Finn Balor

Fergal Devitt (born 25 March 1981) is an Irish professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Finn Bálor. He is a member of The Judgment Day. He is also well known by his former ring name Prince Devitt.

Finn Bálor
Bálor in 2024
Born	(1981-03-25) 25 March 1981 (age 44) Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	C.T.U Ranger Red (II) Fergal Devitt Finn Bálor Pegasus Kid (II) Prince Devitt The Demon
Billed height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Billed weight	86 kg (190 lb)
Billed from	Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland
Trained by	NWA UK Hammerlock Andre Baker Johnny Moss Jon Ryan New Japan Inoki Dojo
Debut	2000

Devitt is previously known for his work in New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW). During his time there, he was a three-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion and six-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion, holding the title with Minoru twice and with Ryusuke Taguchi four times. Devitt was also the winner of the Be st of the Super Juniors tournament twice in 2010 and 2013. With New Japan's working promotion with Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), he made appearances for them and won the NWA World Historic Middleweight Champion once. Devitt was the leader of the Bullet Club stable.

Devitt signed with WWE's NXT in 2014. He started using his current name. Bálor won the NXT Championship twice. He held the title the first time for 292 days. This was the longest time anyone had been champion until Adam Cole broke the record on 19 March 2020. During his time in NXT, Bálor became the first co-winner of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. His partner was Samoa Joe. Shortly after going to the main roster, Bálor became the first wrestler in WWE history to win a world title at their first pay-per-view. He was the second Irish world champion in WWE (after Sheamus). Balor is the quickest wrestler in WWE history to win a world title at 27 days after joining the main roster. He became the first WWE Universal Champion at SummerSlam 2016. Bálor is also a two-time Intercontinental Champion, a one-time United States Champion, and a six-time Tag Team Champion as part of the Judgment Day with both the Raw Tag Team Championship and SmackDown Tag Team Championship.

WWE (2014–present)

NXT

On 28 July 2014, WWE said that they had signed Devitt to a contract and that he would join NXT that same day.^[1]

On 24 September 2014, it was announced that his new ring name would be Finn Bálor. This name comes from the Irish mythological figures Fionn mac Cumhaill and Balor. Balor is Gaelic for "Demon King".^[2][3]

In wrestling

• Finishing moves
  • As Finn Bálor
    • Coup de grace (Diving double leg foot stomp)^[4]
  • As Prince Devitt
    • Bloody Sunday (Lifting single underhook DDT, he sometimes did it from the top rope)
    • Brainbuster
    • Devitt's End (High-angle Fujiwara armbar)
    • Prince's Throne (Fireman's carry double knee gutbuster)
    • Reverse Bloody Sunday (Lifting inverted DDT)
    • Shingata Prince's Throne (Overhead gutwrench backbreaker rack dropped into a double knee gutbuster)^[5]
• Signature moves
  • Airplane spin
  • Diving double foot stomp, sometimes to a tree of woe hung opponent^[6]
  • Dreamcast (Jumping corkscrew roundhouse kick)^[7]
  • Overhead kick
  • Somersault suicide senton
• With Ryusuke Taguchi
  • Double team finishing moves
    • Black Hole Vacation (Elevated double chickenwing by Taguchi dropped into a double knee gutbuster by Devitt)
    • Black Sunday (Chickenwing facebuster (Taguchi) / Single underhook DDT (Devitt) combination)
    • Moon Landing (Powerbomb (Taguchi) / Double knee backbreaker (Devitt) combination)^[8]
• Nicknames
  • "Irish Young Gun"
  • "Irish Captor"^[9]
  • "Real Rock 'n' Rolla"^[10]
  • "Real Shooter"^[11]
• Entrance themes
  • "Jump (DJ Power Mix)" by Eskimo (NJPW; 2006)
  • "When the Sun Goes Down" by Arctic Monkeys (NJPW; 2007)
  • "You're the Best" by Joe Esposito^[12] (NJPW; 2008–2013)
  • "Real Rock n Rolla" by New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW; 2013–2014)^[13]
  • "Last Chance Saloon" by Deviant and Naive Ted^[14] (NJPW; 2013–2014; used while a part of Bullet Club)
  • "Real Rock 'n Rolla (Breaking Point) (Tokyo Dome ver.)" by Yonosuke Kitamura (NJPW; 2014)^[15]
  • "Catch Your Breath" by CFO$ (WWE; 2014–2022)^[16]
  • "I AM DANGER" by Def Rebel (WWE; 2022–present)^[17]

Championships and accomplishments

Devitt is a three-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship|IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion.

Bálor is a two-time NXT Champion, and also holds the record for longest combined reign at 504 days.

Bálor is a two-time WWE Intercontinental Champion.

• American Wrestling Roadshow
  • Wrestling.Ie Championship (1 time)^[18]
• Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre
  • NWA World Historic Middleweight Championship (1 time)^[19]
• Insane Championship Wrestling
  • ICW Zero-G Championship (1 time)^[20]
• Kaientai Dojo
  • Best Tag Team Match (2010) with Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Makoto Oishi and Shiori Asahi on 17 April^[21]
• New Japan Pro-Wrestling
  • IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship (3 times)^[22]
  • IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship (6 times) – with Minoru (2) and Ryusuke Taguchi (4)^[23]
  • Best of the Super Juniors (2010, 2013)^[24][25]
  • J Sports Crown Openweight 6 Man Tag Tournament (2010, 2011) – with Ryusuke Taguchi and Hirooki Goto^[26][27][28]
• New York Post
  • Faction of the Year (2023) as part of The Judgment Day^[29]
• NWA UK Hammerlock
  • NWA British Commonwealth Heavyweight Championship (2 times)^[30][31]
• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • Faction of the Year (2023) as part of The Judgment Day
  • Ranked No. 3 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2016^[32]
• Revolution Pro Wrestling
  • British Cruiserweight Championship (1 time)^[33][34]
• Rolling Stone
  • NXT Star of the Year (2015)^[35]
• Tokyo Sports
  • Best Bout Award (2010) with Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi on 11 October^[36]
• Wrestling Observer Newsletter
  • Most Underrated (2018)^[37][38]
• WWE
  • WWE Universal Championship (1 time, first)^[39][40]
  • NXT Championship (2 times)^[41]
  • WWE Intercontinental Championship (2 times)^[42]
  • WWE United States Championship (1 time)^[43]
  • WWE Raw/World Tag Team Championship^[a] (4 times) – with Damian Priest (2), and JD McDonagh (2)^[44]
  • WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship^[b] (2 times) – with Damian Priest^[45]
  • 17th Grand Slam Champion (under current format; 24th overall)
  • Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic (2015) – with Samoa Joe^[46]
  • NXT Championship #1 Contender's Tournament (2015)^[47]
  • Slammy Award (1 time)
    • Faction of the Year (2024) – as a member of The Judgment Day
  • NXT Year-End Award (3 times)^[48]
    • Male Competitor of the Year (2015)^[49]
    • Overall Competitor of the Year (2015)^[49]
    • Match of the Year (2020) vs. Kyle O'Reilly at NXT TakeOver: 31^[50]

Footnotes

1. During his first two reigns, the title was called "WWE Raw Tag Team Championship" and was defended together with the SmackDown Tag Team Championship as the Undisputed Tag Team Championship.
2. Defended together with the Raw Tag Team Championship as the Undisputed Tag Team Championship.