Finn Balor became the face of NXT in the mid-2010s, and when he was moved up to the main roster, a main event push was clearly planned. Unfortunately, a shoulder injury saw him forced to vacate the Universal Championship just one night after winning it during the SummerSlam PPV in 2016.
It was all downhill from there, and while Balor has occasionally been used in that main event spot, he's mostly filled a midcard role in WWE. A return to NXT prior to its rebranding saw "The Demon" given a fresh lick of paint as "The Prince," but since returning to the main roster - initially as part of the SmackDown brand - we've heard Vince McMahon has given up on Balor.
During a recent interview with My Love Letter to Wrestling's Mark Andrews (via WrestlingNews.co), Balor revealed he initially requested to go to NXT UK instead of SmackDown.
"Believe it or not, I actually pitched to go to NXT UK when they asked me to go to Smackdown because I knew my time at NXT was coming to an end," Balor recalled. It had been two years and I had worked with everyone. There was not really much more I could do there I felt."
"The idea came to go to Smackdown, and I counterpitched with NXT UK. They said maybe in a couple years but we need you on Smackdown right now."
"For me, the move to NXT U.K. would have been the move. There’s so many great guys there. Obviously, it’s closer to home. I’ve been stuck in America for the last two years with COVID heightened the feeling of isolation in WWE in that bubble away from my friends and family," Balor continued. "There were multiple reasons why I wanted to go to NXT UK. but the main one was because of guys like Noam, A-Kid, all these matches I haven’t really had the chance to put together. That was like a fresh challenge."
It didn't happen, and Balor is now stuck on RAW jobbing to Austin Theory at the behest of WWE's Chairman. Hopefully, things will look up for him soon, whether it's in NXT UK...or AEW.