Finn Balor Describes His New Heel Persona, Pushes for a NXT Championship Match at WrestleMania

Finn Balor shocked the wrestling world in the closing moments of NXT last week when he turned heel and delivered a Pele Kick to Johnny Gargano in the middle of the ring. The move came as a surprise given that Balor had just made the jump back to NXT and hadn't been a heel since he joined WWE back in 2014. The change in character led many fans to wonder if he would go back to his days as the "Real Rock'n Rolla" and Bullet Club leader Prince Devitt from his time in New Japan Pro Wrestling. However in a new interview with Sports Illustrated Balor explained that he's got something a little different in mind.

"People still talk about Bullet Club, but Bullet Club, for me, that was like six years ago," Balor said. "You know how much I've done in six years? Last year alone I wrestled 172 matches. I've evolved far beyond what I was doing in Japan.

"This is a new version of Finn," he continued. "This is the combination of the squeaky clean babyface in Japan, the Bullet Club heel in Japan, the squeaky clean babyface in NXT that carried the company for 292 days on his back, the guy who won the Universal title on his first pay per view, the guy who beat Roman Reigns on his first night, The Demon and every Demon entrance I've ever done, it's a combination of everything I've ever done for the last 20 years. To call it a return to Prince Devitt/Bullet Club is an understatement."

Balor also pushed for the idea of bringing the NXT Championship to WWE's biggest stage now that the brand is no longer considered WWE's developmental brand.

"NXT is its own brand," Balor said. "SmackDown is on WrestleMania, Raw is on WrestleMania, I don't see why NXT shouldn't be part of WrestleMania. Obviously, we have our own unique TakeOver events, and those are a completely different atmosphere from WWE pay-per-views, but I don't see any reason why an NXT championship match cannot be held at WrestleMania."

The former WWE Universal Champion also hinted at the possibility of bringing in two more members for his Balor Club.

"There are a couple people I've been thinking about. I don't know if it's possible, but I'm very, very, very interested in AOP," he said. "Those two guys are two of the meanest guys in this business. If I have a chance to create a Balor Club in any brand, I'd want those guys backing me up."