Finn Balor showed up at Over the Top Wrestling’s The Dream Before Christmas show tonight (Dec. 17) in Dublin. That’s not really surprising at all... he was in the United Kingdom for the WWE’s championship tournament announcement (and probably for the holiday with his family while continuing to rehab his shoulder).
Why not? It’s not like he got physical or anything.
What is pretty interesting is what he said. Balor was making an appearance on an event which was streamed worldwide by FloSlam, and he was there with a message of pro wrestling unity... right down to Christmas wishes from Triple H to a crowd that booed the term “sports entertainment”.
You can watch it above, but here’s the relevant bit:
Call this what you want, if it’s pro wrestling or it’s sports entertainment. But from the bottom right to the very top - this community? We need to stand together... unified. And there is no better example of unity than a WWE wrestler standing in an OTT ring. And the best part about it? I’m not even gonna get in trouble. So from myself, from Triple H, from the WWE and from OTT, I would like to wish you a very Merry Christmas.
If this is the new WWE Network/Developmental mission statement (and it’s in line with things like the Evolve relationship continuing after WWNLive linked up with FloSlam, or William Regal’s statements about the UKCT where he said there are “zero restrictions” on the contracts for the men competing on Jan. 14 - 15 in Blackpool), Finn’s a fantastic choice of ambassador.
Even as someone who’s dogged his (lack of) character over the years, NXT hasn’t been able to replace him as a brand ambassador, and the drop off in passion many fans have demonstrated for the show can be traced to when he and Bayley were called up. There’s just no one better at simultaneously sounding like a big star and your best bud.
So... unified, then.
To what end? As long as we’re getting great wrestling and the promotions & wrestlers are making money, that’s good enough for me.
To Christmas unity.