Finn Balor addresses crowd following WWE Raw World title match
Following a grand reception and the World title loss in Belfast on Monday, the January 19th edition of RAW, Finn Balor addressed the crowd at the SSE Arena in Northern Ireland.
After the match finished, both men paid a show of respect to each other before Balor took a microphone and asked the Belfast crowd to applaud CM Punk. He later continued by showing his gratitude to the crowd.
“I just want to say that I feel very privileged to be here tonight. I’ve done a lot in my 25-year career in this business. And tonight is, without question, the most memorable night of my career so far. You know, I don’t get to come home very often. And this week was very special because yesterday, for the first time in almost 15 years, I got to celebrate my mother’s birthday with her.”
Balor and the crowd then joined together to sing “Happy Birthday” to the former Universal Champion’s mother, as more cheers and applause filled the arena.
“To get to do this on home turf, on our island, in front of my family, in front of my people, I wanna say from the bottom of my heart, [Irish Gaelic word]. You know what, it’s true what they say, there is no place like home. Thank you very much, Belfast.“
Despite his failure to secure the title tonight, Balor secured the crowd’s support and cheers in Northern Ireland.
Shounak Chakrabarti is an experienced sports journalist with a lifelong passion for athletics and storytelling. He holds a Master’s Degree in International Journalism from the University of Leeds and joined F4WOnline in 2025.
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