Arguably Ireland’s fastest-rising WWE Superstar Finn Balor is on his way to the top of the professional wrestling ladder after being drafted at number 3 to their flagship RAW Brand, but did you know that he has a rather strong bond with the League of Ireland?
Balls.ie sat down with the Wicklow native at the recent NXT Dublin show at the 3 Arena, where he lost to Samoa Joe in an NXT title match, and he revealed that his father was a Bray Wanderers midfielder in the 70s.
My dad actually played for Bray Wanderers back in his heyday. From what I remember he was actually a very good footballer… I’ve been down to the Carlisle Grounds many a time.
A little further digging led us to the information that his father; Fintan Devitt, actually won some rare silverware for the Wicklow club. He was involved in the Bray Wanderers side that won the 1976 Metropolitan Cup before they joined the League of Ireland. He actually scored in the game, a 2-0 victory over Parkvilla at Dalymount Park, but it was disallowed as his side took home the trophy for the first time in 52 years.
Balor is an avid Tottenham Hotspur fan in the Barclays Premier League, and admitted that despite initially being gutted to see his side fall to third on the final day of last season, he was happy with finishing in the Champions League places.
If you said at the start of the season we would finish third, I would have been delighted. It didn’t go quite as we’d hoped but I think Champions League qualification and a third place finish is a good season.
