Every Version Of Finlay, Ranked Worst To Best

A 3rd generation performer, Dave Finlay started his pro wrestling career in 1974 as a teenager in Ireland, and soon expanded to the UK and Europe, but many fans might know him better for his time in World Championship Wrestling as Fit Finlay, followed by a run in WWE as simply “Finlay.”

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While he was strictly a midcarder and didn’t have a lot of major championships to his name, fans remember him for being a hard hitting brawler and putting on some pretty awesome matches in the midcard. He’s had a long career and gone through a few iterations, so let’s take a look at the various incarnations of Finlay.

8 Hardcore Soldier

Fit Finlay’s later years in WCW had him becoming part of the company’s fledgling hardcore division. He was clearly setting set up for a big push, as he won the infamous “Junkyard Invitational” at Bash at the Beach ‘99.

Unfortunately, Finlay’s momentum was stalled due to a pretty nasty injury at a hardcore bout at a house show, where a broken table cut up his leg, affecting his nerves and putting his ability to use his leg at risk. But Finlay eventually recovered and returned to television, forming a largely unsuccessful stable called Hardcore Army with Brian Knobbs and The Dog, a human man who acted like a dog. Not much would come out of this period, except a forgettable feud with Vampiro.

7 Hornswoggle's Father

It’s tough to imagine a good version of any wrestler, stable, storyline, or match that includes Hornswoggle, WeeLC match notwithstanding. When Finlay left King Booker’s Court, he took Hornswoggle with him and the pair stuck around for much of the remainder of Finlay’s in-ring run in WWE, and the two notably feuded with The Boogeyman in a story that culminated with them tagging against Boogeyman and Little Boogeyman.

Eventually, ‘Swoggle would be revealed as Finlay’s illegitimate son, putting the final nail in the abortive “Vince McMahon’s long lost son” storyline. Otherwise, Finlay would enter feuds with Mr. Kennedy, Jamie Noble, and Kane, before transitioning into a backstage role. This phrase would end rather abruptly, as Finlay would be fired from the company for signing off on The Miz interrupting the United States national anthem at a house show for heel heat.

6 Road Agent

After a spell on the indies -- during which he wrestled Kevin Steen (a.k.a. Kevin Owens) in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla -- Finlay was rehired by WWE as a backstage producer. Hardly an onscreen role, fans would see Finlay show up on TV from time to time in order to separate wrestlers in brawls, but he is never acknowledged or named by commentary.

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Finlay’s greatest on-screen contribution to the show during this period happened in the 2019 Royal Rumble, where he allowed Becky Lynch to take an injured Lana’s place in the match, in what turned out to be an extremely crowd-pleasing moment. While it sucks that his in-ring career is over, Finlay at this point has been credited by many female WWE stars for having a huge part in training them.

5 Pre-1995

Before he was “Fit,” Finlay worked in the international wrestling scene under his real name, Dave Finlay. In addition to promotions in the British Isles and appearances on World of Sport, Finlay would hold several titles in Austria/German’s prestigious Catch Wrestling Association. He would even wrestle for New Japan Pro Wrestling, a promotion that’s currently home to his son David Finlay. In NJPW, Fit Finlay did a lengthy tour in 1983 and competed in the junior heavyweight division throughout the early 1990s, taking part in several of the promotion’s junior tournaments.

4 Booker’s Court

After winning King of the Ring, Booker T ran with the gimmick, becoming “King Booker,” talking with the world’s greatest fake English accent, and organizing a stable called King Booker’s Court.

Finlay would join this group alongside William Regal and Hornswoggle. It was a fun period, especially seeing Regal and Finlay reunite, but it felt a bit like WWE was slowly phasing out the Irish brawler by making him a henchman for a goofy gimmick. Ironically, this era would actually give Finlay his first major title win since 1998, as he defeated Bobby Lashley for the United States Championship.

3 Fit Finlay

After some time off of television in WCW, Finlay returned somewhat repackaged. He changed not only his look, but also his ring name, as he was now referred to as Fit Finlay. It was here that Finlay got a pretty decent midcard push compared to when he first showed up, and acquired his first WCW championship, beating future boss Booker T for the WCW Television Title on Monday Nitro.

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Fit Finlay’s most notable feud in this era would be against German star Alex Wright, who sought revenge against Finlay for ending the career of his father, Steve Wright. This would lead to a match at Halloween Havoc ‘98, where Wright would get the victory.

2 The Belfast Bruiser

Finlay made his WCW debut in 1995 under the extremely pro wrestling name of Belfast Bruiser, sporting a mustache and a mullet. He spent most of his time feuding with The Blue Bloods, particularly Lord Steven Regal.

If fans go back and watch their matches, they’re awesomely stiff even by today’s standards, and actually feel more hardcore than his later hardcore work. Despite some standout work in the “trying to kill Regal” division, Belfast Bruiser didn’t get much of a push, and his prominence soon diminished.

1 Finlay

After leaving WCW, Finlay largely largely disappeared from in-ring competition save for a handful of matches in Europe. But he was still active in the wrestling business, working as a trainer for WWE for about four years. But in 2005, he made his in-ring return at age 47 on SmackDown, with the shortened ring name of “Finlay.”

He still had a gimmick as a brawling Irishman, but often wielded a shillelagh, because WWE loves character-specific props. Finlay quickly showed that he had a lot in the tank, and notably got into a big feud with Bobby Lashley after ending Lashley’s undefeated streak.

NEXT: 5 Best Wrestlers From The UK In WWE History (& 5 That Should Have Been Bigger Stars)