Finn Balor's Definitive 10 Best WWE Matches, Ranked
David Mccullough Finn Balor has been one of WWE’s most relied upon in-ring workers ever since his debut in the company back in 2014, starting out his journey in NXT as a star attraction before becoming a main roster worker. He has won many titles in WWE over the years, and whilst his booking hasn’t always been perfect, his matches have nearly always impressed.
Asuka's Definitive 10 Best WWE Matches, Ranked
Asuka is one of the best female wrestlers in WWE history, with plenty of great matches on her resume.TheSportster’s match rating system will determine which of Finn Balor’s matches are the best of the bunch. These ratings will also be compared to the ratings on cagematch.net and from Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
To learn more about how we rank wrestling matches on TheSportster, please check out our match ranking criteria guide here.
10 Finn Balor Vs. Seth Rollins Vs. The Miz (WWE WrestleMania 34)
Overall Rating From TheSportster: 7.75/10
Storytelling | 2/2.5 |
|---|---|
Technical Ability | 2/2.5 |
Character Work/Psychology | 1.75/2.5 |
Crown Reaction | 2/2.5 |
- Dave Meltzer Rating: 3.5 Stars
- Cagematch.net Rating: 7.88
Finn Balor’s best WrestleMania match came at WrestleMania 34 when he battled for the Intercontinental Championship against Seth Rollins and The Miz. This was a fluid match which perfectly executed what they set out to do.
It wasn’t a world class encounter, but it was still exciting, full of near-falls, and all three men felt involved for most of the match, which can sometimes be hard to accomplish for triple threat bouts. It kicked off WrestleMania in a great way, getting fans pumped up for the show.
9 Finn Balor Vs. AJ Styles (WWE TLC 2017)
Overall Rating From TheSportster: 7.75/10
Storytelling | 1.5/2.5 |
|---|---|
Technical Ability | 2.25/2.5 |
Character Work/Psychology | 2/2.5 |
Crown Reaction | 2/2.5 |
- Dave Meltzer Rating: 4.25 Stars
- Cagematch.net Rating: 8.29
Illnesses led to this impromptu match taking place at TLC 2017, but that of course meant that there was very little storyline going in apart from their preexisting non-WWE history of being Bullet Club leaders.
That was all it really needed though, as this was all about the great in-ring work. The pair worked so naturally well together, with impactful moves, beautiful technical wrestling, and just the right amount of high-flying offense too. The action got progressively more hard-hitting and fast-paced, which got the fans invested.
8 Finn Balor Vs. Samoa Joe (WWE NXT TakeOver: London 2015)
Overall Rating From TheSportster: 8/10
Storytelling | 2/2.5 |
|---|---|
Technical Ability | 1.75/2.5 |
Character Work/Psychology | 2.25/2.5 |
Crown Reaction | 2/2.5 |
- Dave Meltzer Rating: 4 Stars
- Cagematch.net Rating: 8.15
The UK crowd loved this one, and it felt like an all out war between two heated rivals. Samoa Joe was brutal in his attacks, and it took Finn Balor’s more violent demon persona to go toe-to-toe with him at TakeOver London.
Jey Uso's Definitive 10 Best WWE Matches, Ranked
Jey Uso has put on some incredible matches throughout his WWE career in both singles and tag team action!Some of the action was a little bit sloppy, but in a way that played into the authenticity of the match, with it feeling like a proper fight over the NXT Championship. It was a classic big man vs. little man match at heart, but the pair added a lot to elevate it.
7 Finn Balor Vs. Pete Dunne (WWE NXT TakeOver Vengeance Day 2021)
Overall Rating From TheSportster: 8/10
Storytelling | 2/2.5 |
|---|---|
Technical Ability | 2.25/2.5 |
Character Work/Psychology | 2.5/2.5 |
Crown Reaction | 1.25/2.5 |
- Dave Meltzer Rating: 4.5 Stars
- Cagematch.net Rating: 8.71
From an in-ring standpoint, this match between Finn Balor and Pete Dunne was sensational. The technical prowess of both men was wonderful to watch, with Dunne in particular transitioning through submissions and doing his usual great joint manipulation.
The lack of a real crowd did make some sequences and stretches feel slow and dull, which was a huge shame, but the pandemic did affect the world class nature of some potential classics like this. It was stiff, well-wrestled, and let down only by the lack of an audience.
6 Finn Balor Vs. Seth Rollins (WWE SummerSlam 2023)
Overall Rating From TheSportster: 8/10
Storytelling | 1.75/2.5 |
|---|---|
Technical Ability | 2/2.5 |
Character Work/Psychology | 2/2.5 |
Crown Reaction | 2.25/2.5 |
- Dave Meltzer Rating: 4.5 Stars
- Cagematch.net Rating: 8.22
Seth Rollins and Finn Balor have always shown good chemistry, but at SummerSlam 2023 their match reached an even higher level. With the stakes high with the World Heavyweight Championship on the line and it feeling like Balor’s last chance, it felt very tense and the crowd were firmly on the edge of their seats.
