Finn Bálor: I Don't Need WWE & They Don't Need Me

Finn Bálor believes he's at a stage of his wrestling career where he doesn't necessarily need WWE, although he also feels the company doesn't need him.

Bálor returned to the WWE main roster with SmackDown in July and faced Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship on the blue brand last week, losing to The Tribal Chief in a compelling outing.

The Prince has compared who he is as a performer now to when he first faced Reigns in a Universal Championship Title contention match in 2016 on Raw, and says he is at a point where he doesn't need to prove anything to anyone else but himself.

Speaking to DAZN, Bálor said: "In 2016, I was too eager to please. Right now, I don't really care what people think, what people say, or what people want from me. I just want to do what I want to do.

"I think the real difference in the point where I'm at now my career is that in 2016, I needed WWE. I needed the limelight, and I needed to prove myself on the biggest stage. I feel right now in 2021, no offense, but I don't need WWE. They don't need me, that's for sure. But I don't need them.

"I'm doing this for me now. I'm performing for myself. I don't care if I have the weight of the world on my shoulders, which I may have had in 2016. That might have been too much pressure, too much stress, or too much for me to fully comprehend.

"Right now, there's no pressure because I don't need it. I want it. I'm doing this to not prove to anybody else but to prove to myself that this is where I belong."