129-584: David John Finlay ( Irish : Daithi Eoin Fionnalaigh , born 31 January 1958) is a Northern Irish retired professional wrestler . He is signed to WWE as a trainer and assistant coach at the Performance Center , as well as a producer . He is best known for his tenures with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) from 1996 to 2000 under the ring name Fit Finlay , and in WWE from 2005 to 2010 under
258-475: A Belfast Brawl rematch a few weeks later. Finlay and Hornswoggle briefly separated when Hornswoggle was stripped of the Cruiserweight title, and briefly moving to Raw with his " illegitimate father", Mr. McMahon . Finlay then feuded with Rey Mysterio by attacking him during a confrontational interview with JBL. At No Mercy , Finlay faked an injury after taking a bump to the outside. Once placed on
387-523: A Native American headdress , she would frequently admonish her husband for mistakes in the ring. He then won a tournament to crown a new British Light Heavyweight champion and fill the vacant position, defeating Ringo Rigby in the finals. Finlay soon lost the championship, but later pinned Marty Jones to win the World Mid-Heavyweight Championship. He traded it back and forth with Jones for over two years before losing it
516-717: A Winner Takes All triple threat match against Ronda Rousey and Charlotte Flair . On 16 April 2020, Finlay was among the several WWE employees who were furloughed as part of the COVID-19 budget cuts but returned to work in November of the same year. In November, he was re-hired as a trainer and assistant coach at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida . Finlay has received praise from fellow professional wrestlers and peers. He reportedly assisted in
645-452: A falls count anywhere match between Finlay and Vampiro at Uncensored , which Finlay lost. Finlay left wrestling in the summer of 2000 and accepted the position of a backstage road agent for WCW. His final match in WCW was at Millennium Final , where he competed twice, firstly in a battle royal and secondly in an Octoberfest Hardcore match against Smiley in a losing effort. Finlay remained in
774-615: A lumberjack match in the opening round, thus moving to the Losers' Bracket, where they defeated Billy Kidman and Chavo Guerrero Jr. in the opening round but lost to Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko in the second round. On the 10 June episode of Thunder , Finlay unsuccessfully challenged Rick Steiner for the World Television Championship. In the summer of 1999, Finlay resumed his alliance with Taylor, which also expanded to include former rival Steven Regal , but
903-547: A unique dialect of Irish developed before falling out of use in the early 20th century. With a writing system , Ogham , dating back to at least the 4th century AD, which was gradually replaced by Latin script since the 5th century AD, Irish has one of the oldest vernacular literatures in Western Europe . On the island, the language has three major dialects: Connacht , Munster and Ulster Irish . All three have distinctions in their speech and orthography . There
1032-569: A Championship Scramble match for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship, which also included Christian, Swagger and Henry, but Dreamer retained the title. Finlay did not return to ECW after that. He was traded to the SmackDown brand on 29 June 2009. He went on to form part of John Morrison 's team at Survivor Series , but was eliminated by Sheamus , and his team eventually lost. In late 2009, he began pursuing
1161-716: A TV taping in Southport for the main European version of the World Heavy Middleweight title. Vacating his British title to concentrate on the World title, Rocco feuded intensely with a returning Dynamite Kid , culminating in a World title match in Lewisham , South London that ended in a double knockout. After his series of highly regarded matches, Rocco was contacted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling to wrestle
1290-717: A bargaining chip during government formation in Northern Ireland, prompting protests from organisations and groups such as An Dream Dearg . Irish became an official language of the EU on 1 January 2007, meaning that MEPs with Irish fluency can now speak the language in the European Parliament and at committees, although in the case of the latter they have to give prior notice to a simultaneous interpreter in order to ensure that what they say can be interpreted into other languages. While an official language of
1419-575: A better future for Ireland and all her citizens." The Strategy was produced on 21 December 2010 and will stay in action until 2030; it aims to target language vitality and revitalization of the Irish language. The 30-page document published by the Government of Ireland details the objectives it plans to work towards in an attempt to preserve and promote both the Irish language and the Gaeltacht. It
