Finn Balor Has Moved Beyond Bullet Club...for Now

It would be a disservice right now, Balor says, but somewhere down the line? Never say never.

By Matt Fowler

Finn Balor, and his "Demon" persona, will step through the ropes in a few days time to square off against Bray Wyatt at WWE SummerSlam - emanating from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Sunday, August 20th.

On the same card that will feature Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Jinder Mahal for the WWE Championship and Braun Strowman, Roman Reigns, Samoa Joe and Brock Lesnar all battling for the WWE Universal Championship, Balor will don the black body paint and channel his inner torment to topple Wyatt and thwart the mind games.

But that wasn't always Balor's answer to Bray Wyatt. When I spoke to Balor, before this week's RAW, he had no intention of becoming the "Demon," saying...

"You know the Demon only comes out in certain special situations," Balor said, "and I don't think my match at SummerSlam against Bray Wyatt calls for it necessarily. I think I'm perfectly capable of handling that on on my own, as Finn Balor. The Demon is something I have to personally tap into and believe in and draw from and the opportunity hasn't arose and the situation hasn't presented itself yet. The story hasn't required it."

Since then though, things have changed. This past Monday, Balor suffered defeated and humiliation at the hands of Wyatt in the form of some sort of...marinara makeover...

Following that loss, Balor chose to evoke his demon clause and fans rejoiced.

Now, onto the topic of a possible Bullet Club reunion/revival. I asked Balor about whether or not he'd ever consider reforming Bullet Club in WWE, especially now that he Gallows and Anderson were all on RAW. Previously, AJ Styles had a brief "Bullet Club" style reunion with those guys, but is Balor seeking one as well?

"You know, the Bullet Club was back in 2013, or 2012, and it was a special moment on-screen," Balor told me. "What has been happening however - with myself, Gallows, and Anderson - off-screen for the last five years is the same. Nothing has changed for us. Were still buddies, we still travel together, we still text all the time, we still laugh at the stupidest jokes you've ever heard. When we formed Bullet Club that was a special moment in time and right now I feel like we're all doing our own thing and to try and recapture that magic when we're all at different positions on our career - they're going after the tag team titles and I'm doing my own thing - I think it would be a disservice to what we've done in the past."

Not that Balor didn't offer up a small tease...

"Going forward, in the future, who knows what'll happen?," he said. "I'm sure there'll be a point in time when we all get back together on-screen, but I feel like at this moment that it's something best not addressed on-screen. Because it almost leaves that mystery there as to 'When are they gonna do it?' as opposed to 'Aww, they've done it now.' Whether you see it on-screen or not though, rest assured there's plenty of Too Sweet'ing going on backstage. Like when we go out there for every single match. Right when we wake up and get in the car in the morning. There's Too Sweet'ing going on left, right and center all day. So for anyone upset that there's no Bullet Club or that we're not together - yes we are."

Finn Balor as the "Demon."

Balor's return to SummerSlam, particularly since it's once again taking place at Barclays Center, provides him with an opportunity to find a redeeming moment for his match from last year, where he became the inaugural WWE Universal Champion but suffered severe injury in the process.

"A lot of people are under the impression that I'll be a little bit nervous or reluctant to return to Barclays after what happened last year," he said, "but really I consider what happened last year - obviously in the moment in wasn't the best thing to happen to me - but I've returned now after my rehab as a better man and a better fighter. The last year has been a big journey for me, you know, not just personally but professionally as well. I'm a lot more aggressive in the ring and I'm excited now to be going back to Barclays so that I can create a new moment that will influence the rest of my career. Obviously, I hope it's not an injury, but if this year's SummerSlam can have the same affect on my career as last year's SummerSlam then I'm going in the right direction."

Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN and a member of the Television Critics Association (TCA). Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and Facebook at http://ift.tt/2aJ67FB.

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