1. David John Finlay is a Northern Irish retired professional wrestler.
74 Facts About Fit Finlay
1. 2.
Fit Finlay is signed to WWE as a trainer and assistant coach at the Performance Center, as well as a producer.
3.
Fit Finlay is best known for his tenures with World Championship Wrestling from 1996 to 2000 under the ring name Fit Finlay, and in WWE from 2005 to 2010 under the mononymous name Finlay.
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Fit Finlay debuted in 1974, and has held over 20 championships around the world throughout his career, including the WCW World Television Championship and the WWE United States Championship.
5.
Fit Finlay began wrestling on a full-time basis in Carrickfergus and throughout Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland for the next four years before moving to England in 1978.
6.
Fit Finlay defeated Alan Kilby on 9 June 1982 to win his first title, the Joint Promotions British Heavy Middleweight Championship.
7.
Fit Finlay formed the Riot Squad tag team with Skull Murphy, together winning the 1982 World of Sport Top Tag Team Tournament.
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Fit Finlay then won a tournament to crown a new British Light Heavyweight champion and fill the vacant position, defeating Ringo Rigby in the finals.
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Fit Finlay soon lost the championship, but later pinned Marty Jones to win the World Mid-Heavyweight Championship.
10.
Fit Finlay traded it back and forth with Jones for over two years before losing it a final time to Jones via disqualification.
11.
Fit Finlay defeated Jones to win Joint Promotions' British Light Heavyweight Championship.
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Fit Finlay teamed with Mark Rocco and Murphy in a 1989 WWF dark match in London, defeating the team of Al Perez, Dusty Wolfe and Tim Horner.
13.
Fit Finlay made his American wrestling debut in World Championship Wrestling in 1996, going by the ring name of The Belfast Bruiser.
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Fit Finlay then cut a promo to the camera in which he introduced himself and declared that Regal was an "English pig" who was "paying for 400 years" of English-Irish conflict.
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Fit Finlay returned to WCW on 1 October 1997 by defeating Dave Taylor at a live event.
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Fit Finlay defeated Barry Houston in his televised return match.
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Fit Finlay was given a push upon his return, winning the majority of his matches in the mid-card.
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Fit Finlay regularly defended the title on weekly WCW television against the likes of Chavo Guerrero Jr.
19.
Fit Finlay legitimately suffered a badly lacerated nerve in his leg during a hardcore match at a house show in Jackson, Mississippi on 25 July 1999, which nearly cost him use of the leg.
20.
Fit Finlay managed to regain use of the limb and would return to WCW at Starrcade by assisting Knobbs in interfering in Norman Smiley's Hardcore Championship title defense against Meng.
21.
At the 2000 Souled Out event, Fit Finlay unsuccessfully challenged Knobbs for the Hardcore Championship in a four-way match, involving Smiley and Meng.
22.
Fit Finlay left wrestling in the summer of 2000 and accepted the position of a backstage road agent for WCW.
23.
Fit Finlay remained in the company as a road agent until WCW was bought by the World Wrestling Federation in 2001.
24.
When WCW was purchased by the World Wrestling Federation, Fit Finlay began working for the company as a trainer for new wrestlers.
25.
Fit Finlay trained future WWE champions John Cena and Randy Orton and was eventually put in charge of training the WWE Divas for their matches.
26.
Fit Finlay began working on a comeback on March 21,2004, wrestling in a match defeating Jamie Noble at a house show in Glasgow and losing to Heidenreich in a house show in Belfast on October 8,2004.
27.
Fit Finlay's gimmick was that of a proud native Irishman who loved to fight.
28.
Fit Finlay helped the other finalist, Booker T, defeat Lashley in the King of the Ring finals.
29.
Fit Finlay then joined forces with William Regal as loyal subjects of the newly renamed King Booker and his Court.
30.
Fit Finlay defended the championship on several occasions, often with help from Little Bastard, and even defended it against Regal, his fellow court member, at The Great American Bash.
31.
Fit Finlay defeated King Booker in a non-title singles match and lost in a fatal four-way match at No Mercy for the title.
32.
Shortly after the Royal Rumble, Fit Finlay began a feud with The Boogeyman.
33.
Fit Finlay earned a place in the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania 23; however, Mr Kennedy won the match.
34.
Fit Finlay defeated Kane in a Belfast Brawl rematch a few weeks later.
35.
Fit Finlay then feuded with Rey Mysterio by attacking him during a confrontational interview with JBL.
36.
At No Mercy, Fit Finlay faked an injury after taking a bump to the outside.
37.
Once placed on a stretcher, Fit Finlay suddenly rose and attacked Mysterio, forcing Rey to be carried out on the stretcher.
