Back in the summer of 1994, a young up-and-comer by the name of John Hawk was getting his feet wet in pro wrestling. At that time, Hawk was making his way through various independent promotions all over the globe. One such promotion was Otto Wanz’s Catch Wrestling, which was a German/Austrian-based outfit. It was there that John Hawk ran across another young prospect: Dave “Fit” Finlay.
“John Hawk” would grow up to be John Bradshaw Layfield, a veteran of the squared circle, WWE Hall of Famer, and decorated champion. Dave “Fit” Finlay would grow up to be, well…. Finlay, a well-decorated veteran in his own right and former United States champion. While speaking on his recent Stories with Brisco and Bradshaw podcast, JBL talked about turning Vince on to Fit Finlay, and how he came to be a part of WWE.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
How JBL brought Finlay to Vince’s attention: “I can tell you that we all wanted to be Fit. Let me tell you, when I signed with WWE, I met Vince for the first time in the office. Had my tryout match, and Jerry’s the one that signed me. He and JJ Dillon signed me, or agreed to sign me. I go to a meeting with him, and at the end of the meeting, Vince says, ‘Well, is there anybody that I should sign in Europe?’ I said, ‘Yeah, Fit Finlay.’ And Vince says, just kind of half-jokingly, he said, ‘Well, if you were me, would you sign him instead of you?’ And I said ‘Absolutely.’ I said, ‘I’m serious, he’s that good.'”
Finlay came to WWE when the company bought WCW in 2001. Finlay had been with WCW since 1996. He worked first as a trainer and then eventually an in-ring talent until 2011. He returned to WWE as a producer a year after his release in 2011 and has been there ever since.