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David Finlay (wrestler)

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This article is about the professional wrestler born in 1993. For his father, also a professional wrestler, see Fit Finlay. For other people with similar names, see David Finlay.

David Finlay
Finlay in February 2016
Birth nameDavid Stephen Finlay III
Born (1993-05-16) 16 May 1993 (age 31)
Hanover, Germany
Spouse(s)
Ana Scott
​
​
(m. 2018)​
RelativesFit Finlay (father)
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)David Finlay
David Finlay Jr.
Billed height182 cm (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in)[1]
Billed weight95 kg (209 lb)[1]
Billed fromAtlanta, Georgia[2]
Trained byFit Finlay
NJPW Dojo
Satoshi Kojima
Debut22 December 2012

David Stephen Finlay III (born 16 May 1993) is a German-born American professional wrestler currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) where he performs as David Finlay (デビッド・フィンレー　Debiddo Finrē).[1] Born in Germany to Northern Irish parents, he is a fourth-generation professional wrestler; his father, Fit Finlay, trained him[3] before he received additional training from Satoshi Kojima and the NJPW Dojo.[3][4] He frequently partners with Juice Robinson as the team FinJuice; they are one-time IWGP Tag Team Champions. Finlay, along with Ricochet and Satoshi Kojima, is a former NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champion.

Early life

David Finlay III[5] was born on 16 May 1993 in Hanover,[1] the son of Northern Irish parents Fit Finlay and Melanie Duffin.[1] He has stated that he wanted to be a wrestler since he was young, being inspired by watching his father wrestle.[6] Finlay grew up in a wrestling family and is a fourth-generation professional wrestler; his grandfather David Finlay Sr., as well as both of his great-grandfathers William Finlay and John Liddell, were all professional wrestlers. His paternal aunt was a referee.

Professional wrestling career

Early career (2012–2015)

On 22 December 2012, Finlay made his professional wrestling debut for German promotion European Wrestling Promotion (EWP).[1] He defeated Big Daddy Walter by disqualification. Later that evening, he teamed up with his father for an tag team match against Robbie Brookside and Dan Collins, which they won; it was also his father's retirement match.[7] In 2014, Finlay became the inaugural Power of Wrestling Junior Champion. He held the title for 314 days before vacating it on 20 August 2015, due to his signing with New Japan Pro-Wrestling.[8]

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2015–present)

Finlay entered the 2015 Best of the Super Juniors tournament hosted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling, but failed to win, losing all his matches in the tournament and ending with a final tally of 0 points.[9] After the tournament, Finlay was announced as a "young lion". He would carry this moniker until September 2016, Finlay announced he was no longer a young lion.[1]

Finlay in August 2015

At the Destruction in Kobe event on 25 September, he won the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship with Ricochet and Satoshi Kojima by defeating Bullet Club (Nick Jackson, Matt Jackson and Adam Cole).[10] They lost the titles at Wrestle Kingdom 11 on 4 January 2017 to Los Ingobernables de Japon (Evil, Bushi and Sanada).[11] At Wrestling Dontaku in May, Finlay was defeated by Cody.[12] In August, he formed a tag team with Juice Robinson, dubbed FinJuice. They teamed for the rest of the year before going their separate ways for the NJPW World Tag League in December, which saw Robinson teaming with Sami Callihan, while Finlay teamed with Katsuya Kitamura. Finlay and Kitamura failed to win the tournament, ending with 0 points.[13]

At Strong Style Evolved in March 2018, Finlay attacked Jay White, after White's successful defense of the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship over Hangman Page.[14] Finlay was granted a title shot, but at the main event of Road to Wrestling Dontaku, he was defeated by White.[15] Finlay returned to teaming with Robinson and other Taguchi Japan members for the remainder of the year; he and Robinson participated in the 2018 World Tag League, where they finished with a record of eight wins and five losses, failing to advance to the finals.[16] Their final block match against Best Friends (Beretta and Chuckie T.) ended by disqualification, when Chuckie, who had recently been prone to violent outbursts, struck Finlay in the back with a chair. At New Years's Dash!! 2019, another match between FinJuice and Best Friends ended in a disqualification, when Chuckie once again struck Finlay in the back with a chair.[17] On day one of The New Beginning in USA, Finlay defeated Chuckie in a no disqualification match, ending their feud.[18]

Finlay was announced for the 2019 New Japan Cup, however on 23 February 2019, he suffered a shoulder injury removing him from the tournament. The injury happened during FinJuice's ROH World Tag Team Championship match again the champions The Briscoes at the Honor Rising NJPW/ROH event.[19] It was later revealed to be a torn labrum and that he would be out of action for around six months.[20] On 14 October at King of Pro-Wrestling, Finlay made his return to the company, by making the save on Robinson who was being attacked by Lance Archer, after their match for the vacant IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship. He then challenged Archer to a title shot a later date.[21] This happened at Showdown in San Jose, but he was defeated by Archer.[22] At Showdown in Los Angeles, Finlay, Robinson and Clark Connors were defeated by Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki, Archer and El Desperado).[23] Finlay would go on to enter the 2019 World Tag League with Robinson where they made it to the finals defeating Evil and Sanada of Los Ingobernables de Japon and earning a shot at the IWGP Tag Team Championship titles against Guerrillas of Destiny (G.O.D) during the first of Wrestle Kingdom 14 on 4 January 2020.[24] They would go on to defeat G.O.D to win the championship at the event on 4 January 2020.[25] They lost the titles back to G.O.D at The New Beginning USA on February 1.[26]

Ring of Honor (2016–2019)

Prior to Finlay's official debut for Ring of Honor in January 2019, his previous involvement with the American promotion was at the NJPW-ROH promoted Honor Rising: Japan shows, held in Korakuen Hall. His first appearance in this capacity was on 20 February 2016, where he was defeated by Jay White.[27] In February 2017, Finlay tagged with Juice Robinson and Kushida, defeating Jado & Gedo and Silas Young,[28] but the following night, he and Kushida lost to Young and Jado.[29] In February 2018, Finlay was again involved in tag matches, tagging with Robinson in a defeat to The Young Bucks,[30] and the following night, he, Robinson and Jay Lethal defeated Bullet Club (Chase Owens, Hikuleo and Yujiro Takahashi).[31]

Finlay made his debut for Ring of Honor during the January 2019 TV tapings, in a loss to Tracy Williams.[32] Robinson later announced the formation of Lifeblood, with the goal of bringing honor back to ROH; the stable included Finlay, Williams, Bandido, Mark Haskins and Tenille Dashwood.[32] Lifeblood defeated Jay Lethal's handpicked team of Jonathan Gresham, Flip Gordon, Dalton Castle and Jeff Cobb in the main event.[32] Finlay and Robinson, representing Lifeblood, participated in the Tag Wars Tournament. In the first round, they beat Alex Coughlin and Karl Fredericks,[33] and in the semi-finals, they won in a three-way dance over Lethal and Gresham and Coast 2 Coast (LSG and Shaheem Ali).[34] In the final, they were defeated by Villain Enterprises (Brody King and PCO).[34]

Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (2018)

On October 5, 2018, Finlay participated in Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre's CMLL International Gran Prix, as part of the Resto del Mundo team, and as a representative of New Japan Pro-Wrestling. He lasted 29 minutes and 40 seconds, before being eliminated by Carístico. During October, he appeared in multiple tag team matches, all with the stipulation of two out of three falls.

Personal life

Finlay resides in Atlanta, Georgia.[5] He became engaged to his girlfriend Ana Scott on 9 May 2017,[35] and they were married on 13 May 2018.[35]

