Finn Balor has revealed he has never watched back the match that saw him become WWE's first Universal Champion, admitting the painful memory of the injury he suffered that night is something he prefers to leave in the past.

Speaking with Chris Van Vliet, Balor reflected on his unforgettable clash with Seth Rollins at SummerSlam 2016. Despite capturing the Universal Championship, Balor dislocated his shoulder during the bout and was forced to relinquish the title the following night.

When asked if he had ever rewatched the match, Balor gave a simple answer.

"No."

He added that even clips shared online are enough for him to avoid revisiting the moment.

"I get tagged in tweets daily of that spot, and I'll scroll away before I hit the wall. I don't like seeing it."

Rather than dwell on what happened, Balor explained he prefers to focus on the future.

"Why dwell on the past? You should be looking forward, you can't change the past, it happened. So what?"

Although he said the injury caused him little pain during the match itself, Balor immediately realised something was seriously wrong.

"I knew there was a big issue, and it actually came out like three more times in the match, because any time I lifted my arm to hit the ropes, it came out."

Balor praised Seth Rollins for helping keep the match together after the injury, explaining the pair had to completely adjust their plans on the fly.

"I was very lucky to be in there with Seth when it happened, because Seth is an absolute pro, and we were able to communicate. I was able to tell him, 'Hey, I'm hurt,' so we were kind of calling the match on the fly and editing spots and changing spots and talking the whole time. So the match that we'd done wasn't actually the match that we'd laid out."

He then shared a backstage detail he had never publicly revealed before. During the match, Balor suggested changing the finish so Rollins would leave as champion, believing his injury would keep him out of action for an extended period.

"I said, 'Dude, I'm hurt. I don't think I'm gonna be wrestling for a while. Do you want to switch to finish?' And he said, 'No, stick to the plan.'"

Balor admitted he still wonders how differently his career might have unfolded had they made that change.

"We're still talking about this 10 years later. Everywhere I go, every interview I do, I get the question, 'What would have happened if you hadn't got injured?' But if I'd got injured and lost and just went away for nine months, there'd be no sympathy from the fans, there'd be no what ifs."

He also acknowledged that losing instead of winning could have dramatically altered his WWE future.

"I could have been let go six months later before I even came back. Who knows?"

Balor also pushed back against the perception that he has been injury prone throughout his career.

"One thing that does bug me is that some people say, 'Oh, that guy's injury prone.' One major injury my whole career, 24 years, apart from a broken jaw, which is a complete accident."