WWE: Finn Balor Addresses Belfast Crowd After 1/19 WWE RAW Show, Backstage Update on Stephanie Vaquer’s Ankle Injury & WWE Women’s World Title Status, Powerhouse Hobbs Joining WWE Update

Finn Balor Addresses Belfast Crowd After 1/19 WWE RAW Show

Monday’s WWE RAW show in Belfast, Northern Ireland featured CM Punk defeating Finn Balor to retain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. This match was notable for Balor coming out to his old “Catch Your Breath” entrance theme song and entrance routine.

Following the show, Balor gave a speech to the live crowd first asking them to applaud CM Punk and then showed his gratitude to them for the show being the most memorable night of his wrestling career so far.

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 joined together to sing “Happy Birthday” to his mother and thanked Belfast for getting the opportunity to wrestle in front of them and his family.

“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.“

Transcript h/t: F4WOnline.com

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Backstage Update on Stephanie Vaquer’s Ankle Injury & WWE Women’s World Title Status

As noted before, WWE Women’s World Champion Stephanie Vaquer has been out of action for WWE since earlier this month due to an ankle injury.

Fightful Select’s Sean Ross Sapp reported in a recent Q&A article that his sources stated that WWE officials still currently do not have any plans for Vaquer to relinquish her WWE Women’s World title due to her injury situation.

Sapp reported that WWE officials already have creative plans in place for Vaquer’s next title defense and it is scheduled to take place “relatively soon.”

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Powerhouse Hobbs Joining WWE Update

As noted before, Powerhouse Hobbs’ contract expired this past Thursday and he is expected to be leaving AEW and joining WWE. Hobbs’ profile was recently removed from AEW’s official roster page.

Fightful Select’s Sean Ross Sapp reported that his sources stated that people within WWE are currently operating under the belief that Hobbs has already signed with the company.

Sapp reported that those spoken to also stated that they current expect Hobbs to be at WWE’s Royal Rumble 2026 weekend in Saudi Arabia but this is something that has yet to be confirmed.