10-26-2017, 04:11 PM | #1 |
Father of Hinduship
Posts: 21,083
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QUESTION - Does anyone else think that Finn Balor sucks?
QUESTION - Does anyone else think that Finn Balor sucks?
Although I haven't watched RAW or Smackdown in years, I often watch youtube clips of certain segments from both shows. If I understand correctly, the IWC is high on Finn Balor but I'm not impressed whatsoever. I saw the promo he cut against Bray Wyatt on Smackdown a few weeks ago and found him to be extremely uncharismatic and boring. Balor has a decent look to him, but I don't see him amounting to much. What do you guys think? |
10-26-2017, 04:14 PM | #2 |
I am the cheese
Posts: 51,021
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I think most of us do. I mean "sucks" might be a stretch...but midcarder for sure.
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10-26-2017, 04:17 PM | #3 |
boop/bop/beep
Posts: 38,427
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I want him to be great but hes been meh. Loved his match w AJ tho
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10-26-2017, 04:20 PM | #4 |
Father of Hinduship
Posts: 21,083
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I haven't seen too much of his ring work but he seems decent.
But fuck man - his promos against Wyatt were the drizzling shits. |
10-26-2017, 04:21 PM | #5 |
I am the cheese
Posts: 51,021
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In his defense reading other poeples words is hard
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10-26-2017, 04:49 PM | #6 |
Posts: 60,919
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I'm not a fan. I never saw his New Japan stuff, so when he showed up in NXT I was excited to see what he had. The stuff alongside Hideo Itami and against Kevin Owens was pretty great, but once the shock and awe of it wear off, you're left with quite a normal and boring dude.
I think they're looking for Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde aspects with him, but it's more like Bruce Banner/The Hulk, wherein it is really hard to give a shit about the normal dude in some instances. And it's not like he physically changes to become "The Demon." It's a bit goofy. But you can tell how they want to package these dual identities as action figure sets, etc. They probably find "Boring Finn" a perfectly acceptable character on that front -- the more boring he is, the more he contrasts to the conceivably more exciting presentations of him. He also suffers a bit from the hype around him. A lot of New Japan fans throw this aura around guys that either isn't there or doesn't translate. I've heard Prince Devitt was really good, but he wasn't pushed as a top guy in NJPW, as far as I'm aware. The Bullet Club contains a lot of shit, and some internet fans are just easy to work with it because they will fall for that sort of stuff as being "cool." When it's proper crunch-time, I'm not sure he delivers. His NXT Title run bored me. I tried to engage with the idea of a "normal guy" champion, with a bit more of a sports presentation. I'm always looking for more realism. But he's a normal guy that is about half the size of everyone else, so it's not really that realistic. Once you've seen The Demon once, you've seen The Demon every single time. I don't find too many of his matches that exciting, to be honest. I'm yet to see him against Styles, but he seems a bit peanut butter other than that. Yeah, I suppose he's pretty good, but you can claim it's all that exciting. Come to think of it, the Finn Balor/Demon Finn dynamic is very similar to peanut butter sandwiches/peanut butter toast as a dynamic. They're both peanut butter, but one is slightly toasted. |
10-26-2017, 04:50 PM | #7 |
Former TPWW Royalty
Posts: 66,588
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Wouldn't go as far as to say he sucks but outside of a couple of moments, he feels as just another person on the roster than anything special or mystic.
Some of it is due to him getting injured at a really bad time and some of it is due to WWE being in a holding pattern for him because they need to finish their spotlight plans for others like Lesnar and Reigns first. |
10-26-2017, 05:33 PM | #8 |
Cranky Kong
Posts: 78,671
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I don't think he's THAT great, but he did have a pretty good "Human v. Human" match with Bray () and a banger with AJ Styles, so he's at least capable of being in entertaining matches. AJ has great matches with everyone though.
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10-26-2017, 06:05 PM | #9 |
Hey Mister!
Posts: 54,947
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Don't think he sucks, but I don't think there is anything special about him. Nothing I haven't seen done better in his moveset, his personality is uninteresting, and his demon persona is a flashy entrance and nothing more. As a Keiji Mutoh/Great Muta fan, it actually might even offend me.
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10-26-2017, 06:33 PM | #10 |
Quark is Less Impressed.
