge impression by beating a collection of WWE Main Roster regulars and earning an opportunity to compete at SummerSlam 2016 for the brand new WWE Universal Championship. To secure his win against Seth Rollins, Balor would yet again call on the Demon King.
The reign would only last a day as Balor injured his shoulder during the match and had to relinquish the title.
He returned to WWE on the RAW after WrestleMania 33 and tried to establish himself as someone to watch out for. This would prove to be a difficult task and, upon his defeat to Bray Wyatt, Balor would call on the Demon King for the first time since SummerSlam 2016.
At SummerSlam 2017, he would be successful in defeating Wyatt. Balor would again win over Wyatt, without the Demon, at No Mercy.
At TLC, the Demon King faced off against Sister Abigail but, due to unforeseen circumstances, Wyatt was replaced by AJ Styles. Earning a huge victory, the Demon King would defeat The Phenomenal One.
Balor stopped invoking the Demon to prove he was successful without it. During that time, he made his Royal Rumble appearance, faced off against Rollins, and competed in Money in the Bank ladder match.
The Demon returned at SummerSlam 2018 helping Balor defeat Baron Corbin. It would then stay dormant until WrestleMania 35.
Balor kept circling the title scene, but wasn't successful until Elimination Chamber 2019 where he pinned Lio Rush for Bobby Lashley’s Intercontinental title. He'd soon lose it back to Lashley, a month later, on RAW.
Frustrated by the lack of success, Balor again called on The Demon King to defeat Bobby Lashley and regain the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 35.
Balor went on to defeat Sami Zayn and Mustafa Ali while also feuding with a Andrade ‘Cein’ Almas. Soon, both Balor and Andrade moved to SmackDown. Balor then summoned the Demon at Super ShowDown to finally defeat Andrade.
Later, Balor lost the championship to Shinsuke Nakamura on Extreme Rules 2019 Pre-Show only to be attacked by The Fiend the following night leading to a match at SummerSlam 2019. Balor lost to The Fiend and was absent from WWE programming for nearly two months.
By the time his run on the main roster ended, Balor became overly reliant on the Demon King. But things would change on his reappearance in NXT.
Redefining himself as The Prince once again
Since Balor's return to NXT in October 2019, the Demon King hasn’t made a single appearance. Balor turned heel for the first time since being in WWE and returned to his Prince character. Balor embraced the Demon without having to physically change into him; it’s all physiological at this point.
On 8th September 2020, Balor won the NXT Championship for the second time at NXT: Super Tuesday II by defeating Adam Cole for the vacant title.
His success as the Prince continued at NXT TakeOver 31 in a match-of-the-night championship bout against Kyle O’Reilly. The match was halted due to both O’Reilly and Balor sustaining injuries. Balor suffered a broken jaw but, unlike his last injury, he didn’t relinquish the title and held onto it until his return in December.
On his return to NXT, Balor was confronted by Scarlett representing Karrion Kross (who dropped the NXT World Championship due to injury). He successfully defended at NXT: New Year’s Evil and NXT Takeover: Vengeance Day.
After 212 days as NXT Champion, Kross defeated the Prince at NXT Takeover: Stand & Deliver. Their rematch would mark the last NXT match for Balor.
Roman Reigns vs. Finn Balor: The Demon King Returns?
After spending almost two years in NXT, Balor returned to the main roster on the 16th July episode of Smackdown. He defeated Sami Zayn before confronting the Universal Champion, Roman Reigns, the following week.
On the 3rd September episode of SmackDown, Reigns defeated The Prince. Reigns was taken to the limit as this wasn’t the old Balor; this was a new, vicious version that had never been seen on the main roster before.
After the match, Balor was left in the middle of the ring, and a red light and the sound of a heartbeat was heard. Could this mean the return of The Demon King?
Roman Reigns has been the most dominant champion in all of WWE in the past year, and the new Balor nearly defeated him. But has this awoken the Demon? It feels as if the Demon King is approaching and ready to take over Balor.
