Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2018 9:51:04 GMT -5
From another thread... He was awesome. I don't usually mind crowd reactions, but when they chanted BORING at Finlay and Regal during their match at Night of the Liver Enzymes I was fuming. To be fair it was two aligned heels facing each other for no reason beyond the face got sick. I can kind of understand why no one cared. Noone caring I can get but a boring chant seemed odd.
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Post by "Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay on Jan 3, 2018 20:28:41 GMT -5
Always loved Finlay but then I'm a shameless mark for his and Regal's entire generation of UK grapplers- I'm possibly the only person in the world who enjoyed Dave Taylor's WWE run. Finlay was the perfect permanently credible heel midcarder. Could believably win or lose in a match against anyone. Him, Regal, Taylor and Chris Adams on the edits of WCW Worldwide was part of what got me into wrestling. I started watching again in summer of '06 after a long time away and I was absolutely baffled that of all people Fit Finlay seemed to be an upper-midcarder in WWE.
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Post by abjordans on Jan 4, 2018 0:00:05 GMT -5
He was probably one of the bigger stars of the Weird, forgotten, non canon era of WWE. People have said he sucked after turning face, but he was always over.
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Post by horseface on Jan 4, 2018 0:25:53 GMT -5
Everything he did in WCW post-Regal bored me. When he arrived in WWE, I just thought "Of all the ex-WCW guys to bring back this late in the game...Finlay???" And yet, somehow it worked for a while. Yep. Cause they did it right. They gave him weeks of vignettes to introduce him to fans or remind fans who already knew him. They brought him in and had him beat up an established guy, then made him a protected midcarder for a while. Helps that he was believable in his role too. They know how to get most guys over, when they really want to. But why they wanted to with Finlay? Who knows. Guess he knew someone!
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schma
Hank Scorpio
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Post by schma on Jan 4, 2018 0:39:36 GMT -5
Everything he did in WCW post-Regal bored me. When he arrived in WWE, I just thought "Of all the ex-WCW guys to bring back this late in the game...Finlay???" And yet, somehow it worked for a while. Yep. Cause they did it right. They gave him weeks of vignettes to introduce him to fans or remind fans who already knew him. They brought him in and had him beat up an established guy, then made him a protected midcarder for a while. Helps that he was believable in his role too. They know how to get most guys over, when they really want to. But why they wanted to with Finlay? Who knows. Guess he knew someone! Was it before or after his run that he started training the women? I remember there was a period where their matches seemed to get better for a while and he was given credit.
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Post by CertifiedBA on Jan 4, 2018 0:53:20 GMT -5
I was blown away by how much he was featured on TV as I was a Fit fan from WCW. Once he went 'hardcore' in WCW he became junk so it was cool to see him back in form at like 50.
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Sephiroth
Wade Wilson
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Post by Sephiroth on Jan 4, 2018 9:25:42 GMT -5
Pleasantly surprised me. He seemed like such an out of the left field name to bring back between how little he’d done in WCW and his age. But he turned out to be work horse and, as has been said, a great heel gate keeper for the mid card. That moment where he imitated the Boogeyman shall live forever.
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Eunös ✈
Dalek
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Tolerated, just not practically liked.
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Post by Eunös ✈ on Jan 4, 2018 9:48:53 GMT -5
The only WWE superstar to be disqualified from a none disqualification match... Quite the achievement there
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Post by héad.casé on Jan 4, 2018 11:16:24 GMT -5
I loved the guy in WCW. His matches with Regal were brutal. They were literally smashing the hell out of each other. I too thought it was strange that he was being brought back when I saw his vignettes, but dude was a workhorse.
How’s his son doing in NJPW by the way?
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Post by Captain Stud Muffin (BLM) on Jan 4, 2018 15:47:49 GMT -5
I loved the guy in WCW. His matches with Regal were brutal. They were literally smashing the hell out of each other. I too thought it was strange that he was being brought back when I saw his vignettes, but dude was a workhorse. How’s his son doing in NJPW by the way? His son is okay. Sort of hit a wall to an extent on his growth but there's something there
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Big Poppa Pumpkin
Dennis Stamp
I'll be in the back polishing............ my belt.
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Post by Big Poppa Pumpkin on Jan 4, 2018 15:56:38 GMT -5
I liked him a lot. He looked and carried himself like a real grizzled tough bastard. He had a couple of great matches with Benoit
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Post by Hit Girl on Jan 4, 2018 17:25:20 GMT -5
He was fine as a tough-as-nails heel.
I didn't like his association with Hornswoggle, but I don't blame Finlay for that.
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Post by Limity (BLM) on Jan 4, 2018 17:35:16 GMT -5
I have a lot of love for Finlay's run. It also helps that that was when Smackdown switched stations, and I was finally able to watch it, and kiss Raw goodbye.
Finlay and Benoit had some great matches together.
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Post by Mighty Attack Tribble on Jan 4, 2018 20:27:15 GMT -5
He was probably one of the bigger stars of the Weird, forgotten, non canon era of WWE. People have said he sucked after turning face, but he was always over. I loved his run as tough-as-nails babyface veteran on ECW. Didn't care for the Hornswaggle shit, but as you say, Finlay was always over regardless of what he was doing.
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Perfect Timing
Dennis Stamp
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Post by Perfect Timing on Jan 5, 2018 11:02:44 GMT -5
He had a handsome run!
I remember it only took me a few weeks of first watching the guy and I knew he was going to deliver good matches week in and week out. It's weird how much he fit in, for a old guy who most would say would be way past his prime, he was delivering every time. If you didn't get a solid 8-10 minute technical bout you would probably get a fun 5-8 minute brawl. Instead of the Smackdown Six I'd call Him,MVP,Kennedy,Benoit,Batista,Lashley,Mysterio,Hardy were like the Smackdown Eight during this time.
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Post by Stu on Jan 5, 2018 11:23:05 GMT -5
I was about 14 years old when he debuted in WCW. Maybe it was my young age, or perhaps it was his look. But I just could't take him seriously.
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Post by Gerard Gerard on Jan 5, 2018 11:53:18 GMT -5
For all my love for Finlay's work, I also use him as an informal benchmark for how far Irish wrestlers have come in WWE in the last 12 years. Had Balor debuted some decade ago, he'd have the Demon deal paddy'd out before he even had to worry about being a light-heavyweight.
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thecrusherwi
El Dandy
the Financially Responsible Man
Brawl For All
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Post by thecrusherwi on Jan 5, 2018 15:06:33 GMT -5
Despite being much older, I thought his haircut, his gear and his thicker, less cut build make him look like much more of a threat in WWE than in WCW. I really enjoyed his WWE run. He looked and carried himself like a bigger deal.
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The Ichi
Patti Mayonnaise
AGGRESSIVE Executive Janitor of the Third Floor Manager's Bathroom
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Post by The Ichi on Jan 5, 2018 16:07:03 GMT -5
lol you can find someone boring even though it isn't entirely their fault. Like I know Reigns is capable of more than what he has to do on screen. I don't care. I'm still gonna call him a turd.
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Post by Clash, Never a Meter Maid on Jan 5, 2018 17:46:58 GMT -5
I wanted him to beat Booker for the belt when he got to challenge him. In WCW I hadn't much cared for him, it's amazing how he made a phrase into a character that just worked. His name was Finlay and he loved to fight and I loved to watch it. Sadly around that time I remember Vince did an interview where he said that he loved Finlay's style of wrestling but didn't think it was popular enough and so he would never be a world champion. Vince seems to get that way with a lot of guys. Like Benoit and Bryan, you can tell he enjoyed their work because they were pushed, but his idea of tippy-top guys are so narrowed. Woulda been cool to see Finlay win the WHC. I get that Khali had that sideshow appeal, but he would put on much more fun matches.
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