Everything you need to know about 'The Demon King' Finn Balor

Finn Balor and Neville [PAC] would go to war at NXT TakeOver: Rival in March 2015

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.

WWE teamed up with BOOM! Studios to create a comic book detailing the origins of the Demon and Balor.

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.