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 of 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 WWE RAW and SmackDown! brands in a Money in the Bank ladder match. This match was eventually won by then-RAW' superstar and current ECW extremist 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 helped the other finalist, Booker T, to defeat Lashley in the final.
Beginning on the May 26 episode of SmackDown!, Finlay was joined by The Little Bastard character who came out from under the ring to attack Finlay's opponents. The Little Bastard continued to attack Finlay's opponents with or without Finlay's permission for several weeks. 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.
Finlay as the U.S. ChampionDuring 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. However, during this time Finlay was placed in several matches with the King; defeating 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.
On December 13, 2006, Finlay legitimately punched Josh Matthews in the mouth during the Armageddon 2006 press conference, drawing blood. 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 lasted 32:31, 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. In The February 23, 2007 Edition of Smackdown!, Finlay and Little Bastard won a No Way Out rematch against Boogeyman and Little Boogeyman.
On a recent episode of Smackdown Finlay won a money in the bank qualifing match against Chris Benoit and MVP.
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