Since his WWE debut in 2014, World Championship glory has always been the goal for Finn Balor.
The former Prince Devitt has excelled at everything he’s attempted in WWE, whether as Finn Balor or his alter ego, known as “The Demon”.
Finn Balor has won 6 championship titles in the WWE. His first was the NXT Championship, with his most recent title being his United States Championship reign.
In this article, we’ll analyze every time Finn Balor has won a championship in the WWE.
In doing so, we’ll look at the circumstances behind the victory, ranking them from the worst to the best title victories in Finn Balor’s WWE career.
6. Intercontinental Championship (Elimination Chamber 2019)
Finn Balor won his first Intercontinental Championship at Elimination Chamber 2019, achieving a dream he had since childhood.
However, his Championship victory was not one to write home about, and actually cheapened both the win and the subsequent title reign that followed.
Instead of beating Champion Bobby Lashley for his title, Balor instead pinned his manager Lio Rush to win the belt.
The title match was made a handicap match, due to Rush’s constant interference in matches involving “The Almighty” Bobby Lashley.
What made it even worse was the fact that, just a few weeks later, Balor lost the belt back to Lashley, showing that he clearly wasn’t good enough to beat the Intercontinental Champion.
5. United States Championship (Monday Night Raw 2022)
Despite his reign being absolutely awful, the match where Finn Balor won the United States Championship was actually quite good.
The Bullet Club founder battled champion Damian Priest on Raw in February 2022, aiming to win his first US Championship of his career.
Much to the shock of everybody, Balor pinned the giant Puerto-Rican with a Coup de grâce, in what was one of Priest’s first losses in the entire company.
The following reign was frankly terrible, lasting 49 days and making Balor look like a paper champion.
He lost nearly every match on the way to finally losing the championship, even being left off the card for WrestleMania that year.
Balor did take over Judgement Day soon after, so it was not a total loss for the United States Champion (but was one of his worst title wins in WWE).
4. NXT Championship (NXT Super Tuesday 2)
On 8 September at NXT: Super Tuesday II, Bálor defeated Adam Cole to win the vacant NXT Championship for the second time.
This came after Balor was sent back down to NXT in 2019, after stalling on his run on the main roster.
He was brought into add starpower to the show, in their doomed fight against AEW on Wednesday Nights.
Finn Balor had numerous battles with Adam Cole on the black and gold brand, but finally beat him for the NXT Championship at NXT Super Tuesday 2.
This match was decent, but paled in comparison to the previous title defenses we had been used to by Adam Cole.
While his second reign was excellent, Finn Balor’s championship win was not the best of his career, and as such is only number four on this list.
3. Intercontinental Championship (WrestleMania 35)
After the disappointment of his first title reign, Finn Balor came back at WrestleMania to avenge his loss against Bobby Lashley.
As his “Demon” persona, Balor defeated Bobby Lashley to win his second Intercontinental Championship, and begin a reign that would see him be a workhorse on Monday Night Raw.
He defended his title numerous times, including in a fantastic bout with Andrade in Saudi Arabia, in what was a much better title reign than his first.
2. Universal Championship (Summerslam 2016)
Despite this being Finn Balor’s biggest championship win of his career, the moment was marred by a serious injury suffered during the match.
Just months after his WWE main roster debut, Finn Balor wrestled Seth Rollins at Summerslam 2016 to become the first ever Universal Champion.
This was a dream match for many fans. Rollins was a former WWE Champion and one of the best wrestlers in the world, while Balor had inspired fans by his incredible reign as NXT Champion.
The match was a great one, and saw Finn Balor win his first World Championship in the WWE. He pinned Seth Rollins following a Coup de grâce, becoming the first Universal Champion in history.
However, two things knocked this match down a ranking. First was the fans reaction to the Universal Championship, as they booed its awful red color and took away from the match.
The second was Finn Balor suffering a shoulder injury during the match. Rollins hit him with a powerbomb onto the barricade, which separated his shoulder and forced him to vacate the championship.
1. NXT Championship (Beast In The East)
A regular house show in Japan was turned into a WWE Network special, thanks to the inclusion of Brock Lesnar on the card.
Beast in the East was one of the best WWE shows of 2015, showing a more relaxed and in-ring focused show.
The event also had an NXT Championship match, where Finn Balor battled NXT Champion Kevin Owens in a high-stakes match in front of a crowd that remembered Prince Devitt’s exploits in Japan.
The match was one of the best of both men’s career, and they worked the crowd beautifully with some brilliant wrestling and exciting spots.
Finn Balor, wrestling as The Demon, pinned Owens with a Coup de grâce to win his first NXT Championship in one of the best title matches WWE has ever seen.