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Fit Finlay

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Dave Finlay
Born (1958-10-20) October 20, 1958 (age 66)
Belfast, Northern Ireland Northern Ireland
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Belfast Bruiser
Dave Finlay
Fit Finlay
Finlay
Sir Finlay
Billed height6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Billed weight[undue weight? – discuss]
Billed fromBelfast, Northern Ireland
Trained byTed Betley
DebutOctober 1978

David Edward "Dave" Finlay (born October 20, 1958) is a British/Irish professional wrestler and road agent. He is currently wrestling on the SmackDown! brand of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) under the ring name Finlay.

Wrestling career

Finlay began his wrestling career in Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland, before moving over to Britain in 1978. While in England, Finlay wrestled for various companies under the Joint Promotions banner. Finlay defeated Alan Kilby on June 9, 1982 to win his first title, the Joint Promotions British Heavy Middleweight title. The belt was traded back and forth with various opponents over the rest of the year, but in early 1983, Finlay lost it for the last time. He then won a tournament to crown a new British Light Heavyweight champion, a vacant belt at the time, defeating British Legend Ringo Rigby in the finals.

Finlay soon lost that belt, but gained another, beating Marty Jones to win the "World Mid-Heavyweight title" which he traded back and forth with Jones for over two years losing it a final time to Jones via disqualification[1]. Later, Finlay once again defeated Marty Jones en route to winning Joint Promotions' British Light Heavyweight title. He won a major British title; All-Star's British Heavyweight Championship. Finlay often competed on ITV's World of Sport programme as David "Fit" Finlay.

During this time, Finlay also began to wrestle in Germany and Austria for one of the biggest companies in Europe, the Catch Wrestling Association. While holding the All-Star title, he teamed with his old foe Marty Jones to win the CWA tag titles from Tony St. Clair (the man from whom he won the All-Star title) and his partner, Miles Zrno. After losing the All-Star title to Dave Taylor, Finlay began to focus more on CWA, winning many of their titles.

World Championship Wrestling

Before his current run in WWE, Finlay was best known in the United States for his run in WCW from 1995–2000, first as The Belfast Bruiser; a nickname he had previously used while in the UK, and later as "Fit" Finley. His momentum began during a feud with Lord Steven Regal in 1996, including an infamous parking lot brawl on WCW Monday Nitro during which Finlay got glass in his eye, leading to him wrestling with an eye-patch for several months. In 1998, he won the WCW World Television Championship and feuded with the likes of Chris Benoit and Booker T. Before long, he was a well established midcarder with his newly modified name, both in spelling and pronunciation, Fit Finlay.

Near the end of his WCW run, he won the "Hardcore Junkyard Invitational" at Bash at the Beach, winning a "hardcore trophy". However, he suffered a badly lacerated nerve in his leg during a hardcore match at a house show in Jackson, MS, in July 1999, which nearly cost him use of the leg. As he was wrestling Brian Knobbs, he was thrown into a table in the corner of the ring, causing it to shatter and the shards to cut his leg. He managed to regain use of the limb and came back later in the year, but by that point, all momentum he had from the Junkyard Invitational win was lost. In 2000, Finlay formed a trio of "Hardcore Soldiers" with Brian Knobbs and Al Green. They feuded with Vampiro, including a match between Finlay and Vampiro at WCW Uncensored, which marked Finlay’s last appearance on a WCW pay-per-view. His final match in WCW was at a German house show in November of 2000, losing to Norman Smiley in a hardcore match.

World Wrestling Entertainment

After leaving WCW, Finlay became a road agent and trainer for the WWE Divas.

Finlay began work on a comeback in 2004, even wrestling in a match against Jamie Noble at a show in Glasgow, Scotland, and promos began airing for his impending in-ring return in December 2005. His gimmick is that of a proud native Irishman who loves to fight. His first televised WWE match was on the January 20, 2006 airing of SmackDown! against Matt Hardy, which ended in a disqualification loss for Finlay. After the match, Finlay dragged Hardy to the steel ring steps and smashed Hardy's face into them with his boot, quickly establishing himself as a heel. This helped to give him the nickname, "The Fighting Irish Bastard".

