They're Finlays, and they love to fight.
There, we got that out of the way.
David Finlay has made his impression felt in New Japan Pro Wrestling, reaching the finals of the New Japan Cup USA tournament, winning tag team titles and more. For decades prior, his father made his impression felt, as well. "Fit" Finlay even paved the way for many, making a return from a four year absence in his late 40s in 2006 WWE. David remembers it well.
"The break was because he injured one of his legs. Severed most of it, almost had to lose his leg. The doctor said he probably wouldn't walk again, much less wrestle. My Dad's the kind of guy, if you tell him 'no,' he'll say 'yes.' A few years went by and he had that itch and had to get back. He started training, and he talked to WWE, and they gave him the go ahead for it. He was a producer at the time. He debuted at like 46, which is crazy. I remember watching it on TV, and people at school the next week were like 'was that really your dad?' It was great to see him wrestle again," David said.
David says that he didn't have any real concerns seeing his dad return to the ring, because he thought his father was invincible. In the years that followed, he became even more impressed with the return that the wrestling world witnessed.
"This might be biased, but I feel like my dad got better as time went on. I think when he retired, that was his peak. He never diminished in his skill level, whatsoever," David told us.
62 years old isn't an optimal age to compete, by any stretch. However, we've seen "Bullet" Bob Armstrong in the ring, Jerry "The King" Lawler, and others wrestle well beyond that age. Finlay hasn't worked a match since 2012, but after being furloughted by WWE, could we see it happen?
"He thinks that he can. I train with him and my little brother weekly, and he's still got it. He's still better than he was when he retired eight years ago or whatever. In my opinion, yes, he could go in there and do better than most people wrestling today," David said, before agreeing that he and "Fit" Finlay taking on Haku and one of the Guerrillas of Destiny sounded fun.
You can check out our full interview with David Finlay above, and you can see him Fridays on New Japan Strong on New Japan World! This week, he's in the Cup finals against Kenta.