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#17327976944761548-568: A comeback on March 21, 2004, wrestling in a match defeating Jamie Noble at a house show in Glasgow and losing to Heidenreich in a house show in Belfast on October 8, 2004. Promos began airing for his impending in-ring return on 30 December 2005. His gimmick was that of a proud native Irishman who loved to fight. At the age of 47, Finlay made his televised debut on the 20 January 2006 edition of SmackDown! against Matt Hardy , which ended in
1677-478: A cultural and social force. Irish speakers often insisted on using the language in law courts (even when they knew English), and Irish was also common in commercial transactions. The language was heavily implicated in the "devotional revolution" which marked the standardisation of Catholic religious practice and was also widely used in a political context. Down to the time of the Great Famine and even afterwards,
1806-553: A degree course in the NUI federal system to pass the subject of Irish in the Leaving Certificate or GCE / GCSE examinations. Exemptions are made from this requirement for students who were born or completed primary education outside of Ireland, and students diagnosed with dyslexia . NUI Galway is required to appoint people who are competent in the Irish language, as long as they are also competent in all other aspects of
1935-638: A disqualification after he refused to break a five-count while pummelling Hardy against the ropes. After the match, Finlay stomped Hardy's face into the ring steps, establishing himself as a villain . This earned him the nickname "The Fighting Irish Bastard". Finlay continued to establish himself on the SmackDown! roster. During February and March 2006, he feuded with Bobby Lashley that began after he cost Lashley his unbeaten streak by interfering in Lashley's match with JBL at No Way Out . This feud would see
2064-492: A feud with Henry, and the feud ended when Finlay defeated Henry in a Belfast Brawl match at Armageddon . Finlay entered his third Royal Rumble match at the eponymous pay-per-view on 25 January 2009, where he entered at number 14 and lasted 30 minutes before being eliminated by Kane. At No Way Out , Finlay faced Jack Swagger for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship in a losing effort. On
2193-763: A final time to Jones via disqualification. He defeated Jones to win Joint Promotions' British Light Heavyweight Championship. In the second half of the 1980s, he defeated Frank "Chic" Cullen on television for the British Heavy Middleweight Championship , but later lost it to Danny Collins. In 1990 he became a champion at the top of the weight range when he won All Star's British Heavyweight Championship . Finlay often competed on ITV 's World of Sport programme as Dave "Fit" Finlay on which he had many matches against Jones, Collins, Big Daddy (whom he fought on TV during coverage of
2322-460: A fully recognised EU language for the first time in the state's history. Before Irish became an official language it was afforded the status of treaty language and only the highest-level documents of the EU were made available in Irish. The Irish language was carried abroad in the modern period by a vast diaspora , chiefly to Great Britain and North America, but also to Australia , New Zealand and Argentina . The first large movements began in
2451-652: A losing effort against Harry Smith . On 21 January 2012, Fit Finlay returned to DOA Pro Wrestling in Portland, Oregon to face Ethan H. D. for the DOA Heavyweight Championship. On 12 May 2012, at Border Wars , Finlay made his debut for Ring of Honor (ROH), unsuccessfully challenging Roderick Strong for the ROH World Television Championship . On 24 May, Finlay made his debut for Wrestling New Classic (WNC),
2580-586: A match against The Great Khali, turning both Finlay and Hornswoggle faces . At Armageddon , Finlay was placed in a match with Khali. Finlay scored an upset win after Hornswoggle interfered by hitting Khali in the groin with a shillelagh . Still battling Khali and his translator, Ranjin Singh, with Hornswoggle, he qualified for the Royal Rumble . He drew number 27, but was immediately disqualified when he entered before his time to save Hornswoggle. Hornswoggle, who
2709-495: A new look of short bleached-blond hair and no mustache. He defeated Barry Houston in his televised return match. He participated in the World War 3 battle royal at the namesake event on 23 November for a future WCW World Heavyweight Championship title shot, but failed to win the match. He was given a push upon his return, winning the majority of his matches in the mid-card. This culminated in him pinning Booker T to win
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#17327976944762838-510: A non-title match to any wrestler in the promotion. Accepted by Frank "Chic" Cullen, he was defeated by Rocco although they shook hands following the match. During the second week of the tour, after defeating Mike Jordan in a singles match, Rocco challenged the Dynamite Kid who had also recently returned from NJPW to a match later that night. Agreeing to a tag team match, he and Fit Finlay would later lose to Dynamite Kid and Marty Jones at
