During Wrestlemania 34 in April 2018, WWE superstar, Finn Balor, made what has been described as the gayest entrance in the history of wrestling. The Irish wrestler not only wore a t-shirt with a rainbow-colored design but was also accompanied by members of the New Orleans LGBTQ community. Balor later announced that he would be making donations to a prominent LGBT organization, GLAAD.
This singular gesture endeared him to a lot of gay people and gay rights supporters, in addition, it also raised questions on whether the pro-wrestler is gay or not. While many people speculated on his sexuality with what they supposed were convincing enough to label him gay, Finn Balor quietly got married to a lady and therefore put a stop to the speculations about his sexuality. Find out all about it here.
Finn Balor Made His Wrestling Debut In The Year 2000
As a youngster, Finn Balor who was born Fergal Devitt loved all things sports and played soccer as well as Gaelic football. He also loved watching sports shows and grew up admiring wrestlers such as Shawn Michaels and The British Bull Dogs. Finn later decided to pursue his passion and started training with the National Wrestling Alliance UK, at the age of 18. It did not take long for his talent to shine through as he won the NWA British Commonwealth heavyweight championship shortly after.
Between 2000 and 2006, Finn Balor toured the U.K., the U.S., and Ireland and added several belts to his haul. He launched NWA Ireland in his country in 2002 and his wrestling promotion eventually became a sister group of NWA UK Hammerlock. While there, he served as the trainer of the three-time WWE SmackDown Women’s champion, Becky Lynch. At the NWA 57th Anniversary show in October 2005, Finn Balor claimed his second British Commonwealth title after defeating Dru Onyx. He then lost the title to Karl Anderson in the next year.
He later moved to Japan in March 2006 and signed with New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Balor spent a total of 14 years in Japan during which he used the ring name, Prince Devitt. He first teamed up with the Control Terrorism Unit before forming Apollo 55 with Ryusuke Taguchi in July 2008. He won the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship with each of the team and ended up winning the IWGP junior heavyweight championship (3 times) and the IWGP junior heavyweight tag team championship (6 times).
The Irishman was also named the best of the super juniors on two occasions. In January 2014, prior to joining the WWE, his fourteen-months reign as the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion was ended in his fifth title defense as he suffered defeat at the hands of Kota Ibushi. He afterward departed the New Japan Pro-Wrestling in April 2014.
Joining WWE In 2014, He Set A New Record In The Promotion
Finn Balor finally made it to the big leagues in May 2014 when he was signed to the WWE’s developmental territory, NXT. Joining the promotion, he adopted his current ring name, Finn Balor and moved on to prove that his Japanese exploits were no fluke and emerged NXT champion after defeating Kevin Owens at The Beast in the East match held in Tokyo, Japan in May 2015. He then went on to claim the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament after defeating the likes of The Lucha Dragons, Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady, Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson, and Baron Corbin and Rhyno.
He retained the NXT Championship title for 292 days, emerging the longest-reigning NXT Champion in the process after surpassing Adrian Neville’s past record of 287 days. His record, however, was broken in March 2020 by Adam Cole. During the 2016 WWE draft, the skilled wrestler was drafted to the Raw brand and then went on to win the WWE Universal Championship at his pay-per-view debut after he scored victory over Seth Rollins at SummerSlam.
He first emerged victorious in a fatal four-way match, defeating Rusev, Kevin Owens, Cesaro and Roman Reigns before his victory over Rollins established him as the inaugural Universal Champion, thus, becoming the quickest wrestler to achieve such feat in the history of WWE. He, however, relinquished the title due to injury setbacks and later won the International Championship at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view in February 2019.
He Made A Return To NXT In 2019
In October 2019, Finn Balor returned to WWE NXT which is now regarded as the third global brand within WWE, having grown from a developmental territory. Following his victory over Matt Riddle at NXT TakeOver: WarGames, the pro wrestler contended for the NXT Championship against Adam Cole and was unsuccessful. Later in February 2020, he defeated Johnny Gargano at NXT TakeOver: Portland and went on to score a victory over Damian Priest at NXT TakeOver: In Your House.
Also, he defeated Timothy Thatcher at NXT TakeOver: XXX before emerging victorious over Adam Cole at NXT: Super Tuesday II, winning the NXT Championship for the second time. Having achieved a successful career in wrestling, Balor is said to be worth around $2 million.
The Irish Wrestler Has Endeared Himself To The LGBTQ Community
Finn Balor is not gay but he is a vocal supporter of gay rights. During Wrestlemania 34 in New Orleans in April 2018, the wrestler was accompanied by several members of the local LGBTQ community when he made his grand entrance. He did not stop at that but also redesigned his trademark triangle logo in the rainbow colors. After the match, the Irishman also announced that a portion of proceeds from the sale of his merchandise will be donated to GLAAD.
Balor’s actions won him hundreds of fans with many gay people expressing their gratitude for a moment that meant so much to them. The Wrestler also received praise from a former WWE superstar, Darren Young. Young is WWE’s first openly-gay superstar and he revealed that the historic moment moved him to tears.
He Secretly Married His Girlfriend Veronica In 2019
Finn Balor is married to Fox Sports reporter, Veronica Rodriguez. The couple first confirmed their romance during the 2019 UEFA Champions League final in Madrid. Rodriguez was covering the match for her channel while Balor, a keen football fan, was there to support one of the teams. She asked him for his thoughts on which team would be victorious and he replied that the big question was whether they were dating.
Rodriguez answered yes and Balor replied that since that was the case, it didn’t really matter who won the match as he has already won in life. The loved-up pair later posted a beautiful couple photo on Balor’s Instagram handle. They officially became husband and wife on August 24th, 2019. As indicated by Balor’s IG post, the secret nuptials took place in a jungle as the lovebirds decided to make the occasion quite memorable in the midst of nature. The two are happily married and are yet to expand their family.
Facts About Finn Balor’s Sweetheart
Finn Balor’s significant other is also popular in the sports industry, having been working as a sports broadcaster for several years. She hails from Mexico and was born on March 26th, 1987. Details of her family background are yet to be made public. Veronica has been working as a TV host for over a decade as she started her career at Pumas TV in the year 2007.
While there, she covered the daily activities of the football team UNAM before joining Fox Sports where she hosts and sometimes provides reports for WWE Saturday Nights.