About 5 months ago on his NXT Revolution review, Vince Russo said Finn Balor's paint is awesome, but he needs to act like the monster instead of just dressing like one. He said Balor is still "just a wrestler" inside the paint and it's not doing much for his character. Balor's merch was selling so well at the time that I didn't see it as a big deal, but now, he's still pretty much the same guy he was on his debut. Seriously, what is Balor without the paint? An Irish Hideo Itami? They have an almost identical moveset, but Balor gets away with it because he looks cool, he's a pretty boy, and he carries himself like a star. This will not last in the long term once the shock factor of the paint goes away. It became glaringly obvious to me after his boring match with Breeze. All I could take away from it was his epic entrance.
With that said, I'd like to see "The Demon" come out of Balor more and be incorporated into his character. Have him have an internal struggle with himself and show more depth than just being "Cool paint guy".
I agree, but I'm not gonna hold it against him until he has more time in WWE under his belt. Don't really care about the "story" of Finn's demon to be honest. I look at the paint as a signature for a big moment, nothing more. I don't really expect him to do it every night.
If he's still like this 3 years from now with no real change/development, then there's a problem. I just find the way he changes little things in his entrance over time fascinating. I mean, we are literally watching the development of a star right before our eyes.
Did anyone else know he had a some kind of sponsorship with Armani Exchange? Kinda amazing if you think about it.
I agree, but I'm not gonna hold it against him until he has more time in WWE under his belt.
If he's still like this 3 years from now with no real change/development, then there's a problem. I just find the way he changes little things in his entrance over time fascinating. I mean, we are literally watching the development of a star right before our eyes.
Did anyone else know he had a some kind of sponsorship with Armani Exchange? Kinda amazing if you think about it.
This is what NXT is for to take a great wrestler like Balor and also make him a great character. HHH has already taught him how to work the camera better which he is doing.
Well then fuck it, let's pretend that the Almighty Triple H himself is the one who said it: it's still right.
Drop your fucking bias for once and just listen. There's nothing wrong with what was said. Balor SHOULD take his character farther than he does now. How do you even disagree with that besides making horsecrap ad hominem attacks?
He's just a guy with paint. Now if his character and style would change with the paint that would give him interest and depth.
I said it after his match with Adrian Neville a few months back, he should only need the paint when he needs to use it, he didn't need it for Tyler Breeze (but because it was a number 1 contendors match I'll let it slide) but he should use it against Kevin Owens because he failed to beat Owens the first time and he can act like the paint gives him the ability to do new moves and helps him finally defeat his opponent
Whilst he's a solid wrestler, when the paint comes out I would like something different. More aggression. play on the demon gimmick more. That is why I think he should only come out to it on special occasions. Hasn't he come out in paint in every NXT PPV so far? Whilst it looks cool, I'd rather it was saved to the ultimate end to a feud. For example, if he was to feud with Owens for the title, have him fight as Finn Balor, lose. After constant failure to gain the big one, have him come out paint and all and show a ruthless demonic side to him. Not saying I feel it should pan out that way with him being the number one contender at the moment but I don't want it to be an overkill with him being painted up every single PPV, imagine when he comes to the main roster with the amount of PPVs they are smashing out.
Must have missed this, but then, Russo's thoughts are entirely unremarkable. He's either smark pandering or being a hipster contrarian. Either way, it's usually still someting someone has already said before.
Plenty of people here have been saying Balor's not ready. He still has no discernible personality.
I don't agree that Balor should be playing up to the demon thing, and act like a monster all the time. That would be missing the point of that aspect of his "gimmick" entirely.
We just need to know who Finn Balor is, and the greater juxtaposition between Fin and the Demon, the better.
On the paint topic, I'm already bored of it.
Previously, with it obviously being longer between events where he'd be painting up, and the paint also usually being something new each time, the intrigue each time was far higher.
The novelty has already warn off somewhat, due partly to the regular PPVs and mainly just because it's the same paint every time (more or less).
i agree, i have been very underwhelmed by Balor. to the point where i was enjoying Itami more. His promos havent been good in my opinion. his face paint and entrance is cool but everything else has felt pretty generic. The face paint should bring out a new aggresive side for sure.
i feel like Balor is pretty much ready, but the paint is actually kinda of restricting him. He's a great wrestler, and has a lot of charisma, but he's almost overshadowed by the facepaint, and that makes everything that he does seem kind of mediocre in comparison. He needs to find a balance, or he'll be defined as the cool paint dude.
Definitely, the paint has to have a meaning. I think Balor needs to have a more frenzied brawling style when he wears the paint but then have a more collected technical style without it. And they need to give a Finn a character. The international star character is fine for a guy's first few months but Finn actually needs something substantial now. Finn needs to be allowed to let his personality come through a bit more and I think that would definitely help him in building a character people can attach too. And when he turns heel, he can start acting more like The Demon with the paint off, like it's overwhelming him. WWE could have their hands on a major star here but he needs to be handled properly or he could be lost in the shuffle.
Again, I compared him to Hardy. I know Balor is a better technical wrestler. But go back to 2008-2009 in WWE. Jeff Hardy was basically the top man. He got the biggest pops. Sold a bunch of merch. Wore face paint. Main evented several PPV's in that time. Hardy during that period (or any period really) wasn't a great promo cutter and didn't have a great character outside of being a dare devil. But he was still one of the (if not the biggest) star at the time. Now, Jeff had about ten years in WWE before all of that happened, but you get my point.
Balor will get by purely on the "enigma" of Finn Balor. He will get the pops. He will get the merch. He will get the push. But I want to see him at his full potential as a character.