2967-585: A paper suggested that within a generation, non-Gaeltacht habitual users of Irish might typically be members of an urban, middle class, and highly educated minority. Parliamentary legislation is supposed to be available in both Irish and English but is frequently only available in English. This is notwithstanding that Article 25.4 of the Constitution of Ireland requires that an "official translation" of any law in one official language be provided immediately in
3096-575: A pass in Leaving Certificate Irish or English, and receive lessons in Irish during their two years of training. Official documents of the Irish government must be published in both Irish and English or Irish alone (in accordance with the Official Languages Act 2003, enforced by An Coimisinéir Teanga , the Irish language ombudsman). The National University of Ireland requires all students wishing to embark on
3225-625: A religious context. An Irish translation of the Old Testament by Leinsterman Muircheartach Ó Cíonga , commissioned by Bishop Bedell , was published after 1685 along with a translation of the New Testament. Otherwise, Anglicisation was seen as synonymous with 'civilising' the native Irish. Currently, modern day Irish speakers in the church are pushing for language revival. It has been estimated that there were around 800,000 monoglot Irish speakers in 1800, which dropped to 320,000 by
3354-512: A series of matches against Lee/Sayama in Japan. Wrestling under the name Black Tiger , against Sayama's Tiger Mask character, Rocco and Tiger Mask's matches were some of the highest-rated in Japanese television history. The success of this series of matches between the original Black Tiger and original Tiger Mask would be followed with later incarnations of wrestlers to have competed under both
3483-647: A steel cage match, JBL revealed that Finlay, and not McMahon, was Hornswoggle's father. A week after, on 3 March, Finlay admitted to this fact. At WrestleMania XXIV he was defeated by JBL in a Belfast Brawl, where Hornswoggle also reappeared. As part of the 2008 WWE supplemental draft , Finlay was drafted to the ECW brand . He and Hornswoggle challenged John Morrison and the Miz for the WWE Tag Team Championship at Night of Champions , but lost. Throughout
3612-538: A stiff encounter with Regal by disqualification at Uncensored when the Blue Bloods again rushed the ring and assaulted him after Regal suffered a broken nose during the match. The following night on Nitro , Bruiser suffered his first loss in WCW against Randy Savage . After Regal pinned the Bruiser in a parking lot brawl on 29 April episode of Nitro , the feud died down thereafter. The injuries sustained from
3741-440: A stint on the independent circuit and a year after the house show incident, Finlay returned to WWE on 11 July 2012 as a backstage producer. The two sides had been negotiating since WrestleMania XXVIII , but there were situations that delayed the deal being finalised. During the following years, Finlay made some cameo appearances, usually separating brawling wrestlers. He was also one of four wrestlers who presented Tyler Bate with
3870-478: A stretcher, Finlay suddenly rose and attacked Mysterio, forcing Rey to be carried out on the stretcher. The feud continued at Cyber Sunday , where fans voted for the two to face-off in a Stretcher match . Mysterio came out on top, but Finlay retaliated with a victory on the edition of 9 November of SmackDown! . The feud ended when the two faced on opposite teams at Survivor Series , which Finlay's team lost. Finlay reunited with Hornswoggle by coming to rescue him in
3999-552: A table in the corner of the ring, causing it to shatter and the shards to cut into his leg. He managed to regain use of the limb and would return to WCW at Starrcade by assisting Knobbs in interfering in Norman Smiley 's Hardcore Championship title defense against Meng . Finlay unsuccessfully challenged Smiley for the Hardcore Championship on the 23 December episode of Thunder . In his continued pursuit of
Fit Finlay - Misplaced Pages Continue
4128-534: A tag team match and, having a shared rival in Yamada, Rocco volunteered. Nagasaki and Rocco defeated Yamada and Myers in the main event of a TV taping at the Fairfield Hall Croydon . Following this match, Nagasaki and Rocco would continue to team until a year later at another televised Croydon tag match, where the team collapsed in spectacular fashion while facing Myers and Dave Taylor . Taylor
4257-401: A tournament to crown a successor, won by future WWE star "American Dragon" Bryan Danielson , to whom Rocco and Cullen personally presented the belt. In August 2006, he and his father received a lifetime achievement award at the 15th Southern Wrestlers' Reunion at South Darenth, Kent . During the event, Rocco also presented a lifetime achievement award to promoter Brian Dixon. Rollerball Rocco
4386-545: A wider meaning, including the Gaelic of Scotland and the Isle of Man , as well as of Ireland. When required by the context, these are distinguished as Gaeilge na hAlban , Gaeilge Mhanann and Gaeilge na hÉireann respectively. In English (including Hiberno-English ), the language is usually referred to as Irish , as well as Gaelic and Irish Gaelic . The term Irish Gaelic may be seen when English speakers discuss
