10 Wrestlers Who Had To Take A Break... Only To Return Better Than Ever

6. Finn Bálor

After years of making himself a star in Japan, Finn Bálor signed with WWE in 2014. He soon debuted for NXT and soon became the face of the brand for two years, winning the NXT Championship from Kevin Owens at The Beast in the East event. He and his ‘Demon King’ alter ego tore it up in WWE’s farm system.

In 2016 Bálor was finally drafted to Raw and immediately won the Universal Championship from Seth Rollins. Unfortunately, this would be Bálor’s peak on the main roster as he suffered a labrum tear in the title match that required surgery and put him on the shelf for seven months. When he did come back he had some moderate success (winning the Intercontinental Championship twice) but ultimately toiled away in the mid-card.

Bálor was chosen as The Fiend’s debut opponent at SummerSlam and after Bálor lost he disappeared from television. He got married in that time and let his body recover. It was during this period NXT debuted on the USA Network with a two hour program on Wednesday nights that would go up against and compete with AEW Dynamite. Because of this Bálor was called to return to NXT and return he did, better than ever. He turned heel and reclaimed the NXT Championship. Bálor went from strength to strength, dropping The Demon character for ‘The Prince’. He put in some of the best matches of his career with Pete Dunne, Kyle O’Reilly and Adam Cole.

Edge put it best when he looked Bálor in the eyes on NXT and claimed “I look at you, and I see a guy who is operating at an entirely different level. You, you are in a zone which is special to watch.”