The Evil History Of Pro Wrestling | WWE’s Treatment Of Howard Finkel

Harvey Wippleman vs. Howard Finkel
WWE

Also, even though Vince paid for the damages, that doesn’t erase the fear and anxiety Finkel would have felt in the moment. “Institutional” is no exaggeration either, because within WWE, Finkel went by a second nickname - ‘Mel Cooley’ - based on a character on The Dick Van Dyke Show who was a perennial punchline.

Vince McMahon liked to debase Finkel by booking angles in which his clothes were forcibly removed from him. Finkel feuded with Harvey Wippleman extensively throughout the early ‘90s; three years after Wippleman client Kamala put the Fink on a stretcher, he was allowed his revenge in a Tuxedo match on the January 9, 1995 Monday Night Raw. Except, he wasn’t; Fink “won” the match against Wippleman, but he was ridiculed on commentary and lost almost as many articles of clothing. (This match was trialled on the road, too.)

Finkel lost another Tuxedo match to Tony Chimel in 1999 in a terrible storyline premised on the idea that Fink, brainwashed by Chris Jericho, was jealous of him. Finkel, in the cruelest part of all, had been legitimately removed from television because he was not considered young or telegenic enough.

This time, there was no pretence of a happy ending, of getting the fans behind a loveable underdog. Finkel, the heel, was stripped within seconds. It was a transparently mean-spirited exercise in making the guy look pathetic. The idea that nobody would ever want to see Howard Finkel naked in a million years was the running “joke”. Vince’s obsession with stripping the guy down to his (unflattering) underwear lasted longer than the Invasion. Vince rebooted Howard Finkel: jealous heel announcer more often than he did WCW. WWE revisited this angle in 2002 when Finkel briefly feuded with Lillian Garcia.

CONT'D...(3 of 5)

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Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!