10 Wrestlers You Didn’t Realise Wrestled For WWE In 1999

2. Tony Chimel

George The Animal Steele
WWE.com

After WWE remarkably paid off a years-long feud between ring announcer Howard Finkel and Harvey Wippleman with a Tuxedo Match on a 1995 episode of Monday Night Raw, 'The Fink' looked free from any future physical involvement, but during the Attitude Era, just about everybody got to play wrestler.

Having crotch-chopped alongside X-Pac at SummerSlam '98, Finkel was back amongst the action in 1999, when he was inexplicably paired with Chris Jericho just weeks after 'Y2J' had landed in the company following his high-profile exit from WCW.

A buffoon in the vein of Ralphus, Fink was given numerous demeaning tasks as Jericho's ill-fitting run-in buddy, including soiling himself whilst playing human shield for the 'Millennium Man' against Ken Shamrock as well as dressing up as the newcomer to provide further distraction for the 'World's Most Dangerous Man'.

It was during their short-lived alliance that Jericho fired the naive emcee up about his (real) reduced on-screen role for the company. Rushing to he ring on the maiden edition of SmackDown to the Ultimate Warrior's theme, Finkel floored announcer Tony Chimel with an unprovoked attack, leading to the pair engaging in a criminally poor Tuxedo Match the following week.

Whilst Jericho giggled backstage at the trouble he'd caused, Chimel stripped Howard nearly naked as Jerry Lawler squealed about 'The Fink's red underpants.

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Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett