Finn Balor And NXT Looking To Take Over The UK and Ireland Once Again

Former NXT Champion Finn Balor is chomping at the bit to return to the UK and Ireland for a second NXT tour.

WWE's third brand dazzled UK crowds in December with a series of shows leading up a live NXT Takeover special in London on Wednesday December 15 at Wembley Arena. But NXT are returning in June for a second tour and will bring live in-ring action to a number of different venues; including showings at Download Festival from Friday June 10 until Sunday June 12.

Irish grappler Balor has been a pivotal player in NXT's meteoric rise and acknowledged just how big a deal it is for the brand to be touring the UK separately from the main roster for a second time.

Speaking to theSPORTbible, he said:

"When I came to NXT two years ago it was very much a developmental Florida-based territory and in the last year and a half NXT has grown from being strictly a developmental territory to being WWE's third independent brand. It's very much a brand now, it's not just developmental and the performance centre, NXT is its own independent, unique platform - just like we have Raw and Smackdown and this is just the beginning of strong NXT is going to be. The second UK tour shows the first one was clearly successful and I think there's going to be more exciting things for NXT in 2016."

The ultimate goal for someone plying their trade in NXT is to eventually make it to the main roster and become a permanent fixture on WWE television. Following the historic Wrestlemania 32 event, several NXT superstars were called up to the main roster: Apollo Crews, Baron Corbin, Sami Zayn, Enzo and Cass and the Vaudevillains have all been featured on flagship shows Raw and Smackdown.

Losing such talents had the potential to seriously damage the NXT product however Balor was full of praise for the new crop of talent; many of which will be joining the upcoming tour in the UK and Ireland.

"It's funny because when you look around a current roster you think "Gosh we'd be lost without that person" and just over a year ago we had Adrian Neville, Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, Baron Corbin and Apollo Crews. If you looked around the roster and think "If all those people were gone for Raw and Smackdown, what would be left of NXT?" Well this business has a funny way of regenerating itself and it feels to me that the current roster is even more raw and exciting than the one we had two years ago. Obviously I'm still here at NXT but we also have [Shinsuke] Nakamura who's a huge star in Japan and I believe he's going to really help transcend wrestling into mainstream culture.

We have Asuka, the NXT Women's Champions, American Alpha, Samoa Joe, Austin Aries - these are all people that have kind of stepped in and filled their positions and I'm sure in a couple of months a couple of those people will be gone to Raw and Smackdown and there will be other people stepping in too. The business just keeps on regenerating itself."

Having served as the longest-reigning NXT Champion in history at 292 history, many are tipping Balor to be a top tier talent when he eventually makes the step up to the main roster on a permanent basis. A good portion of the WWE fans expected him to be on the main roster in the post-Wrestlemania picture but he remains in NXT as he looks to regain the NXT Championship from foe Samoa Joe.

When asked if he is viewing the upcoming tour as a farewell tour before he makes his much-anticipated WWE debut, Balor was having none of it and wants to continue bringing about the growth of NXT - citing the remarkable growth of the product on the WWE Network and the number of star-studded additions.

"Absolutely I do not see this as a farewell tour, if anything I'm trying to solidify NXT's spot as a touring brand and a key factor in helping NXT grow is that we've started to tour. To be able to come back to the UK and Ireland and perform in-front of all the fans, it's absolutely under circumstances a farewell! If anything it's a "Hey I'm back, what's going on?!" NXT is growing in so many different ways, from the roster with the additions such as Austin Aries, [Shinsuke] Nakamura, Eric Young to the new guys coming in like Riddick Moss, who's at the performance center now and is going to be a huge star, and Asuka with the women's division - the roster continues to grow, the crowds continue to grow because the product is there and obviously we're touring a lot now, that's shown growth.

Our viewership on the [WWE] network is showing incredible growth and now with the ways in which people are consuming NXT. A lot has grown and changed over the last year but I think it [NXT] is on the tip of the iceberg, I believe there's going to be even more growth in the future and I plan on being a part of it. I believe I've played my part so far but I'm under no illusions that my part in helping the growth of NXT is finished. We're all just getting started."

NXT will be heading to the UK & Ireland this June on the following dates:

· Friday, June 10 - Sunday June 12 - Download Festival, Donington Park, Derby

· Monday, June 13, 7.30pm - SSE Arena, Belfast, Northern Ireland

· Tuesday, June 14, 7.30pm - 3Arena, Dublin, Ireland

· Wednesday, June 15, 7.30pm - Echo Arena, Liverpool

· Thursday, June 16, 7.30pm - Bournemouth International Centre, Bournemouth

· Friday, June 17, 7.30pm - Plymouth Pavilion, Plymouth

Tickets are available via LIVENATION.CO.UK

Words by Josh Lawless

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