WWE NXT: Now that Finn Balor turned heel, possibilities are endless

Finn Balor turned heel last night on WWE NXT television and the possibilities going forward are endless.

There have been some shocking heel turns in WWE NXT history. Kevin Owens jumped his best friend Sami Zayn after Sami had finally won his first major championship. Tommaso Ciampa threw his best friend Johnny Gargano into the NXT stage lighting after a brutal ladder match.

Last night, Finn Balor added his name into those same history books.

The end of NXT on USA last night was an electric one. Balor emerged onto the NXT ramp seemingly to even the score as The Undisputed Era stared down D.I.Y. with a four-on-two advantage.

Mid jacket removal, Balor hit Gargano with one of the most beautiful Pele kicks ever delivered in a wrestling ring. As the Undisputed Era laid waste to Tomasso Ciampa, Balor decimated Gargano.

The week prior, Finn Balor had some calculated comments on NXT televison. He told the audience that “Next week, his future would be his past.”

He also alluded to his life coming to a crossroads. As the only way to find a path to take is to revisit one’s that have been walked before. Balor’s words were precise and cold-blooded. This is a Finn Balor we have not seen in quite some time.

This sparks some memories of his run as Prince Devitt in New Japan. A run that saw him turn heel on his former Apollo 55 tag partner, Ryusuke Taguchi, at NJPW Invasion Attack in 2013. He’d then immediately align himself with Bad Luck Fale to eventually form a faction aptly named “The Bullet Club.”

In his newfound sinister persona, success began to follow him. He won the New Japan Best of the  Super Juniors in 2013. A riot ensued in the middle of the ring following his victory. Devitt drew some hateful responses from Japanese crowds as he and The Bullet Club were becoming stronger by the day.

To add-on to his persona, Prince Devitt adopted his now famous body paint – which served as a precursor for what we now recognize as his “Demon King” paint – in 2014 at Wrestle Kingdom 8. Devitt continued to use this side of his character in big matches until he left New Japan to sign with the WWE and be placed in NXT as Finn Balor. The rest, as they say, is history.

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If the last few weeks are any indication of where Finn Balor’s career is headed, we are in for a treat as wrestling fans. Many fans and pundits have pointed to Balor as an often misused talent that has deserved better in the WWE. Nevermind that he is a former NXT champion and the first WWE Universal champion. In the “what have you done for me lately” society that we live in, Finn Balor has taken a back seat to many other performers and his character has lacked a motive without the killer instinct that made him so popular everywhere he has gone.

In coming back to NXT, Finn Balor revisited his past to ensure his future is going to be a promising one. The moment he walked down the ramp, you could see something different in his demeanor. Balor then proceeded to go dark last Wednesday night and left one of the most popular wrestlers in NXT history to be carried out in an ambulance.

Johnny Gargano has also been a little under the radar himself recently. After losing his NXT Championship to Adam Cole following a two month reign which was less than memorable. Ever since then, Gargano has been left with no direction and has been used sparingly on NXT television.

That could all change with a feud between Finn Balor and Johnny Gargano, especially since they’re both five star performers. If you’re not fired up for a contest between a ruthless Finn Balor and a cunning Johnny Gargano, you better check your pulse. It’s a five star match in the making, something we are used to with Johnny Gargano. Yet, we finally get to see an unleashed Finn Balor show the world what they have been missing since he came over from Japan in 2014.

This is what excites me most about Finn Balor turning heel. We get to see a character reborn, one that elicits a deep emotion from wrestling fans. It’s exactly what the doctor ordered for the returning NXT star. What his motives were to go rogue and revisit his past will play out over the coming weeks.

Beware pro wrestling fans, we are about to embark on a side of Finn Balor that had to be brought back from the dead. The fireworks to be seen going forward in NXT from Balor are going to leave the wrestling world in a better place.