Say Hello To Finn Balor

[Jack-Hammer]

According to the main page, Prince Devitt's new name in NXT will be Finn Balor. Now before anyone starts going off on WWE for the name, I think there are a few points worth mentioning.

1. It's a better name than his actual name. Devitt's real name is Fergal Devitt. I've never even heard of that name prior to hearing of Devitt. Sounds like a good name for a new Muppet character.

2. Finn Balor goes perfectly with Devitt's Irish heritage. Finn is a name of Irish origin that translates into "fair." The name Balor comes from Irish Mythology as Balor was the name of the monarch of the Formorians, a race of giants who ruled Ireland before the arrival of the Tuatha De Danann, the gods worshipped by the Celts & Druids before the rise of Christianity. Balor was essentially a Cyclops, a giant with s single eye in the center of his forehead, and was viewed as the god of drought & blight. The myths sort of compare the Formorians to the Titans of Greek Mythology and that they were essentially gods of chaos and wild nature.

I'll be ecstatic if they don't take Devitt and turn him into some sort of Irish stereotype like we've seen with Sheamus or Finlay. If Triple H was the sole voice of authority, I'd feel pretty comfortable as he tends to avoid cultural and racial stereotypes. However, Vince McMahon is still THE voice of authority and he loves to saddle wrestlers with a certain look or heritage with stereotypes.

 

[DCLXVI]

Don't like it... almost as bad as Hideo Itami but maybe it will grow on me... Finn is not a really strong sounding first name. I thought Fergal by itself was cool, reminded me of Nergal from the metal band Behemoth.

 

[GeminiGarlord]

Not a fan of it, really hope that they don't give him the Rebecca Knox/Becky Lynch treatment

 

[Kidpolean]

People will complain just to complain. Any name other than Prince Devitt will get bashed regardless of how good or bad the name is.

 

[Alex]

Yeah Fergal sounds weird but Devitt sounds pretty cool.

Finn Balor sounds ok. It could've been much worse to be fair but it sounds servicable. It's like Sami Zayn initially a WTF name but it grows on you.

I'm more curious as to what his gimmick will be. Supposedly he'll keep the bodypaint but as to how that will translate to his gimmick I guess remains to be seen.

 

[DCLXVI]

Sami Zayn is a way more cool and interesting name... huge fans of both he and Kenta was just disappointed with these name changes and read a report on here he was being allowed to keep Fergal Devitt a while back. I wonder what they will do with Kevin Steen.

 

[laodaron]

KENTA chose his own name, saying you don't like it is not a slam on WWE, it's a slam on KENTA. Devitt's name sounded NOT like a wrestler, and the WWE needs to be able to trademark and brand the names. It's not hard to understand.

 

[DCLXVI]

And not to complain for the sake of complaining... but if a band you really like changes their name to something weird... There is a lot of importance in a name and the deployment of these new (world traveled) guys... If Cannibal Corpse became Fransisco Ibarra you'd be like "what?"

 

[WarroBODFan]

I don't love it, but we'll adjust. Long as we see him do epic things in the ring then I'm happy.

 

[laodaron]

And not to complain for the sake of complaining... but if a band you really like changes their name to something weird... There is a lot of importance in a name and the deployment of these new (world traveled) guys... If Cannibal Corpse became Fransisco Ibarra you'd be like "what?"

Cannibal Corpse is already at the WWE level, in your comparison. TONS of bands drop their shitty indy label names when they sign to a major label. It's all about having the rights to the name.

 

[DCLXVI]

A good name is a good name. If we are talking band names (I've been on labels not major ones and named several a some good some not so good) they wouldn't be where they are without a name like that... Take Undertaker... just a good name.

 

[DCLXVI]

I doubt he would have gotten there with "mean" mark Calloway or whatever.

 

[DCLXVI]

Or Hulk Hogan... can you imagine him reaching that level and a household name as "Terry Boulder"?

 

[Kidpolean]

Or Hulk Hogan... can you imagine him reaching that level and a household name as "Terry Boulder"?

Undertaker and Hogan are terrible examples because their entire characters were built around their names. Mean Mark would have nothing to do with the Undertaker gimmick, same with Hogan. Devitt doesn't yet have a character so we have no clue if his name will fit or not.

 

[Charismatic Enigma]

The biggest problem with all these shitty names they seemingly pull out of hat is just that, they have no relevancy to the character, they feel completely random. About 90% of NXT names are one part famous actor, one part biblical…seriously.


I've been saying this forever, but it's time to bring back gimmick names. What happened to names like Edge, Mankind, Undertaker, etc. A single word name that would be memorable and marketable. Then it wouldn't feel like he was changing his name, it would feel like he was taking on a person, ya know like: Fergal "name" Devitt.

Especially with the body paint, I think he would be the perfect candidate for it.

 

[smizzy]

I like the name to be honest.

Any how, at the end of the day, it's up to him to make something of the name. No one is going to say anything about the name of someone who is pushing merch, drawing, or is a commodity in general.

Finn Balor... I think that sounds sharp.

 

[laodaron]

See, Tera Ryzin switched companies and became Hunter Hearst Helmsley, the Blueblood, who then became Hunter, who became HHH, who in the end, became one of the most iconic wrestlers of all time, who then became the day to day chief officer for the entire WWE. The name might be important at the start, maybe a little bit, but it's up the the wrestler, like Jake said.

 

[DCLXVI]

The deployment of the name is as important as the wrestling... Rob Van Dam was cool because he had a resemblance to Jean Claude Van Damme and Stone Cold struggled with gimmicks for years and talks a lot about the day he came up with his name talking to his wife at the time.

 

[DCLXVI]

Let's put it this way... If he was introduced as "Edge" instead of "Finn Balor" the perception would be different and if it's an Irish gimmick Sheamus is cooler... How was the Hulk Hogan character built around his name? It's just a catchy name that rolls off the tongue.

 

[laodaron]

You're missing the point like no one has ever missed a point before.

Fergal DeVitt is no Edge/Adam Copeland, anyway. But Edge only worked because of the gimmick that Adam Copeland played. Edge wouldn't work for Fergal Devitt, and because of that, the name Edge would fail miserably on him.

 

[DCLXVI]

If you say "we'll see what he can do with it" it is probably not a great name... But look at "Dolph Ziggler"... Probably worse

 

[Terry Silver]

Prince devitt makes sense
Kenta makes sense

And them introducing new names for a live crowd has shown how far wrestling has strayed from its origins.

I cant be a fan of this kinda shit.

Whats next? Fans write storylines and make it a reality show?

 

[DCLXVI]

I was giving an example of strong, marketable names like the poster above me.

 

[DCLXVI]

Kenta was perfect... "Hideo Itami", if he chose the name he probably shot himself in the foot.

 

[DCLXVI]

Also rebranding guys with 10 year careers makes no sense... I guess they have to "own the name" but why hire the best in the world who don't have the "bodybuilder" "big look" to erase what they've already done? They didn't change CM Punk's name.