38.
Fit Finlay reunited with Hornswoggle by coming to rescue him in a match against The Great Khali, turning both Fit Finlay and Hornswoggle faces.
39.
At Armageddon, Fit Finlay was placed in a match with Khali.
40.
Fit Finlay scored an upset win after Hornswoggle interfered by hitting Khali in the groin with a shillelagh.
41.
Fit Finlay drew number 27, but was immediately disqualified when he entered before his time to save Hornswoggle.
42.
Fit Finlay fought in the SmackDown Elimination Chamber match at No Way Out, ultimately being pinned after a chokeslam on the steel floor by The Undertaker.
43.
Fit Finlay then began making occasional appearances on Raw to protect Hornswoggle from Mr McMahon, who had been showing him "tough love".
44.
Fit Finlay defeated Mark Henry on an episode of ECW to earn an opportunity for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship, but was defeated by Hardy.
45.
Fit Finlay entered his third Royal Rumble match at the eponymous pay-per-view on 25 January 2009, where he entered at number 14 and lasted 30 minutes before being eliminated by Kane.
46.
At No Way Out, Fit Finlay faced Jack Swagger for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship in a losing effort.
47.
At the event, Fit Finlay failed to win the match as it was won by CM Punk.
48.
In late May 2009, Fit Finlay suffered a legitimate eye injury, sidelining him temporarily.
49.
Fit Finlay was traded to the SmackDown brand on 29 June 2009.
50.
Fit Finlay went on to form part of John Morrison's team at Survivor Series, but was eliminated by Sheamus, and his team eventually lost.
51.
Fit Finlay's final televised match in WWE was on the 4 June 2010 episode of SmackDown, where he competed in a 15-man battle royal.
52.
Fit Finlay failed to win as the match was won by former rival Rey Mysterio.
53.
In October 2010, Fit Finlay retired from WWE and became a backstage producer.
54.
Fit Finlay was released by WWE in March 2011 after authorising the interruption of the US national anthem by The Miz during a house show, which offended many, including National Guard members who were in attendance.
55.
Fit Finlay stated that his intention was to intensify the audience's dislike of the Miz in preparation for the latter's WrestleMania XXVII main event appearance, but accepted full responsibility for his dismissal.
56.
Fit Finlay began to wrestle again on the independent circuit, making his first appearance on 26 July 2011, defeating Sami Callihan at Evolve 9.
57.
On 20 August 2011, Fit Finlay made his debut for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, taking part in the 2011 Battle of Los Angeles tournament.
58.
Fit Finlay was eliminated from the tournament in the first round by PWG World Champion Kevin Steen.
59.
On 6 November 2011, Fit Finlay wrestled in the main event of a Stampede Wrestling show in Barrie, Ontario in a losing effort against Harry Smith.
60.
On 21 January 2012, Fit Finlay returned to DOA Pro Wrestling in Portland, Oregon to face Ethan H D for the DOA Heavyweight Championship.
61.
On 12 May 2012, at Border Wars, Fit Finlay made his debut for Ring of Honor, unsuccessfully challenging Roderick Strong for the ROH World Television Championship.
62.
Two days later, Fit Finlay defeated Zeus in the main event of another WNC event.
63.
On 24 June at ROH's Best in the World 2012: Hostage Crisis iPPV, Fit Finlay was defeated by Michael Elgin.
64.
Fit Finlay wrestled his retirement match on 22 December 2012 at Hangover No 5 in Hanover, Germany, teaming with his son David Fit Finlay Jr.
65.
Fit Finlay was one of four wrestlers who presented Tyler Bate with the WWE UK Championship after Bate won the related tournament in January 2017.
66.
On 16 April 2020, Fit Finlay was among the several WWE employees who were furloughed as part of the COVID-19 budget cuts but returned to work in November of the same year.
67.
Fit Finlay has received praise from fellow professional wrestlers and peers.
68.
Fit Finlay reportedly assisted in the transition of WWE's presentation of the WWE Divas from bra and panties matches to more respectful traditional wrestling.
69.
Fit Finlay got to know what made us tick, exposed that, and there was nothing we couldn't do.
70.
Fit Finlay's grandfather was a professional wrestler, and his sister was a referee.
71.
Fit Finlay's uncle, Albert, was a goalkeeper for Glentoran FC in the 1960s and 1970s.
72.
Fit Finlay was previously married to his former manager, Princess Paula.
73.
Fit Finlay is currently married to Melanie "Mel" Duffin and has three children, the eldest of whom, David, was born in Germany.
74.
Fit Finlay's children have been involved in wrestling, either at the amateur or professional level.