What’s the story?
Irish professional wrestler Jordan Devlin spoke to Sky Sports prior to the WWE U.K. Championship tournament which began yesterday. The conversation saw him discuss what he learnt from fellow countryman Finn Balor, if he was looking forward to a weekly WWE show for the U.K. and why he was chosen for the tournament.
In case you didn’t know…
Devlin hails from a town named Bray in the Wicklow county of Ireland. In a near-decade long career, the 26-year old has wrestled in a number of other countries away from home including England, Spain, Germany and Japan. Some of the major promotions that he has represented are Revolution Pro Wrestling, Insane Championship Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Zero1 and Over The Top Wrestling to name a few.
The heart of the matter
Jordan Devlin has been trained by former WWE Universal Champion Finn Balor and was asked about what he learnt from him. He said that he has known Balor for over 16 years now and feels that his career is a lesson in perseverance and staying stuck at achieving something. Here’s what Devlin had to say:
“I followed his career and it was 16 years between when I first met him and he won the Universal Title - he is a lesson in terms of perseverance and sticking at it. Every time he had a sniff at anything big in wrestling he always tried his hardest to achieve it, so he really inspired me that way as well. His view was that every training session was important.”
The young wrestler expressed his excitement over a possible weekly WWE show for the U.K. and said that it was a fantastic feeling because the wrestling scene in the region had been in the wilderness for a while. He also wished to have a part to play if the show goes to Ireland as it would be a dream come true for him. He stated:
“It's mind-blowing. The UK scene was out in the wilderness a little bit so to see its revival first hand, to see the enormous talent pool, and to think there might be a weekly TV show is fantastic. If we took it to Ireland and I played some part in it, however small, that would be a dream come true.”
On why, according to him, the WWE had chosen him for the U.K. tournament, Devlin hoped that it was not because he looked like Finn Balor. He opined that it was probably because he had so much experience despite being just 26 years old and also the fact that he has wrestled in different parts of the world. This is what Jordan Devlin was quoted as saying:
“I hope it's down to more than just looking like Finn! I am athletic and am very experienced for a guy who is just 26 years of age having been in the game for 14 years. I have been all over the world, throughout Europe and in Japan, so I have lots of bases covered.”
What next?
Jordan Devlin defeated Danny Burch by pinfall in his first round match yesterday and progressed to the quarter-finals of the U.K. Championship tournament, where he will face off against Tyler Bate.
Sportskeeda’s Take
With the kind of talent that Devlin possesses, he may be in line to be the next big Irish superstar after the likes of Sheamus, Finn Balor and Becky Lynch among others.
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