Posts: 38,371
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No he's great
/thread |
10-26-2017, 06:58 PM | #11 |
Just Some Guy
Posts: 14,679
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Promo-wise incredibly bland. And actually not a fan of his look.
But in the ring seems pretty good. Think he would be able to really step it up given the right opponents, although admittedly wasn't wowed by his match with AJ last week. WWE has certainly pushed far worse so not going to worry too much about this one. |
10-26-2017, 07:05 PM | #12 |
Loque Ja
Posts: 87,861
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In-ring he is good (but there have been much better), everything else is average to poor.
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10-26-2017, 07:39 PM | #13 |
dirty irani
Posts: 11,955
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To be fair I haven't seen much of his promo work but he hasn't been given much to work with since his return from injury.
The guy is a handsome bastard though and in my opinion oozes charisma from when he makes that entrance to the ring as 'normal' or 'demon' Balor. I've been impressed with his In ring work , to me he's shown when he's with another top guy that he can really work . Also think he was majorly unlucky to get injured when winning the title, then to have him talk up coming back for the title and not putting him close to it just makes him look weak. |
10-26-2017, 08:48 PM | #14 |
Best Poster
Posts: 56,901
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Vanilla midget
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10-26-2017, 09:17 PM | #15 |
LUV CABBAGE/H8 JEWS
Posts: 42,497
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Hate his demon look.
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10-26-2017, 09:32 PM | #16 |
Snow Mexican
Posts: 3,628
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I don't think he sucks. I do think he like a kid in the ring with the other guys.
I was watching and my girlfriend (who does not watch wrestling) walked in the room and said "that guy looks like a teenager why is he there?" Daniel Bryan may be tiny, but he looks like an adult. But I like Finn's style and he's good at doing his thing. |
10-26-2017, 09:35 PM | #17 |
MVP Mark
Posts: 16,447
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He's decent. Should be on 205 or something. He has a place in WWE just not in the main event.
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10-26-2017, 09:39 PM | #18 |
I am the cheese
Posts: 51,021
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10-26-2017, 10:46 PM | #19 |
Doin' It Right
Posts: 35,459
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He’s one of the bright spots of Raw, for me
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10-26-2017, 10:53 PM | #20 |
3 Dicks Out For Trips
Posts: 29,658
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Meh.
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10-26-2017, 11:01 PM | #21 |
Fire up Chips!
Posts: 27,456
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Yeah, the demon is lame. The entrance takes forever and his music is boring. He's Irish, he really should be called Drinky McBeer and get into feuds over spilled drinks and fight all the English rasslers while coming out to a jig while reading ECG's dissertation.
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10-26-2017, 11:06 PM | #22 | |
LUV CABBAGE/H8 JEWS
Posts: 42,497
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Quote:
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10-27-2017, 02:43 AM | #23 |
It's all Bullshit
Posts: 6,910
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Liked his Demon look but it looks to me that they are slowly moving dismantling that look as they move him down to jobber status
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10-27-2017, 04:27 AM | #24 |
Feeling Oof-y
Posts: 17,136
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I will preface this by admitting to a “man crush” on Finn.
I think he’s had a rough introduction to the main roster; he has probably pushed too fast, too soon for a lot of fans which is jarring, and may leave a little bit of “chosen one” stink on him. He probably dominated too much when he should be working from underneath. They went too quickly to the Demon gimmick - and messed with it with the “Demon King” presentation. They debuted it on Raw, ahead of a PPV title match, within a month of his main roster debut. The Demon persona should be something he goes to only when he needs to, why has he the Demon vs. AJ for example? Then he got injured. Since his return he hasn’t really done anything of importance and the deal with Bray was just terrible. He should probably do some more to differentiate Finn from The Demon with a changed up move set and far more aggression. His character is probably a bit on the bland side; albeit true to the character of the performer. There’s definitely comparisons to make between him and Daniel Bryan. He has a lot of upside for me; he looks good even if on the small side, he’s got a look that girls/Women will be into, and a marketable look that kids will eat up, plus he can go in the ring. He should tick all boxes really in terms of fanbase. On reflection he’s sort of in the same boat as Roman; maybe a heel run would have allowed him to show a bit more character (he has a heel in New Japan), before the crowd wanted to see him as a babyface? |
10-27-2017, 05:35 AM | #25 |
Posts: 60,919
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I think as a heel he'd definitely be more "kinetic" as a personality. I hate the idea of the WWE having the Cruiserweight Title in the first place, but I'd rather see him as the cornerstone of a proper Cruiserweight Division if there is one around than what he's doing now.
