David Finlay on aiming to be ‘the best Finlay,’ interest in WWE, New Japan dojo training

Ahead of Thursday’s New Japan Strong Rivals TV taping in Hollywood, California, David Finlay spoke to me about numerous topics surrounding his career — the full interview of which can be seen on YouTube above.

Finlay discussed growing up in a family of wrestling, training with his dad Fit, life at the New Japan dojo, traveling the world, how the pandemic has changed things for him as a performer, working in the States on both NJPW Strong and Impact Wrestling, and whether or not he has interest in working with WWE. 

Here’s a few highlights:

“Wrestling is pretty much synonymous with being a Finlay”

His father Dave “Fit” Finlay is known for his work in WWE and WCW and is both widely known and respected in the business.

When asked about what age he knew he would pursue the trade of his father, he recalls being two and telling people he would become a wrestler.

“To be a Finlay is to be a wrestler. My great grandfather, my grandfather, my dad, my aunt was a referee, my great aunt was a referee, my grandmother was part of doing all the behind-the-scenes stuff, my sister is an amateur wrestler and two-time state champion in Georgia, my little brother (Brogan) who is on the show Thursday wrestles as well. Wrestling is pretty much synonymous with being a Finlay.”

Discovering himself while taking a year off in Africa

There was a short period of time after he graduated from high school where he questioned whether or not he really wanted to pursue a wrestling career or simply take part in it because he wanted to be “cool” like his dad. This led him to take a gap year and travel to Africa to do volunteer work. 

“I took myself out of wrestling and away from it to see if I really wanted to do it. Before I knew it, before the year was up, I found a wrestling school in Cape Town and sure enough, I got back to it. So it’s 100% what I want to do in my life and I love every day of it.” 

Training with Fit finlay vs. training in the New Japan Dojo

Fit has a reputation for being one of the toughest men in the business. David also not only trained with his own father, but also at the New Japan Dojo, so which was tougher? 

“Training with my dad was easier because there was less squats. In the New Japan Dojo, I remember like day one in 2015. Jay White was a young boy, Juice (Robinson) hadn’t come yet, and Jay and I had met each other in England prior in my travels there. So, I had asked him, ‘Hey man, I’ve heard the horror stories about the squats. What’s the deal with it?’ He’s like, ‘I haven’t done more than 500.’ I’m thinking, ‘Alright, I have done 500, I can do that.’ 

But literally on day one, YOH was the dojo boss at the time, he looks over at me, the trainer says something and YOH goes ‘1000.’ You just start screaming and squatting and they are counting in Japanese and I don’t know any Japanese. I am just watching the clock tick by and after 45 minutes, we stop and start doing other things. The next day, we gotta do 1000 again.”

Although White never had to do 1000 squats according to Finlay, he believes he had to because of who his father was and that it was simply a test to see if he would run away. 

Training at the New Japan dojo vs. the WWE Performance Center

Finlay says that since he was fifteen, his dad wanted him to go about things in a different way. 

“My dad was like, ‘This is what you’re gonna do. Don’t go to the (WWE) PC right away. Don’t go to developmental. It’s a cookie cutter system. You’re gonna come out and there’s not gonna be much difference to you.’ So the plan was to go wrestle in England for a little bit, go wrestle in Japan for a little bit, and then go to the United States if I wanted to.”

He did just that, competing in England for about six months, then some work in the United States and then Japan.

“It’s also what I wanted to do. It sounded cool, it was different. I am a bit of a free spirit. I like to do things a different way than everyone else, so that was right up my alley. I did not fully understand how difficult it is for someone to get into New Japan until after that I was already in New Japan.” 

Finlay added that he simply wanted to go somewhere where he could train and become the very best wrestler he can be. “I feel like I am still on that journey. The answer for that is still New Japan. I love it here.” 

As a personal goal, he said would like to be better than his dad.

“When it’s all set and done, I wanna be the best Finlay that’s ever done it.”

Interest in WWE

Given that his father did spend several years with WWE, Finlay opened up about whether or not that is also of interest.

“From time to time, the thought pops into my head. Honestly, it’s never really been somewhere where I have been dying to go. If the opportunity presents itself, we’ll see, but I am happy where I am at. I am not on the road 24/7 and I actually have off time. There’s pros and cons with it, but right now I am happy and content. I love wrestling for New Japan. I love the schedule that I have and the freedom I have, so I currently have no desire to go anywhere else.”

Finlay and Juice Robinson take on JONAH and Bad Dude Tito Thursday in Hollywood.