Finlay continued to establish himself on the SmackDown! roster. During February and March 2006, Finlay was involved in an intense feud with Bobby Lashley which began when Finlay cost Lashley his unbeaten streak by interfering in Lashley's match with JBL at No Way Out. This feud would see the pair brawl on many occasions, including a parking lot segment in which Lashley tried to overturn a car onto Finlay. Later, the pair competed in a Money in the Bank qualifier Lumberjack Match that Finlay won. During this time, Finlay began to wield a shillelagh as a weapon.

On April 2, 2006 Finlay competed in his first WrestleMania, WrestleMania 22. He faced five other WWE Superstars, from both the RAW and SmackDown! brands in a Money in the Bank ladder match. This match was eventually won by then RAW superstar and former ECW superstar Rob Van Dam.

Finlay next entered into the King of the Ring tournament on Smackdown!, defeating his first round opponent Chris Benoit before being beaten by his rival Lashley, who advanced to the finals at WWE Judgment Day 2006. Finlay lost to Chris Benoit at WWE Judgment Day 2006. Finlay helped the other finalist, Booker T, to defeat Lashley in the King of the Ring final.

Beginning on the May 26 episode of SmackDown!, Finlay was joined by The Little Bastard character Hornswoggle who came out from under the ring to attack Finlay's opponents. Finlay joined forces with William Regal as loyal subjects of the newly renamed King Booker and his Court. Both men were later "knighted" by the King, and Finlay used the name Sir Finlay.

During his time as part of the court, Finlay picked up a win against World Champion Rey Mysterio in a non-title match before defeating the court's main foe Bobby Lashley to take Lashley's WWE United States Championship. Finlay defended the championship on several occasions, often with help from Little Bastard, and even defended it against fellow court member William Regal at The Great American Bash before losing the title to Mr. Kennedy on the September 1, 2006 edition of SmackDown! in a triple threat match that also involved Bobby Lashley.

After the title loss, Finlay continued to attack and wrestle threats to court leader King Booker and his newly won World Heavyweight Championship; including Lashley and Batista. Finlay defeated King Booker in a non-title singles match and losing in a four way match at No Mercy 2006 for the title. After leaving the court Finlay continued to feud with Batista. On the November 10, 2006 edition of SmackDown he returned to fight Batista in a singles match which he lost after Batista pinned him after a Spinebuster.

At Armageddon, Finlay and King Booker faced Batista and his partner, the WWE Champion John Cena from RAW, but were defeated.

At Royal Rumble 2007, Finlay participated in his first Royal Rumble match. He drew number 2 and started out against the number one entry, Ric Flair. He was eliminated 12th by Shawn Michaels. Shortly after the Royal Rumble, Finlay began a feud with The Boogeyman. At WWE No Way Out he competed in a tag team match with Little Bastard going against The Boogeyman and The Little Boogeyman. The match was won by Finlay and Little Bastard (the latter has since been renamed Hornswoggle).

Finlay earned a place in the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania 23 by beating Chris Benoit and Montel Vontavious Porter in a Triple Threat qualifier. However at WrestleMania the match was won by Mr. Kennedy. Since then, Finlay, with his friend Hornswoggle, have gone onto feud with The Boogeyman and Little Boogeyman. At Saturday Night's Main Event, Finlay and Hornswoggle were victorious.On July 6, Finlay faced Ric Flair for the first time (in a singles match) in his long career, making him tap out to the Celtic Knot after a shot to the back of Flair's knee with the shillelagh. Next week on Smackdown Finlay defeated Jimmy Wang Yang after a Celtic Cross.Next week on July 17 taping edition of Smackdown Finlay was part of a 20 men battle royal over the top rope for the vacated World Heavyweight Championship Finlay was elimanated by Batista (Finlay was the 4th wrestler left in the match) the match was later won by The Great Khali.The Irish powerhouse Finlay was seen watching his friend Hornswoggle defend his newly won cruiserweight championship against Jamie Noble Hornswoggle retained his title by count out.

Wrestling facts

  • Finishing and signature moves
  • Signature Foreign Object
  • Wrestlers managed by Finlay
  • Entrance Themes

Championships and accomplishments

References

  1. ^ International Professional Wrestling (Issue #24 1984). International Professional Wrestling: Official Programme. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
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