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10-27-2017, 06:00 AM | #26 |
b/c 5 is better than 4
Posts: 9,721
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I love him until he opens his mouth and says more than 2 words.....
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10-27-2017, 06:07 AM | #27 |
Posts: 60,919
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What is realistically the best plan for Balor right now? Coming right out of that squash. Are they going to put him in the main event of Survivor Series like it never happened?
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10-27-2017, 06:25 AM | #28 |
Feeling Oof-y
Posts: 17,136
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Wouldn’t bet against it.
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10-27-2017, 06:26 AM | #29 |
Doin' It Right
Posts: 35,459
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50/50 booking
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10-27-2017, 06:30 AM | #30 |
Posts: 60,919
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Will it "light a fire" under Finn Balor?
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10-27-2017, 06:34 AM | #31 |
TPWW's #3 Peep
Posts: 20,891
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Meh, unfortunately. Put it down to booking or mishandling. The guy was great in NXT, and his demon entrance was incredible when he did it the first few times (the first time he did it, when the crowd were chanting "holy shit" at an entrance was amazing).
But on Raw, I can't really remember a single thing other than he won the universal title and then got injured. |
10-27-2017, 06:39 AM | #32 |
Feeling Oof-y
Posts: 17,136
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I doubt there’s a plan of any kind for him after the Bray feud got derailed. Maybe they come back to that.
I thought they could do Demon v. Demon but if this whole deal is to keep Kane strong for Braun that’s probably not the best idea. Maybe they do a Monster Mash deal with Braun, Kane, Finn, and Bray? |
10-27-2017, 06:50 AM | #33 |
Father of Hinduship
Posts: 21,083
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Kane's career will end with his lips around Braun Strowman's cock in the middle of a ring somewhere. They are building up Kane so that it makes it more of a big deal when he jobs to Strowman.
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10-27-2017, 07:27 AM | #34 |
Celestia's Left Hand
Posts: 17,359
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He's no DB (but then again Daniel was/is a phenomenon)
but Fynn is okay when he gets going he really gets going but other than that can't say too much |
10-27-2017, 08:00 AM | #35 |
Father of Hinduship
Posts: 21,083
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Just to re-iterate once again guys, I think Balor has pretty decent wrestling skills.
I just think his personality is bland as fuck, and I can't see the fans getting behind him. This could be Drew McIntyre part deux. It's not all about wrestling talent. Just ask Dean Malenko. |
10-27-2017, 08:34 AM | #36 | |
Posts: 60,919
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Quote:
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10-27-2017, 08:36 AM | #37 |
Posts: 60,919
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But he's not even that captivating in the ring. He's good, but he's not as dynamic as an AJ Styles or Daniel Bryan. It all comes from the aura of what he's doing, and he's done most of it in front of people now, so they're used to it.
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10-27-2017, 08:44 AM | #38 |
President of Freedonia
Posts: 58,167
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One thing that's hurt him to an extent is that every big match in Japan he'd come out with different paint jobs. Some of them were downright freaky looking. Wondering how Prince Devitt was gonna paint up that night actually added a cool aura of mystery about him, I feel.
But of course in WWE land, they need to monetize everything. So his painted persona has to be given a name (the Demon) and his paint job more or less has to stay consistent. The "shock" wore off after the first time really. |
10-27-2017, 08:53 AM | #39 |
Hey Mister!
Posts: 54,947
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That's all it is though. A paint job. He wrestles the same exact match regardless. That's what I was referring to with the Muta comment. Keiji Mutoh and Great Muta are almost two completely different wrestlers. Each one makes the other more special in that regard. You don't get that with Finn.
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10-27-2017, 07:32 PM | #40 |
Posts: 60,919
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Yeah, I was going to say just that. Finn Balor can paint himself up as many different ways as he wants, but he's still Finn Balor.
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