4515-453: Is a former wrestler and wrestling coach and was appointed MBE in the 2024 New Year Honours "For Services to Olympic Wrestling in Northern Ireland". His grandfather was a professional wrestler, and his sister was a referee . His uncle, Albert, was a goalkeeper for Glentoran F.C. in the 1960s and 1970s. Finlay was previously married to his former manager, Princess Paula. He is currently married to Melanie "Mel" Duffin and has three children,
4644-452: Is also An Caighdeán Oifigiúil , a standardised written form devised by a parliamentary commission in the 1950s. The traditional Irish alphabet , a variant of the Latin alphabet with 18 letters , has been succeeded by the standard Latin alphabet (albeit with 7–8 letters used primarily in loanwords ). Irish has constitutional status as the national and first official language of
4773-511: Is divided into four separate phases with the intention of improving 9 main areas of action including: The general goal for this strategy was to increase the number of daily speakers from 83,000 to 250,000 by the end of its run. By 2022, the number of such speakers had fallen to 71,968. Before the partition of Ireland in 1921, Irish was recognised as a school subject and as "Celtic" in some third level institutions. Between 1921 and 1972, Northern Ireland had devolved government. During those years
4902-587: Is only in Gaeltacht areas that Irish continues to be spoken as a community vernacular to some extent. According to data compiled by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht , Sport and Media , only 1/4 of households in Gaeltacht areas are fluent in Irish. The author of a detailed analysis of the survey, Donncha Ó hÉallaithe of the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology , described
5031-412: Is still spoken daily to some extent as a first language . These regions are known individually and collectively as the Gaeltacht (plural Gaeltachtaí ). While the fluent Irish speakers of these areas, whose numbers have been estimated at 20–30,000, are a minority of the total number of fluent Irish speakers, they represent a higher concentration of Irish speakers than other parts of the country and it
5160-721: The Fíor-Ghaeltacht (true Gaeltacht ), a term originally officially applied to areas where over 50% of the population spoke Irish. There are Gaeltacht regions in the following counties: Gweedore ( Gaoth Dobhair ), County Donegal, is the largest Gaeltacht parish in Ireland. Irish language summer colleges in the Gaeltacht are attended by tens of thousands of teenagers annually. Students live with Gaeltacht families, attend classes, participate in sports, go to céilithe and are obliged to speak Irish. All aspects of Irish culture and tradition are encouraged. The Act
5289-508: The Intercontinental Championship by feuding with Drew McIntyre , which he failed to win. His final televised match in WWE was on the 4 June 2010 episode of SmackDown , where he competed in a 15-man battle royal . He failed to win as the match was won by former rival Rey Mysterio. Between June and October, Finlay worked in house shows. In October 2010, Finlay retired from WWE and became a backstage producer. Finlay
Fit Finlay - Misplaced Pages Continue
5418-645: The Joint Promotions banner. Finlay defeated Alan Kilby on 9 June 1982 to win his first title, the Joint Promotions British Heavy Middleweight Championship . He also formed the Riot Squad tag team with Skull Murphy (Peter Northey), together winning the 1982 World of Sport Top Tag Team Tournament. At this time, Finlay's then-wife, "Princess" Paula Valdez, became his manager . Dressed in
5547-609: The Raw and SmackDown! brands in a Money in the Bank ladder match , which also included Lashley, who won a last chance battle royal. This match was eventually won by Rob Van Dam . Finlay next entered the King of the Ring tournament on SmackDown! , defeating his first round opponent Chris Benoit , before being beaten by his rival Lashley, who advanced to the finals at Judgment Day . Finlay helped
5676-631: The Republic of Ireland , and is also an official language of Northern Ireland and among the official languages of the European Union . The public body Foras na Gaeilge is responsible for the promotion of the language throughout the island. Irish has no regulatory body but An Caighdeán Oifigiúil , the standard written form, is guided by a parliamentary service and new vocabulary by a voluntary committee with university input. In An Caighdeán Oifigiúil ("The Official [Written] Standard ")
5805-643: The WWE UK Championship after Bate won the related tournament in January 2017. After Lana was unable to compete in the 2019 women's Royal Rumble match following an attack by Nia Jax during her entrance, Finlay gave fellow Irish wrestler Becky Lynch permission to replace Lana; Lynch would go on to win the match and subsequently headline WrestleMania 35 , where she would win both the Raw Women's Championship and SmackDown Women's Championship in
5934-527: The World Television Championship on the 4 May 1998 episode of Nitro , thus setting off a three-way feud with Booker and Chris Benoit , who was also vying for the title. Finlay retained the title against Benoit at Slamboree . Finlay also regularly defended the title on weekly WCW television against the likes of Chavo Guerrero Jr. , Kaos , The Renegade , Brad Armstrong , Jim Neidhart , Norman Smiley and Psychosis , before losing
