Finn Bálor says he was planning to sign a 10-year deal with New Japan Pro Wrestling at the age of 34 so he could spend "the rest of his life there" before "rolling the dice" on WWE:
"I always tell a story about when I went to the Performance Center. I started with NXT I think I was 34, which was quite late to start. WWE had came knocking a couple times, and I’d always kind of kicked it back, because I was very happy in New Japan, wanted to do my whole career there, and I was trying to negotiate a 10-year contract, and there was an issue. This was when I was 34; I was trying to negotiate a 10-year contract to stay there for the rest of my life.
"Then there was an issue, because New Japan was owned by another company, and that contract only lasted for four years, so they could only give me a four-year contract. I’d been there like eight years, and I’d seen how when guys got to like their mid to late 30s, they kind of phased them out. I thought, well, this will get me to my mid to late 30s, and I’ll be phased out, and I want to wrestle longer than that.
"I’m 34 and this is 12 years ago in WWE, where the roster was a lot younger, they were signing much younger guys, and I thought, oh, this could be my last opportunity, so that’s kind of the mindset I had. I was talking with my dad about the decision: should I roll the dice in WWE, or should I stay in New Japan? I’ll never forget my dad said, ‘Son, you grew up watching WWF, that was your dream, you’re in Japan, you’re doing great, you’ve done it for eight years, but roll the dice.’ I’m glad I did.”
(Insight with Chris Van Vliet)