The Complete A-Z Of WrestleMania

21. F - Fink

Stone Cold Steve Austin The Rock
WWE Network

It's possible there would be no WrestleMania as we know it had it not been for Howard Finkel.

WWE's first ever employee is credited with naming the event as the organisation were rushing headlong into the historic Madison Square Garden broadcast. Noting 'Beatlemania' as an inspiration, 'The Fink' helped brand what would become the biggest event in the entire industry.

Since then, he's become the only person to appear on-screen at every single 'Show of Shows', manning his famed ring announcer position for all of the early event and later transitioning to emceeing the Hall of Fame presentations since its reintroduction in 2004. He'd be inducted himself in 2009.

Howard even had a few mini-WrestleMania moments of his own, including donning a hairpiece during WrestleMania 10 before getting into a fight with manager Harvey Wippleman, and donning a toga to become 'Finkus Maximus' at WrestleMania 9.

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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