WWE: 10 People Who Quietly Had A Huge Influence In Its Success

9. Fit Finlay

Best remembered for his on screen run as Finlay, this Irish brawler was actually the mechanic of the entire divas division success of the early 2000's. A ridiculously talented wrestler, Finlay came up in the catch wrestling brilliance of the British wrestling scene in the 70's and 80's. He ended up in America with WCW. Despite failing to get over as a talent in the 90's and early 2000's, he was hugely respected for his wrestling acumen and ability to work. For this reason, Vince McMahon after acquiring Finlay's contract in 2001 put the irishman to work as the trainer and match director for the WWE divas. Finlay was getting a pretty dismal gig. The divas were mostly hired based upon their good looks. Slaps and "bra and pantie" matches were the main focus of match direction. However, what transpired ending up being one of the great success stories of that decade. Finlay dedicated considerable time to showing the girls how to work a ring style that would get them over as equals to the traditional mens style. Athleticism, intelligence and story telling was incorporated into the WWE womens division, and Finlay was the big influence behind this. His biggest success story was Trish Stratus, who went from being a valet to being a truly great worker who main evented Raw. Former WWE superstar Victoria said this about Finlay's influence, "He made us and molded us [...] Today the girls pick and choose what moves they want to do. If Fit Finlay wasn't around, that wouldn't happen." It was a great moment of pride for Finlay to see his work develop into a huge part of WWE television. In addition to this he finally found fame on screen as well - despite advancing in age he was one of the best workers in the whole WWE when he started wrestling again from 2005-2011.