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"The Demon" is Finn Balor's most popular persona in WWE. It's not one that fans see very often, keeping it special. Finn Balor's "Demon" persona was introduced to WWE on December 11th, 2014 in the NXT Takeover: R-Evolution event.
On that occasion, Finn Balor debuted what would become his signature "Demon" persona when he teamed up with Hideo Itami to defeat The Ascension.
Finn Balor's "Demon" persona gained a lot of traction in NXT, where he emerged as the top babyface. It came as no surprise that he had the body paint on when he defeated Kevin Owens to win the NXT Championship in Tokyo in 2015.
Interestingly enough, Finn Balor had only a single defeat in the 5 years that he had the Demon persona in WWE. While the "Demon" persona was highly protected in NXT, he lost to Samoa Joe in June 2016, marking his sole defeat with The Demon Persona.
It took place at NXT Takeover: The End - also Finn Balor's last match in NXT for over 3 years.
When Finn Balor made his highly-anticipated debut on the WWE main roster in 2016, his persona was named "The Demon King". This was because the name "Balor" is Gaelic for Demon King.
Did Finn Balor lose as The Demon on the WWE main roster?
While Finn Balor's run on the WWE main roster was highly criticized by several fans who saw him in NXT, "The Demon" has a better record between the summer of 2016 and June 2019.
With "The Demon" persona, Finn Balor defeated Seth Rollins at SummerSlam 2016 to become the first-ever Universal Champion. He also defeated Bray Wyatt and AJ Styles with The Demon persona in 2017 while overcoming Baron Corbin in 2018.
In 2019 at WrestleMania 35, Finn Balor returned as The Demon to defeat Bobby Lashley and capture the Intercontinental Championship. His last appearance with The Demon persona was in June 2019 when he defeated Andrade to retain the Intercontinental title.
When asked about bringing back The Demon persona against Karrion Kross at NXT Takeover: Stand & Deliver this past June, Finn Balor admitted that he feels returning as The Demon would be a step back in his career:
"For me in this moment in my career, I feel like The Demon would be a step back. I feel like right now with my ring work as The Prince I feel very comfortable, I feel very controlled, I feel very confident, and I feel that’s the direction I have to go at TakeOver.”
Finn Balor may have made a rule that if he wrestles as The Demon, he shouldn't lose. Otherwise, he simply has no reason to bring out The Demon persona.
He is now back on the main roster as a part of the SmackDown brand and it will be interesting to see if fan demand ever makes him want to bring The Demon persona back.
