Balor's rainbow-motif logo and support as an ally to LGBT community having big impact in WWE; Irishman says wider message of inclusion is all important
Monday 20 August 2018 16:57, UK
Finn Balor says he is proud to see the impact in WWE of his support for LGBT+ people, and feels inclusion should "be close to everyone's heart".
The Irishman, who delighted his legion of fans by bringing back the Demon King for his SummerSlam match against Baron Corbin in Brooklyn on Sunday night, has been a vocal advocate for diversity in recent months.
In February, his 'Balor Club' merchandise was updated to carry a new rainbow motif with 20% of the profits going to the anti-discrimination organisation GLAAD, while at WrestleMania in New Orleans back in April, he made his entrance flanked by members of the city's LGBT+ community.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Balor says the issue of inclusion in society in all forms is one that is fully deserving of the WWE platform.
"I think it should be close to everyone's heart, really, to be honest with you," said Balor.
"I don't see why we should alienate anyone, regardless of sexual orientation, nationality, religion, ethnicity...
"It doesn't matter. We're all humans, living on this tiny little rock, floating through space at like, thousands of miles an hour.
"We should all just get along."
In June, Balor told Sports Illustrated that he became conscious earlier in the year that LGBT+ people were not being excluded as such in wrestling, "but sometimes they felt like they weren't included"'.
When a friend redesigned the 'Balor Club' logo in rainbow, he posted the image on social media, and it quickly came to the attention of the WWE's chief marketing officer Stephanie McMahon, who backed the project.
Since then, Balor says his initiative has been met with an "incredible response" and he often receives fan mail from LGBT+ people who says his support has given them the confidence to come out to friends and family.
Balor acknowledges being a visible ally in such a way was something of a risk, but his strength of feeling on inclusion made it an easy decision in the end.
He explained: "It's funny because, when I pitched the idea to a couple of my friends, they said 'are you sure you want to do that? It might alienate you from some people'.
"My response was, 'well, if that alienates me from a certain group of people, I want to be alienated from those people, because they're not my type of people, not people that I want to be associated with.'
"If people aren't following in with that same message... it was a risk, but I think it paid off."