6063-456: The " WCW Hardcore Championship ", although the actual lineage would not begin until Mayhem (1999) , thus leaving Finlay with a trophy instead of an actual championship. He legitimately suffered a badly lacerated nerve in his leg during a hardcore match at a house show in Jackson, Mississippi on 25 July 1999, which nearly cost him use of the leg. As he was wrestling Knobbs, he was thrown into
6192-617: The 13 March episode of SmackDown , Finlay defeated The Brian Kendrick to qualify for the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania 25 . At the event, Finlay failed to win the match as it was won by CM Punk . In the 2009 Supplemental Draft , Finlay and Hornswoggle were separated when Hornswoggle was drafted to Raw. In late May 2009, Finlay suffered a legitimate eye injury, sidelining him temporarily. He returned on 16 June, attacking ECW World Heavyweight Champion Tommy Dreamer , Christian , and Jack Swagger. At The Bash , he participated in
6321-634: The 17th century, largely as a result of the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland , which saw many Irish sent to the West Indies . Irish emigration to the United States was well established by the 18th century, and was reinforced in the 1840s by thousands fleeing from the Famine . This flight also affected Britain. Up until that time most emigrants spoke Irish as their first language, though English
6450-526: The 1984 and 1986 FA Cup Final matches) and "The American Dream" Steve Adonis, as well as on Williams' Welsh language wrestling show, Reslo , for S4C . During this time, Finlay also began to wrestle in Japan, then in Germany and Austria for the European promotion Catch Wrestling Association . While holding the British Heavyweight championship, he teamed with former rival Marty Jones to win
6579-789: The 1998 Good Friday Agreement , the language gradually received a degree of formal recognition in Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom, and then, in 2003, by the British government's ratification in respect of the language of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages . In the 2006 St Andrews Agreement the British government promised to enact legislation to promote the language and in 2022 it approved legislation to recognise Irish as an official language alongside English. The bill received royal assent on 6 December 2022. The Irish language has often been used as
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#17327976944766708-400: The 2021 census of Northern Ireland , 43,557 individuals stated they spoke Irish on a daily basis, 26,286 spoke it on a weekly basis, 47,153 spoke it less often than weekly, and 9,758 said they could speak Irish, but never spoke it. From 2006 to 2008, over 22,000 Irish Americans reported speaking Irish as their first language at home, with several times that number claiming "some knowledge" of
6837-403: The 6th century, used the Latin alphabet and is attested primarily in marginalia to Latin manuscripts. During this time, the Irish language absorbed some Latin words, some via Old Welsh , including ecclesiastical terms : examples are easpag (bishop) from episcopus , and Domhnach (Sunday, from dominica ). By the 10th century, Old Irish had evolved into Middle Irish , which
6966-571: The Act all detailing different aspects of the use of Irish in official documentation and communication. Included in these sections are subjects such as Irish language use in official courts, official publications, and placenames. The Act was recently amended in December 2019 in order to strengthen the already preexisting legislation. All changes made took into account data collected from online surveys and written submissions. The Official Languages Scheme
7095-767: The Bank ladder match at WrestleMania 23 ; however, Mr. Kennedy won the match . Following this loss, he would feud with Kennedy, after an attack on Little Bastard (now renamed " Hornswoggle ") during the Money in the Bank match, and Jamie Noble for assaulting Hornswoggle after he won the Cruiserweight Championship . Finlay's feud, however, would quickly redirect to Kane after Finlay accidentally spilled coffee on him. The two also became involved with Batista and The Great Khali . At Saturday Night's Main Event XXXV , he and Khali lost to Batista and Kane. Kane beat him at SummerSlam . Finlay defeated Kane in
7224-665: The Black Tiger and Tiger Mask names in later years. The rivalry between the two Tigers continued throughout 1982, as the two feuded over the WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship after Rocco defeated Gran Hamada in a tournament final for the title in Fukuoka on 6 May before losing it back to Tiger Mask less than a month later in Tokyo , Japan on 26 May 1982. Rocco made further visits to Japan in