Championships and accomplishments

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "David Finlay". New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
  2. ^ Atlanta, G. A. (21 January 2019). "David Finlay". www.rohwrestling.com.
  3. ^ a b "David Finlay Jr". Puroresu Central. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  4. ^ "David Finlay <<Wrestlers database>>". CAGEMATCH.
  5. ^ a b Elder, Kristen (4 November 2014). "Fourth generation wrestler David Finlay Jr has big boots to fill". The Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
  6. ^ "TMPToW: David Finlay". Podomatic. 10 March 2017. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  7. ^ "EWP Christmas Wrestling 2012". CAGEMATCH.net. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
  8. ^ a b "POW Junior Championship - Detailed". www.cagematch.net. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
  9. ^ Rose, Bryan (5 June 2017). "NJPW BEST OF THE SUPER JUNIORS – DAY 12 (JUNE 5) REVIEW". Voices of Wrestling. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  10. ^ a b "Destruction in Kobe". NJPW.com (in Japanese). Retrieved 23 May 2018.
  11. ^ Rose, Bryan (4 January 2017). "NJPW WRESTLE KINGDOM 11 LIVE RESULTS: KAZUCHIKA OKADA VS. KENNY OMEGA". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  12. ^ Rose, Bryan (2 May 2017). "NJPW Wrestling Dontaku live results: Okada faces Bad Luck Fale". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  13. ^ Renner, Ethan (9 December 2017). "NJPW WORLD TAG LEAGUE: THE FINALS ARE SET". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  14. ^ Renner, Ethan (25 March 2018). "NJPW STRONG STYLE EVOLVED LIVE RESULTS: GOLDEN LOVERS VS. YOUNG BUCKS". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  15. ^ Rose, Bryan (24 April 2018). "NJPW ROAD TO WRESTLING DONTAKU RESULTS: JAY WHITE VS. DAVID FINLAY". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  16. ^ Rose, Bryan (7 December 2018). "NJPW WORLD TAG LEAGUE RESULTS: THE FINALS ARE SET". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  17. ^ Rose, Bryan (5 January 2019). "NJPW NEW YEAR DASH LIVE RESULTS: WRESTLE KINGDOM 13 FALLOUT". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  18. ^ "NJPW NEW BEGINNING USA LA RESULTS: ROBINSON-WILLIAMS VS. RPG VICE". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. 31 January 2019. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  19. ^ "David Finlay to miss New Japan Cup due to shoulder injury". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. 27 February 2019.
  20. ^ "Eck's Files: Broken Hand Won't Stop Brody; Flip Gordon Update; Why Bully Isn't Going Anywhere". www.rohwrestling.com. 14 March 2019.
  21. ^ Renner, Ethan (14 October 2019). "NJPW King of Pro Wrestling live results: Okada vs. SANADA". Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
  22. ^ Rose, Bryan (9 November 2019). "NJPW Showdown in San Jose results: Okada & Ospreay vs. Ibushi & Red". Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
  23. ^ Rose, Bryan (12 November 2019). "NJPW Showdown in Los Angeles results: LIJ in six-man tag action". Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
  24. ^ Renner, Ethan (7 December 2019). "NJPW World Tag League finals live results: Winners are crowned". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  25. ^ "2020.01.04 WRESTLE KINGDOM in TOKYO DOME | Night 1". New Japan Pro-Wrestling. 4 January 2020. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
  26. ^ "2020.02.01 The NEW BEGINNING USA in ATLANTA". New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  27. ^ Rose, Bryan (20 February 2016). "NJPW/ROH Honor Rising: Jay Lethal defends ROH title against Honma". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  28. ^ Rose, Bryan (26 February 2017). "NJPW/ROH Honor Rising results: The return of Kenny Omega". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
  29. ^ Rose, Bryan (27 February 2017). "NJPW/ROH Honor Rising results: Omega & Okada square off in tag action". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  30. ^ Renner, Ethan (23 February 2018). "NJPW-ROH HONOR RISING NIGHT ONE RESULTS: OMEGA & IBUSHI TEAM UP". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  31. ^ Rose, Bryan (31 January 2018). "NJPW-ROH HONOR RISING NIGHT TWO RESULTS: OMEGA-IBUSHI VS. CODY-SCURLL". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  32. ^ a b c "ROH TV TAPING SPOILERS: BANDIDO DEBUTS, NWA TITLE MATCH". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. 12 January 2019. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  33. ^ Knipper, Justin (25 January 2019). "ROH ROAD TO G1 SUPERCARD DALLAS RESULTS: TAG WARS BEGINS". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  34. ^ a b Knipper, Justin (27 January 2019). "ROH ROAD TO G1 SUPERCARD SAN ANTONIO RESULTS: TAG WARS FINALS". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  35. ^ a b "Ana Scott and David Finlay's Wedding Website". The Knot. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  36. ^ "『Super Jr.』メンバー＆全カード決定! 外道が3年ぶり出場! フィッシュ、オライリー、小松、カベルナリオ、フィンレーらが初出場!". New Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). 7 May 2015. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
  37. ^ https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/ii13wz/2020_pwi_500_full_list/?utm_source=amp&utm_medium=&utm_content=post_body
Wikimedia Commons has media related to David Finlay.
Achievements
Preceded by World Tag League winner
2019
With: Juice Robinson 		Succeeded by
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