WWE Hall Of Famer Howard "The Fink" Finkel Passes Away At 69

In what has been an emotional week for WWE, but more sad news has surfaced. On April 16, WWE announced that legendary ring announcer Howard "The Fink" Finkel has passed away at the age of 69.

Finkel began his career with the WWWF with Vince McMahon, Sr. in 1975, and would continue working for his son Vince McMahon when the company eventually was rechristened the WWF and becoming one of the fixtures of the wrestling company. Finkel is considered one of the greatest ring announcers in all of sports.

He was inducted in the WWE Hall of Fame 2009 by another "voice of wrestling", "Mean" Gene Okerlund. Among his contributions to wrestling are actually inventing the term "Wrestlemania" and dubbing Ricky Steamboat "Dragon" as well as being known for being WWE's chief statistician.

Despite being a ring announcer, Finkel got into a few matches along the way, including battling his longtime rival Harvey Wippleman in a Tuxedo Match on Raw, and later helped X-Pac shave Jeff Jarrett’s head in a Hair vs. Hair Match at SummerSlam 1998.

Finkel's trademark finish to a match that would crown a new champion was distinctive and entirely all his own, something that future announcers would still try to emulate.