During a recent interview with Sports Illustrated, WWE NXT Champion Finn Balor commented on watching the classic TV sitcom Seinfeld for the first time during the COVID-19 pandemic, and more. You can check out some highlights from the interview below:
On watching Seinfeld at home during the pandemic: “My wife thought I was really going to like Seinfeld. I’ve been a huge fan of comedy my whole life, especially English/Irish comedy where the humor is very fast, but I had thought Seinfeld was more along the lines of Friends or Cheers. I thought I’d watch one episode but wouldn’t ever get super invested in it. I’d never seen an episode before. Growing up in Ireland, it wasn’t on TV. When I came to the U.S., I didn’t have cable and I didn’t watch much TV. But because of my wife, I gave it a chance.”
On starting later into the show: “I wanted to start deep into it. Starting later in the series allows a good sense of how the actors play their characters, so we started with Episodes 1 and 2 of Season 6. I watched those two episodes, and I was completely hooked. It was absolutely priceless. So we went all the way back to the beginning and watched the whole thing in chronological order from start to finish.”
On how it influenced other TV shows: “I had no idea how much the show influenced other TV shows. I’d seen comedies in Ireland and England that I thought were innovative and hilarious, but when I went back and checked the time stamps, I learned a lot of those stories were first used in Seinfeld. It’s reached so many different corners of the world, and it completely stands the test of time. I love it.”
On what he noticed about the show: “The show is based around four people, but I became very aware that they only really have three characters in a scene. One person leaves and goes to the bathroom, or Kramer goes back to his apartment. They’re tagging in and out the way they keep it rolling and keep it moving.”
On how great George Costanza is: “George Costanza was absolutely incredible. Even when he wasn’t involved in the dialogue of the scene, or if he’s just in the background, he was so great. The show is amazing. It’s a piece of art.”
