It’s next to impossible to be a wrestling fan from the 80s and 90s and not know who Howard Finkel was, and it all started on this day in wrestling history on January 17, 1977.
Since his passing, many have shared their memories about Howard “The Fink” Finkel and his encyclopedia-like knowledge of wrestling and his warm and professional mannerisms.
He had a storied career and no one can forget hearing his “and NEEEEEEEW WWE Champion!” after a title change. But what we don’t hear a lot about is his start in the business.
The start of a legend
Like anything, it all began with an idea and taking the chance to share it with someone to make it happen. In an interview with PWInsider during WrestleMania 30’s weekend, he opened up about his start.
Special thanks to @awrestlinghistorian for the transcript.
“Back in the early 1970s, I was an usher at the New Haven Coliseum. Wrestling came in 1972. I was a huge fan of the industry back then, but I also got to realize something that back in those days, if you didn’t have local television in your market, then you would be committing suicide by running a live event with no television.
“I lived in the New Haven area. I would take rabbit ears, tried to pull in WOR or WNJU TV from Newark and there in 1974, forgive me on my dates, channel 67, which is a UHF station, was coming in clear as a bell across Long Island Sound into the Connecticut area, my area, and I’m saying ‘Geez, what a discovery this is. Let’s get wrestling back.’
“That was my filler, so I went to the building manager and I said, ‘Mr. Smit, his name was Loris Smith, I don’t know if you realize this or not, but wrestling is on in this marketplace and I think maybe you should let the promotion know that she should get them back.
“Good promoters always keep in touch with building managers just to keep the fires right. Loris talked to Vincent K. McMahon and he said to Vince, ‘I have this fella, who is an absolute nut for your product. His name is Howard Finkel and he tells me there’s a UHF station that comes into this area.’
“Vince said, ‘I want to be palatable.’ So they came back in 1975. It didn’t sell out, but it had a very healthy crowd and I got to meet Vince McMahon and he was very appreciative of my fervent feelings for wrestling and once that first meeting was over, I got his phone number and I was on cloud nine and as time went on, we talked a little bit and I told him about my history, that I did public… announcing back in my high school days and I went to broadcasting school so he said, “Let’s see if we can give you a chance to be a ring announcer.”
The rest, as they say, is history as Howard worked for the WWE for the next 43 years in one capacity or another, but it was his debut as the WWWF ring announcer on the MSG Network that marked the beginning for him in many fans’ eyes.
It was the first time we got to see him and he left an impression that continues to this day with various reinforcements throughout the years with each match. His announcements will continue to ring out for many of us thanks to this day in wrestling history.
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