Gamers are no strangers to the world (and the characters) of Tekken. The fighting game has been a fixture of gaming consoles since the '90s and David Finlay has been a fan of the game for years.
That's why his Tekken-inspired entrance at Wrestle Kingdom 19 meant so much to him. During his entrance, Finaly donned a Bryan Fury-esque getup and yielded a Gatlin/Minigun that, in the game, has been known to pulverize trees. Finlay didn't have to pulverize any trees, he just had to face off against Yota Tsjui. Finlay lost that match, and the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship, but he earned his place in the history of video-game inspired wrestling entrances.
Finaly recently spoke with Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp about the experience, and noted that the kid in him was thrilled by the entrance.
"It was cool. I got to do a collaboration with Tekken for my entrance. That was kind of Bryan Fury themed. I was just really happy that I got to have a Gatlin gun to be honest. The child in me was like, ‘This is sick.’ It was really cool. It is strange to get to the position where you finally get to do the cool entrance, you know? Because as a kid, when you want to be a wrestler, that's part of the dream of, ‘I want to have a sick entrance,’ and all that stuff. Walking down the aisle, getting ready for the title match, I was like, ‘Yeah, I did it,'" Finlay stated.
While Finlay was proud of his entrance, there were some concerns about how to get a gatlin gun into Tokyo.
"I was worried because, it was either ship it there or I would have to bring it myself. So I to order the biggest duffel bag I could find. It was terrible. I was stressed about it ‘cause this thing’s going to break. It’s in a duffel bag, it’s going to break. Luckily, got it to Tokyo in one piece," he said.
David Finlay's Wrestle Kingdom 19 entrance was an homage to Bryan Fury in a special collaboration between the BC War Dogs and @TEKKEN pic.twitter.com/HqUc91UfId
— NJPW Global (@njpwglobal) January 4, 2025
Fans can check out Fightful's coverage of NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 19 here.
For Fightful's coverage of NJPW Windy City Riot, click here.
Check out Fightful's full interview with David Finlay embedded at the top of this page.
