A WWE star has revealed they temporarily ‘went blind’ after a match that took place in Saudi Arabia thanks to a change in body paint.
WWE Super ShowDown took place in 2019 and saw Andrade take on ‘The Demon’ Finn Balor in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Balor would be victorious in his ‘Demon’ incarnation, but was left temporarily blind due to a change in the make up process.
Speaking on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, the SmackDown star revealed that due to the country’s ban on alcohol, WWE’s make-up team could not use the typical paint used for The Demon, which resulted in them finding a makeshift solution involving hairspray.
Balor explained:
“We did the Demon in Saudi Arabia. I wrestled Andrade, and we’ve promoted the match, we fly to Saudi. I’m getting painted, this paint doesn’t feel like the normal paint. What’s going on? I asked the girl that was doing it at the time, I said, ‘Is this the normal paint? It doesn’t feel right.’
“She goes, ‘Oh no. They told me I couldn’t bring the normal paint because it has alcohol in it. Alcohol is not legal here.’ I said, ‘Did anyone not think of telling me because I’m the one that has to wrestle in this?’ She goes, ‘Oh no, but I have a solution.’ What’s the solution? ‘Well, if we use hairspray all over you, it kind of sets it a little bit more.’ Okay, well, you’re an expert. So they paint me, they cover me in hairspray. It’s also Saudi Arabia outdoors, so it’s like 100 degrees. So pretty much by the time I’ve gotten to the ring, it’s starting to come off.
“So then we do the match, it’s a physical match, we’re sweating like crazy. I start as The Demon, I end as Finn in the match. No problem. So we get through the match, no injuries, fantastic, that’s all I’m happy about.
“Later on in the show was Undertaker Goldberg, and I’m watching a match backstage, in a hallway. I’m like looking at the screen, and I’m like, did something hit a smoke machine in here, it felt like it was being smoked up on the entrance. But it wasn’t, it was just my eyes, because what had happened was the hairspray had ran into my eyes and burnt my retinas. I went blind; I was essentially blind where I had to be linked by the guys, brought out of the building, linked by the guys, just carried up the steps onto the charter.
“I couldn’t see on the flight. We landed in Germany to refuel the plane. The doc had to leave the plane, go to a chemist, get some special medicine to heal my eyes. Then we flew when we landed in San Francisco, like 15 hours later, and it was just starting to unblur. But I guess all that hairspray had irritated my iris so much that I couldn’t see. That was probably the scariest thing that’s ever happened to me in wrestling.”
Balor would also reveal it typically takes about six hours to apply The Demon make up, with the alcohol-based paint usually needing a specific remover to get it off him.
The interview would also see Balor note that he was hoping to be an NJPW star “for life” before he signed his first WWE contract.
The Demise Of The Demon?
When it comes to The Demon, it is there to signify a change of pace for Finn Balor, tapping into something more aggressive and primal and setting a great challenge for anyone who faces him.
Introduced to WWE fans in NXT, the persona would make its way to the main roster, being seen somewhat sparingly, with WrestleMania 42 seeing the last such use in a Street Fight victory over Dominik Mysterio.
Looking at the way the persona is used, Balor has admitted that “it became a crutch“, with the star recognizing that he was trying to please too many stakeholders at the same time, specifying WWE creative, merchandise, promotions and tickets, overlooking how he felt about the whole thing.
A striking presence, The Demon’s fortunes have been something of a mixed bag on the main roster, with Balor noting that he wants to reserve it as a babyface persona.
Balor has recently found himself on the receiving end of brutality at the hands of Tama and Talla Tonga, with the former saying he’s “closing the books on everything” from his past. Perhaps, The Demon will re-emerge to face the former NJPW star.
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