Early Life
Fergal Devitt was born on July 25, 1985, in Bray, Ireland. Before he began professional wrestling, Devitt competed in Gaelic football. He made his wrestling debut on November 23, 2001, for NWA UK Hammerlock, and soon after became NWA British Commonwealth Heavyweight Champion.
Devitt impressed people across the wrestling world with his athleticism. In 2006, he was invited to train at the NJPW dojo. Going to Japan would prove to be a pivotal decision for Devitt’s wrestling career.
New Japan Pro Wrestling
After signing with NJPW, Fergal was given a new ring name: Prince Devitt. The Irishman started in NJPW as a heel but found incredible popularity once he turned face. He formed a space-themed tag team with Ryusuke Taguchi called Apollo 55. Together, they defeated the Motor City Machine Guns to become IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions.
Undoubtedly the most important moment of Devitt’s NJPW career came when he betrayed Taguchi and formed his own heel faction, the Bullet Club. The stable debuted on May 3, 2013, and was originally composed of Devitt, Bad Luck Fale, Karl Anderson, and Tama Tonga.
Bullet Club became immensely popular, particularly with international audiences. Those in WWE became particularly interested in Devitt and sought to sign the NJPW star.
Balor Comes To WWE
On May 15, 2014, news broke that Devitt had signed a contract with WWE. He made his NXT debut on September 25, 2014, by coming to the aid of Hideo Itami (AKA Kenta). With his WWE signing also came a new ring name: Finn Balor, derived from Irish mythology figures Fionn mac Cumhaill and the Demon King Balor.
In Tokyo on July 4, 2015, Balor defeated Kevin Owens to win the NXT Championship. He went on to hold the title for 287 days, defeating challengers such as Apollo Crews, Tyler Breeze, and Samoa Joe. He made his Raw debut on July 19, 2016, shortly after he dropped the championship.
Universal Championship, Injury, And Return
Balor was quickly propelled to the top of the main roster. He won a television tournament to earn the right to challenge for the brand-new WWE Universal Championship at SummerSlam 2016. His opponent would turn out to be another top star in WWE, Seth Rollins.
Though their SummerSlam bout was critically acclaimed and resulted in a win for Balor, it was a Pyrrhic victory; during the match, Balor sustained a severe shoulder injury that required surgery, forcing him to relinquish the WWE Universal Championship.
Balor had his first match post-recovery on the April 2, 2017 episode of Raw. He spent the next several months as a babyface with moderate success. At Elimination Chamber 2018, Balor defeated Bobby Lashley to become the Intercontinental Champion.
Heel Turn
Balor made a return to NXT in 2019, originally as a babyface. However, in a shocking turn of events, Balor turned heel by attacking Tommaso Ciampa. He went on to defeat Johnny Gargano for the NXT Championship on February 16, 2020. After losing the title to Karrion Kross, he made his return to the main roster.
Balor worked briefly as a babyface upon his main roster return, teaming up with AJ Styles and Liv Morgan to take on the Judgment Day. However, on June 6, 2021, Balor turned heel once again and became the new leader of Judgment Day after he, Rhea Ripley, and Damian Priest ousted Edge from the faction.