There were a lot of great moments, brilliant sequences, and some incredible near-falls towards the end of the bout too.
5 Finn Balor Vs. Adrian Neville (WWE NXT TakeOver: Rival 2015)
Overall Rating From TheSportster: 8.25/10
Storytelling | 2/2.5 |
|---|---|
Technical Ability | 2/2.5 |
Character Work/Psychology | 2.25/2.5 |
Crown Reaction | 2/2.5 |
- Dave Meltzer Rating: 4.25 Stars
- Cagematch.net Rating: 8.33
One of the earliest matches of Finn Balor’s WWE career came at NXT TakeOver: Rival when he took on the former NXT Champion Adrian Neville. This was a passing of the torch in many ways, and it helped to propel Balor and his demon gimmick to the main event scene.
It started slow but they worked into the match and it got more intense, quicker, and beautifully wrestled. Neville’s continued descent into someone more cocky, physical and violent was great, and Balor managed to match him to create a hard-hitting dynamic.
4 Judgment Day Vs. Team Rhodes (WWE Survivor Series 2023)
Overall Rating From TheSportster: 8.25/10
Storytelling | 1.75/2.5 |
|---|---|
Technical Ability | 2.25/2.5 |
Character Work/Psychology | 2/2.5 |
Crown Reaction | 2.25/2.5 |
- Dave Meltzer Rating: 4.75 Stars
- Cagematch.net Rating: 8.28
The Judgment Day took on a selection of WWE’s top babyfaces inside WarGames. The sheer star power led to the crowd being super into this match, cheering on Cody Rhodes, Jey Uso, Seth Rollins, Sami Zayn, and Randy Orton.
It wasn’t overly violent like some WarGames matches of the past, but everything done in the match was executed to what felt like pinpoint perfection, and it grew and developed in a consistent manner. Orton’s return was great, Drew McIntrye’s continued descent into becoming a heel was great to see, and seeing Rhodes and Rollins put aside their differences brought a lot of joy to the fans.
3 Finn Balor Vs. Kevin Owens (WWE Beast In The East 2015)
Overall Rating From TheSportster: 8.5/10
Storytelling | 2/2.5 |
|---|---|
Technical Ability | 2.25/2.5 |
Character Work/Psychology | 2/2.5 |
Crown Reaction | 2.25/2.5 |
- Dave Meltzer Rating: 4.25 Stars
- Cagematch.net Rating: 8.51
The Beast in the East event took place in Tokyo, and the uniqueness of the crowd really created a whole different atmosphere to most WWE events. It was somewhat of a homecoming for Balor, and seeing him willed on by the audience added a fantastic layer to this.
The match itself was wrestled wonderfully, with Owens and Balor throwing in all their best hits to try and score the win. In the end, Balor won the NXT Championship in what was an emotional moment.
2 Finn Balor Vs. Kyle O’Reilly (WWE NXT TakeOver 31)
Overall Rating From TheSportster: 8.75/10
Storytelling | 2.25/2.5 |
|---|---|
Technical Ability | 2.5/2.5 |
Character Work/Psychology | 2.5/2.5 |
Crown Reaction | 1.5/2.5 |
- Dave Meltzer Rating: 4.5 Stars
- Cagematch.net Rating: 9.14
Solely from an in-ring perspective, this was Balor’s greatest match in WWE. Of course though, the lack of a real audience does let it down in some ways, so it misses out on that top spot. However, in some other ways they used the lack of a crowd to emphasize the hard-hitting and stiff nature of this, making it feel more like a real battle.
Randy Orton's Definitive 10 Best WWE Matches, Ranked
Randy Orton has the reputation for being one of the smoothest workers of all time, and with that comes a list of classic WWE matches.It was bloody, brutal, and it helped carry an era of NXT that was going down a negative route. O’Reilly proved himself to be a world class singles wrestler here with one of the best in-ring showings in NXT history.
1 Finn Balor Vs. Johnny Gargano (WWE NXT TakeOver Portland 2020)
Overall Rating From TheSportster: 9/10
Storytelling | 2/2.5 |
|---|---|
Technical Ability | 2.5/2.5 |
Character Work/Psychology | 2.25/2.5 |
Crown Reaction | 2.25/2.5 |
- Dave Meltzer Rating: 4.5 Stars
- Cagematch.net Rating: 8.36
The reason that this match just about beats the previous one is due to the hot and full TakeOver crowd, which helped to create so many insane classics throughout the black and gold era of NXT.
Gargano and Balor were at the top of their game here, with Balor showing a more brutal side as a heel, and Gargano bringing his brilliant babyface fire with some extra aggression added too. It was back and forth, had countless big spots, and it stole the show.