I believe @THANOS suggested a Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde character with Balor. Something like that cold work. Balor and the demon should be 2 different personalities. Balor as the enigmatic pretty boy and the demon as, well, the demon.
Did you listen to Stone Cold's Payback review podcast? He actually totally disagrees :lol. He said that Balor actually plays the character too much when he has the paint on, that he needs to be real and organic like he is without the paint and just be Balor the badass worker and leave the Jeff Hardy 2.0 stuff alone. I understand what Austin is saying tbh, in this era characters with that real legitimate edge get over and stay over a lot more than outlandish gimmicky ones.
I don't totally agree with him though, I remember a thread awhile ago where someone suggested making Balor literally a Dr. Jekyll / Mr. Hyde type character where he has a totally different moveset and mindset under the paint, it would also be a really good way to explain why he uses it. Would that work on the main roster long term either? In NJPW his career really took off after he turned heel and I still think he'll excel in that role oneday too so there's still so much scope for evolution in the long term anyway.
Of all the guys in NXT, Finn's the one I'm least worried about when he debuts. He was already getting decent reactions without any fanfare or body paint in front of those really casual house show crowds that for the most part didn't know who he was when he worked main roster live events which is really impressive and speaks volumes for what he brings.
He definitely needs a different move set in the paint. He needs to show a more reckless approach and when he's not in the paint, act like he is actually scared of what the Demon might do.
Did you listen to Stone Cold's Payback review podcast? He actually totally disagrees :lol. He said that Balor actually plays the character too much when he has the paint on, that he needs to be real and organic like he is without the paint and just be Balor the badass worker and leave the Jeff Hardy 2.0 stuff alone. I understand what Austin is saying tbh, in this era characters with that real legitimate edge get over and stay over a lot more than outlandish gimmicky ones.
I don't totally agree with him though, I remember a thread awhile ago where someone suggested making Balor literally a Dr. Jekyll / Mr. Hyde type character where he has a totally different moveset and mindset under the paint, it would also be a really good way to explain why he uses it. Would that work on the main roster long term either? In NJPW his career really took off after he turned heel and I still think he'll excel in that role oneday too so there's still so much scope for evolution in the long term anyway.
Of all the guys in NXT, Finn's the one I'm least worried about when he debuts. He was already getting decent reactions without any fanfare or body paint in front of those really casual house show crowds that for the most part didn't know who he was when he worked main roster live events which is really impressive and speaks volumes for what he brings.
I did listen to that, and I understand that Austin is a wrestling purist. What I've taken away from this is that we have two extreme points of view from opposite sides of the spectrum, and obviously I'll be siding with Russo because I'm more of an entertainment guy, but I'm willing to meet somewhere in the middle if Balor develops a personality. I like the guy and I know he will succeed regardless, but I want to see more from him without having to pull the go to IWC remedy of "Welp, turn him heel."
How about the Kishin Liger route. When someone like El Samurai kept trying to pull off his mask or a dirty heel kept being underhanded, once in a while Liger when the time was right would snap and completely change his character throwing the match out the window flipping that switch. Obviously, Balor isn't masked, so it cannot happen in match, but perhaps for more personal builds or on rematches when the heel comes off a dirty win, or big moments when Balor needs that boost, Balor can go the Kishin Liger route with his paint. I don't know if it would work quite as well as it did with Liger since Liger is one of the very best ring performers/showmen I've seen, but I think it could get quite over.
People, Vince Russo is a fool. Balor doesn't need anything other than what he has already shown. He is the next "Sting" type. What I mean is this. The body paint is very similar to the face paint era. Except no one else is really drawing all over their body. What he is doing is unique. His mysterious ways and well rehearsed body movements make him an attraction. That's all he needs to get over. May I also his work in the ring is beyond phenomenal. His entrance is amazing, and he has the look. Stop trying to fix what isn't broken.
Balor has nothing to entice me to him at this stage. Absolutely nothing. Apart from the 5-second visual gratification that comes from his paint I've seen nothing so far that justifies his push.
It's 2015 a Jekyll/Hyde character wouldn't work because it would look too cartoony.
The Generic Jackhammer Thinn Balor is so bland. I was expecting so much since he was put on a pedestal by the IWC but he's just a skinny bland guy who has a pretty gay entrance. Like why's he writhing on the floor like that? Needless to say I think he's been the least impressive out of all the indy guys signed by the WWE.
BBR acting like Russo is the only person to ever think this.
I'm pretty sure even Balor fans know he's stagnating and hasn't done anything new. At least his paint is interesting, and he has something interesting about him other than his ring skills, unlike a lot of other talent.
Just look at his past he can evolve when he needs to. He was awesome as the leader of the Bullet Club (which has recently basically become the Kliq unfortunately) and as a Heel plus his in ring style can change when he alternates paint. I do not think he needs to really do anything at the moment he is still fresh like very fresh even with the paint all he needs to do is add bits to it (each time it looks like he is evolving) and carry on wrestling well.
This is Russo though his words are getting crazier the more he ages lol.
He will sell a lot of merch and will be getting major pushes the more he just works well as he is a very hard worker probably from his upbringing when he got into wrestling.
I like the idea of a Bruce Wayne/Batman or Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde type of situation where the character has two personalities.
They aren't really allowing him to develop his character outside the paint unlike for instance what they have done with Itami where they have him about 5-10 minutes of development where we see his family or what they did with Becky Lynch this week where she got to tell her story about how she got where she is.
I think he's excellent without the paint but the paint is an immediate attention grabber, it's going to be crazy on the main roster.
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