Howard Finkel
| Howard Finkel | |
|---|---|
Finkel in April 2014
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| Birth name | Howard Finkel |
| Born |
June 7, 1950 Newark, New Jersey, United States |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) |
Howard Finkel El Dopo The Fink Finkus Maximus |
| Billed height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) |
| Debut | 1975 |
Howard Finkel (born June 7, 1950) is an American semi-retired professional wrestling ring announcer, being employed by WWE since 1977. He began working for Vince McMahon, Sr.'s World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) in 1975, making him the company's longest tenured employee, and has been a ring announcer since 1977.
Finkel, a native of Newark, New Jersey, is the WWE's first employee after having been hired in 1975 by Vince McMahon, Sr. for what was then known as the WWWF. Finkel debuted as a ring announcer at Madison Square Garden on January 17, 1977. By 1979, he had become the organization's lead ring announcer for their biggest events. Throughout his career, Finkel's distinctive voice was sometimes used in the title sequence for the company's various television programs. Finkel's signature call was his announcement of a new champion following a title change, in which he would place extra emphasis on the word "new", in order to draw the greatest reaction from the crowd. Finkel came up with the event name "WrestleMania", as well as Ricky Steamboat's "Dragon" nickname. In 1984, Finkel became WWF's lead ring announcer for TV tapings, replacing the retired Joe McHugh. During a 2011 interview, Finkel said he had also played a part in the talent relations and creative departments during the early days of the WWF.
On January 19, 1987, Howard Finkel was presented a plaque by Gene Okerlund, commemorating ten years of announcing at Madison Square Garden. In 1993, at the "Roman"-themed WrestleMania IX, Howard Finkel was introduced in a toga as Finkus Maximus.
In 1995, Finkel took a seven-month hiatus from ring announcing on PPVs and Television broadcasts (but not at house shows) and was replaced by Manny Garcia. Finkel returned to full-time ring announcing at Royal Rumble 1996.
As an announcer, Finkel was generally separate from the scripted angles, but occasionally he became part of the company's storylines. 1992 saw the beginning of a feud with manager Dr. Harvey Wippleman, who would regularly complain about Finkel's announcing. In 1992, Finkel was attacked by Whippleman's wrestler Kamala; at WrestleMania X Whippleman berated Finkel and tore off part of the announcer's tuxedo, who finally retaliated by pushing the manager to the ground. This led to Finkel's first match on January 9, 1995; on Monday Night Raw, he won a tuxedo match over Wippleman, by stripping him to his underwear.
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