10 Best In-Ring Workers In WWE Right Now

5. Finn Bálor

Finn Balor Samoa Joe
WWE Network

The Demon King is exactly the sort of act WWE could not build from scratch - a well-travelled and experienced performer with a killer gimmick finely tuned through experimentation, one capable of instantly repurposing a match the second it veers off script.

His match with Samoa Joe at NXT TakeOver: Dallas was the work of two seasoned masters expertly circumventing WWE's blood ban by using the cut suffered by Joe seconds into the match to inform the remainder of it. Everything that preceded it was lent a sense of very real drama, and Bálor took his cues from Joe's heightened, wounded animal fury by bumping with even more abandon than his athletic norm.

Bálor has mastered a fusion of modern styles, in that he can strike and soar with the best who deal with one of those modes as their stock in trade. It's little wonder that he has emerged as one of the very best of his hugely talented generation.

His audience interaction is the stuff of a proper WWE headliner - the messianic crowd appeals are a characterful variation of Daniel Bryan's career-defining "Yes!" chants - and his recovery from the concussion suffered on Monday's RAW cannot come soon enough. The glimpse of pay-per-view promise demonstrated at SummerSlam 2016 was tantalising.

In this post: 
Neville
 
Posted On: 
Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!