Howard Finkel

Howard Finkel (born June 7, 1957) is a professional wrestling ring announcer. Hired in 1975 by Vince McMahon, Sr's World Wide Wrestling Federation, "The Fink" was one of the first people brought in to the junior McMahon's nascent World Wrestling Federation, and is widely credited as World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)'s first and longest lasting employee.

Finkel, a native of Newark, New Jersey, began announcing wrestling shows at Madison Square Garden in 1975. By 1980, he was made lead ring announcer for the WWF's biggest events. Across two decades, Finkel's distinctive voice was one of the trademarks of WWF programming.

Finkel has occasionally taken part in gimmick matches, including feuds with wrestling manager Harvey Wippleman and current "RAW" announcer Lilian Garcia. Finkel was also involved in a feud between X-Pac and Jeff Jarrett after Jarrett had shaved the already near-bald Finkel's head. This culminated in a hair-versus-hair match at SummerSlam 1998 with Howard Finkel in the corner of X-Pac. X-pac won the match and Finkel assisted him in cutting Jarrett's hair. On an edition of RAW, Finkel fought Lilian Garcia for the ring announcing title of RAW. During this match, Stacy Keibler and Trish Stratus ran into the ring and stripped him to his underwear.

Finkel currently does behind-the-scenes work for WWE's various companies, including doing interviews for various WWE.com programs and being WWE's chief statistician. Although Finkel's current television appearances are sporadic (appearing only at major pay-per-view special events and the occasional episode of RAW or Smackdown!), The Fink remains the only WWF/E performer to appear on-screen at every single WrestleMania event (although he did not announce any of the matches at WrestleMania 22 or WrestleMania 23, he did introduce the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2006 and 2007).

Trivia

 * Finkel is known for his precise knowledge of dates and records. Such odd trivia as this is usually referred to from people in the business as a "Finkel Fact".
 * Finkel suggested the Pay-Per-View name "WrestleMania", and Vince McMahon immediately accepted the idea.
 * Finkel has actually been trained as a wrestler despite only taking part in gimmick matches that do not involve much training.
 * During WrestleMania IX held at Caesars Palace on the Las Vegas Strip near Las Vegas, Nevada, Finkel was introduced as "Finkus Maximus".