Sunday 7th March
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Finn Bálor’s house in Los Angeles, surrounded by greens and a large drive. A dark van with the EBWF logo pulls up to the drive and parks up next to a dark Range Rover. Out stepped a couple of guys and they walked up to the big house and knocked on the front door. Finn opened the door and let the guys in, two guys walked into the house, and two others went back to the van opened the side door and started to remove the production kit from the van and bring it inside the house.
The production team started to set up a set inside the residence as Finn walked to the kitchen and got himself a glass of water. Outside a black Chevy truck pulled up and parked behind the Range Rover. Out stepped the Guerrillas of Destiny, Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa and they walked into the house. G.O.D walked to the kitchen.
Tama Tonga: Little man, big interview we have here today, you ready for it?
Finn Bálor: I’m ready, I’m not used to doing interviews over satellite, I like to look into the interviewers eyes when I’m talking to them.
Tanga Loa: Finn, what you have to do, is take the questions from the interviewer and formulate them into a speech to the viewer, you’re not there to answer questions, you’re there to project what the Bálor Club is here for. Getting the people to be on your side. Bringing the people into the world that we ourselves have immersed ourselves in.
Tama Tonga: He’s right Finn, this is our time to show that The Bálor Club is here for the right reasons, to right the course in EBWF. To the outside world this may seem like a show but for us, this is our lives.
Finn looked at the two in acknowledgment before someone walked into the kitchen, with EBWF uniform on.
Producer: Mr Bálor, we’re ready for you now.
Finn: Wish me luck, lads.
He said and walked into his living room, the producer put the mic on his shirt and his mic pack in his back pocket and handed him an earpiece which Finn put in his ear. He sat down on his couch as the camera and lighting setup sat in front of him.
Producer: Finn, do you read me okay? Give me a little test if you can.
Finn: All good my end, check, one, two…
Producer: Alright, sounds good. We’ll patch you into Renee, okay, next voice after countdown will be hers and the cameras will be rolling.
Finn: Thanks, man.
The producer nodded to the tec and he typed on his laptop before the producer counted down from three with his fingers and he pointed at the tech guy, who typed a few things on his computer before Renee Young’s voice was heard through all the earpieces.
Renee Young: We are here live on EBWF.net with an exclusive interview through satellite with our very own Finn Bálor. Finn, great to have you here.
Finn: Thanks for having me, Renee. First time doing one of these satellite things.
Renee: Finn, tomorrow you’ll be facing one of EBWF’s best in AJ Styles, how do you feel coming into a match which is arguably one of the biggest matches in your EBWF career?
Finn: You know what, Renee, I’m happy to be facing against Mr Styles. You see, by facing someone of this stature so early on in my EBWF run is a sure sign that I’m doing all the right things here, I’m not kissing ass, or taking things I shouldn’t be, I’m not sat here demanding for the suits to take notice, the only people I want to notice me and The Bálor Club are the wrestlers in the locker room and the fans who buy the tickets.
Renee: You mention The Bálor Club, your friends the Guerrillas of Destiny won their match last week, how does that make you feel?
Finn: I’m beyond happy Renee, you see, when I asked the lads to come and join me on this EBWF journey it was more because of The Coalition, The Coalition were becoming something of a nuisance within the locker room and it was annoying me, they were getting involved and attacking people and demanding things they had no right to demand, I wanted insurance and the lads were my insurance, now along with Raven we have this weird unbreakable bond.
Renee: You’re still in the tournament which will crown the new Breakout and Gateway Champions, also in the tournament is Raven, as you two are so close you also could face each other in the final, how do you feel about that?
Finn: Renee, when this tournament and the participants were announced we all knew some things were going to occur. There were going to be surprises in store for everyone and my friendship with Raven will not change if we were in the final facing each other. We’ve trained with each other, we know how each other work, it would be an interesting set up, that’s for sure, and who knows, we’ll see how this plays out.
Renee: Last week Raven faced off against AJ Styles in the quarter finals of the tournament, beating him after AJ had some harsh words to say about him before the match. What was your thoughts on that?
Finn: Raven is older and wiser than I am, so I’m not going to stick up for him, he can fight his own battles as he proved on Monday but look, I’m not going to take anything away from AJ, what he has done in his career is impressive and he can stand around and talk about how Mr Ikeda is doing the dirty on him, but that’s not the case, the fact is AJ, you’re so wrapped in your own self centred twisted sense of reality you don’t see the bigger picture. Raven studied you, he knew what you would do, that is the point of The Bálor Club, we analyse our opponents and we look out for weaknesses but the thing is AJ you think you don’t have any and that is your biggest weakness of all.
