Ron Historyo
Dave Finlay, and there are various sources contradicting which end of 1958 he was born. That’s if indeed it was 1958. He tells the story himself about his costume as Young Apollo. Some sites have his first match in July 1974.
Fair enough , I wont argue , I have a match from 1974 and Somehow the maths does not work at him being age 14.
However , he was indeed very young. My understanding is that Finlay came over to work with Orig Williams and I show a couple of shows in 1976 in Scotland and Wales.
Another bill in 1980 has him as Flier Finlay and maybe he became “Fit Finlay” in 1981.
We go all the way to 1995 and the change in wrestling with Characters like Masked Mummy and Power Rangers and Finlay is off to USA.
I never thought about it before , had assumed that he was late 20’s when he went , but he was 36 or a little more and look at all that he did over there.
Back in Northern Ireland somehow his training had made him “Snake Pit Tough” This is a top man and what a hard hitting style. For me it’s how wrestling should be done.
Phil H
I seem to remember Dave Finley started out as Young Apollo
Ron Historyo
You are not wrong Phil and very young too.
Hack
I didn’t know the Young Apollo name – another one of them. Other than that your dates correspond with the A-Z entry. A 1958 birth would have made him sixteen for his 1974 debut, which is feasible. A bit of promoter’s blarney that he was fourteen years old. I see his dad on that bill too.
Phil H
He was also a Masked Mummy one night at Liverpool
Hack
Now that is funny. Ironically, wouldn’t you have rather seen Masked Mummy substituted by Dave Finlay than a one-off Masked Mummy?
Ron Historyo
One other name that I forgot was The Belfast Bruiser. In my opinion better than Fit Finlay and sat well in the USA.
Add your own comments at Talk Wrestling/Careers Early and Late and Moments
29969
