12 BRUTAL Wrestling Ribs That Made It To Live TV

9. Howard Finkel’s Moment Isn’t So Nice

At Survivor Series ‘11, CM Punk dethroned WWE champion Alberto Del Rio. While it was obviously a career highlight, it scanned more as a consolation prize. Yes, we completely butchered your big main event storyline, turning you from anti-establishment renegade to scab. No, you won’t be positioned above John Cena. But here: have the WWE title.

It’s like the Intercontinental title - but physically larger!

Punk, super-fan of the WWE Golden Age, was given a bronze medal in addition to his silver. Legendary ring announcer Howard Finkel, the voice of his youth, introduced him. This was a beautiful moment.

Except, it was ruined.

The late, great Finkel was a master of his craft, and, in addition to his onscreen role, was a fiercely dedicated utility office employee. He scouted Randy Savage; he advertised the nascent WWF to any business that would listen; in his later years, he sorted travel arrangements for the talent. The man even coined the term ‘WrestleMania’.

His reward?

A lifetime of institutional bullying.

The enthusiastic Finkel was a diminutive, meek fellow, hardly an alpha male type, and this was hilarious to Vince and his untold cruelty. According to a ROH shoot interview with Jim Cornette and Paul Bearer, Finkel was “chronically abused” “24/7”. Various power players in WWE would smash up his car for fun and book him in Tuxedo matches purely to mock his body. He was once force-fed sardines in a Bushwhackers vignette until he was sick, under the pretence of there not being a good enough cut. The time that must have taken, only for them to find the joke funnier and funnier. Awful.

This mean-spirited toxicity bled into the pay-per-view arena; as a tear-soaked, grateful Finkel registered the ovation afforded to him by the Madison Square Garden fans, commentator Michael Cole mocked his weight, laughed when he showed emotion, and generally groaned at how long Fink took to enjoy his last major onscreen moment.