This WWE SmackDown Star Pitched A Run On NXT UK
WWE knocked back this "bold pitch" for a jump to NXT UK instead of SmackDown.
Finn Bálor fancied taking his skills to NXT UK instead of SmackDown.
The blue brand newcomer told BT Sport that he made the "bold pitch" towards the end of his run in NXT. Bálor enjoyed making a cameo for the UK wing a few years back, and wanted to do something more substantial on the show.
WWE were having none of it.
Specifically, Finn wanted to work an extended program with Walter and build to huge matches against the now-former NXT UK Champion. There's no doubt fans would've been invested in that, but WWE top brass pulled Bálor aside and told him outright he was SmackDown-bound instead.
Before that was set in stone, the Irishman had already been thinking he'd "kinda exhausted all of the resources [in NXT]". He didn't think there was much left to do for him at the Capitol Wrestling Center, and he was eager to move on to pastures new.
WWE weren't going to stand in his way there, but they also weren't up for putting him on NXT UK. Even so, Bálor told interviewers that he'll keep plugging away in hopes of working there soon.