Vince McMahon Reacts to Howard Finkel’s Death

Vince McMahon took to Twitter on Thursday afternoon to offer his condolences to Howard Finkel. The legendary ring announcer passed away at the age of 69 on Thursday after suffering the effects of a stroke nearly a full year, and wreslters and fans alike from multiple generations mourned his death. McMahon wrote, “Saddened to learn of the passing of my friend and WWE‘s first employee, WWE Hall of Famer Howard Finkel. The grandest moments in sports-entertainment history were made all the grander thanks to Howard’s iconic voice.”

Finkel first began working for McMahon’s father, Vince McMahon Sr., in 1975 in the World Wide Wrestling Federation, and by 1979 he was the company’s lead ring announcer.

By 2000 Finkel had transitioned to a lighter work schedule, though he would continue to appear at every WrestleMania up until 2016.

Both Stephanie McMahon and Triple H also commented on Finkel’s passing.

“In what has already been a tough week for our @WWEfamily, today we lost our 1st ever employee and WWE Hall of Famer, @howardfinkel,” Stephanie wrote. “Howard’s voice is iconic & recognized by generations of fans. He will be missed. #RIPHowardFinkel Thank you for everything.”

Finkel’s death came just one day after WWE fired more than 20 active wrestlers, backstage producers, announcers and referees as part of a cost-cutting measure.

Here’s a full list of every wrestler who has been released:

• Rusev
• Drake Maverick
• Karl Anderson
• Luke Gallows
• EC3
• Curt Hawkins
• Heath Slater
• Eric Young
• Lio Rush
• Aiden English
• Sarah Logan
• Erick Rowan
• Primo
• Epico
• Mike Kanellis
• Maria Kanellis
• Zack Ryder
• No Way Jose
• Deonna Purrazzo
• Aleksandar Jaksic
• MJ Jenkins
• Dan Matha
• Alyssa Marino