Renee: This match is one more step for you on the way towards possibly getting your first piece of gold in EBWF. Are you excited for what the future holds for The Bálor Club and yourself?
Finn: Of course. Look, even though this match isn’t a part of the tournament, I’m still going to be facing a very fierce opponent in AJ Styles and his experience isn’t something to take lightly. He can talk the talk but can he walk the walk? He talks about being an EBWF legend and I’m not going to disagree with that but there is a big difference between patting yourself on the back and blowing smoke up your own ass, y’know. He walks around like he’s the big shot but the more he goes and boasts about his successes the deeper his failures are gonna cut him. The bigger they are the harder they fall and that works with egos too.
Finn smiled at the camera before continuing. Renee was no longer on the screen, Finn was moved into full picture.
Finn: Listen AJ, time and time again myself, the locker room and the EBWF universe have sat back while you berate and ridicule the men and women who have made this company what it is today. I can guarantee you, that we wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the Ikedas, the Ortons, the Jerichos. I understand that you and Wes have this on going thing or whatever but really how about focusing on the task at hand and working on improving your in ring ability because last week, you started off by saying Raven wasn’t an exciting match and yet he beat you, fair and square in the middle of the ring. Your focus wasn’t there, AJ. That’s your problem. You talk about how the ratings have been soaring since you made your return at The Royal Rumble, but I also was there at The Royal Rumble, who knows, maybe the ratings have soared because they enjoy seeing fresh faces and new blood here, instead of the same old woe is me bullshit they have been hearing from you for the past how ever many years you’ve been here.
You talk about how fans are excited to see you, are you sure about that? Have you done a survey on this? I wanna see the data you’ve collected for this study because that isn’t fact, AJ, that’s an assumption. You moaned last week because you think you should be number one contender, but the fact is AJ, you couldn’t even win in the competition which gives you a shot, you couldn’t even win in the tournament you cared nothing about, so why should you be number one contender? Why should you be the one to face the best? Because you have in the past? Because you’ve proven yourself? If that’s the case then I should be there too.
Since the Royal Rumble all you’ve been doing is talking about business, and how you being in the main event is right for business, but why is that? You talk about how you eliminated Jericho from The Royal Rumble and you are right, you did, but you also forget to mention that because of your ego and your cockyness you were speared moments later by Edge who eliminated you mere seconds after you eliminated Jericho, so I wouldn’t necessarily call it successful. Your ego is a problem AJ. It always has and it always will be. I can read you like a book lad, and unless you change up between now and Monday, I know the outcome on Monday will be my having my hand raised in the middle of the ring.
AJ, yourself and I, we’ve headed down similar paths, the only difference is this is my first time in EBWF and I aim to make it last, beating you will solidify my efforts to prove I’m here to stay. The Bálor Club have put everything on the line. We’ve put money into our merch, we’ve fought tirelessly to get to where we are, Raven has reinvented himself into a better version of the man he was before, The Guerrillas of Destiny are paving the way to create one of the best tag team divisions in the whole of professional wrestling, and I, Finn Bálor I’m going to beat you, AJ, the self proclaimed EBWF legend, I’m going to then beat whoever is in the final for the Gateway Championship at Wrestlemania before then beating the World Champion sometime later, that is my path to glory and I intend to make it a reality and it all starts with you. See you Monday.
and with that the camera turned off and over the earpiece you can hear Renee Young thanking people for watching before Finn takes out the earpiece and hands it to the production assistant and he removes the other sound accessories and stands up as the team start to pack things away Finn walks back to the kitchen and grabs himself a bottle of water.
Tama Tonga: Man, that was awesome. You really said how you felt.
Finn: It’s coming to me now more than ever, this desire to do the best I can in everything I do, no more half assed efforts. This is the time, this is my reason to keep going and preserve. I have a reason.
Tanga Loa: The Bálor Club have a reason, we heard what you said, and like we said earlier, we have nothing else but this now, this is our life and we need to prove that to everyone who is watching at home that The Bálor Club is here to stay and here to win.
Finn: Totally. When I first came here, I was ready to gimmick it out, but now, this is real, this is my life, I work better when I am myself y’know. No more demon Finn Bálor, I’m just the Prince of Darkness, the future of EBWF, Finn Bálor.
