Ring name(s) Belfast Bruiser,Dave Finlay,Fit Finlay,Finlay,Sir Finlay
Billed height 188 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Billed weight 107 kg (235 lb)
Born October 20, 1958,Belfast
Trained by Ted Betley
Debut October 1978
David Edward "Dave" Finlay (born October 20, 1958) is a British / Irish professional wrestler and road agent currently wrestling on the SmackDown! brand of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) under the ring name Finlay.
Finlay began his wrestling career in Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland, being trained by his father (also a professional wrestler), before moving over to Britain in 1978. While in England, Finlay wrestled for various companies under the Joint Promotions banner, with his then manager and wife Paula Finlay by his side. 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" (although said belt never left Great Britain) which he traded back and forth with Jones for over two years losing it a final time to Jones via disqualification. Later, Finlay once again defeated Marty Jones en route to winning Joint Promotions' British Light Heavyweight title. Through 1983 and into 1984, Finlay was always fighting for a title or defending a title. He achieved notoriety by winning 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 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 and becoming much more recognised. With this recognition came trips to both Japan and Mexico, and on one Japanese trip Finlay teamed successfully with The Pegasus Kid.
Until 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 picking up after his surprising defeat of Eddie Guerrero on WCW Thunder via count-out. Soon after, he cut his dark, greased mullet in exchange for a short, blonde crew cut and began to pursue championship gold. He found some success in 1998, winning the WCW World Television Championship and feuding 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 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. After the return of Eric Bischoff and Vince Russo to power in WCW, he was virtually forgotten on TV.
After leaving WCW, Finlay wrestled in independent promotions before retiring to become a road agent and trainer for the Divas in WWE.
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