7353-438: The CWA tag title from Tony St. Clair and Mile Zrno . After losing the British championship to Dave Taylor , Finlay began to focus more on the CWA, winning many of their championships. Finlay teamed with Mark Rocco and Murphy in a 1989 WWF dark match in London, defeating the team of Al Perez , Dusty Wolfe and Tim Horner . Finlay made his American wrestling debut in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1996, going by
7482-404: The European Union , only co-decision regulations were available until 2022, due to a five-year derogation, requested by the Irish Government when negotiating the language's new official status. The Irish government had committed itself to train the necessary number of translators and interpreters and to bear the related costs. This derogation ultimately came to an end on 1 January 2022, making Irish
7611-443: The Hardcore Championship, Finlay began regularly teaming with Knobbs as well. At the 2000 Souled Out event, Finlay unsuccessfully challenged Knobbs for the Hardcore Championship in a four-way match, also involving Smiley and Meng. Shortly after, Finlay formed a trio of the "Hardcore Army" with Knobbs and The Dog as they defeated 3 Count in a hardcore match on the 1 March episode of Thunder . They feuded with Vampiro , leading to
7740-425: The Irish language policy followed by Irish governments as a "complete and absolute disaster". The Irish Times , referring to his analysis published in the Irish language newspaper Foinse , quoted him as follows: "It is an absolute indictment of successive Irish Governments that at the foundation of the Irish State there were 250,000 fluent Irish speakers living in Irish-speaking or semi Irish-speaking areas, but
7869-481: The King, and Finlay briefly used the name Sir Finlay . During his time as part of the court, Finlay picked up a win against World Heavyweight Champion Rey Mysterio in a non-title match before defeating the court's main foe Bobby Lashley to take Lashley's United States Championship . Finlay defended the championship on several occasions, often with help from Little Bastard, and even defended it against Regal, his fellow court member, at The Great American Bash . He lost
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#17327976944767998-424: The Republic of Ireland ), new appointees to the Civil Service of the Republic of Ireland , including postal workers , tax collectors , agricultural inspectors, Garda Síochána (police), etc., were required to have some proficiency in Irish. By law, a Garda who was addressed in Irish had to respond in Irish as well. In 1974, in part through the actions of protest organisations like the Language Freedom Movement ,
8127-435: The Republic of Ireland for the next four years before moving to England in 1978. In England, he wrestled for independent promoters such as Jackie Pallo , Orig Williams and Brian Dixon . On a visit to France in August 1980 Finlay made his television debut, teaming with Ian Gilmour as " Scotsmen " to lose to Guy Mercier (father of Marc Mercier ) and Alan Mitchells. Around this time, he began working for various companies under
8256-419: The World Television Championship back to Booker T at The Great American Bash . Finlay unsuccessfully challenged Booker for the title in a rematch on the 2 July episode of Thunder . He received another title shot for the title against Chris Jericho on the 17 October episode of Saturday Night but the match ended in a time limit draw. Shortly after his title loss, Finlay began feuding with Alex Wright , who
8385-577: The beginning of the following academic year. For a number of years there has been vigorous debate in political, academic and other circles about the failure of most students in English-medium schools to achieve competence in Irish, even after fourteen years of teaching as one of the three main subjects. The concomitant decline in the number of traditional native speakers has also been a cause of great concern. In 2007, filmmaker Manchán Magan found few Irish speakers in Dublin , and faced incredulity when trying to get by speaking only Irish in Dublin. He
8514-437: The best in them". WWE Wrestler Batista has credited Finlay as "the unsung hero who changed the direction of his career" and personally requested Finlay to induct him in the Hall of Fame ceremony. Former WWE wrestler and trainer Lance Storm and former AEW wrestler/executive and current WWE wrestler Cody Rhodes have also praised Finlay's mentoring skills and for putting new talents over. Finlay's father, Dave Finlay Sr. ,
8643-422: The bill with his father Jim Hussey in a match against Ivan Penzecoff at the Granada, East Ham in London. Making his debut in Dale Martin's London territory under the Joint Promotions banner, he became a rising star in the organisation, defeating Bert Royal (wrestler) for the British Heavy Middleweight Championship on 11 June 1977 and was involved in televised high-profile matches with Marty Jones before losing
8772-477: The company as a road agent until WCW was bought by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 2001. When WCW was purchased by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF; now WWE), Finlay began working for the company as a trainer for new wrestlers. He trained future WWE champions John Cena and Randy Orton and was eventually put in charge of training the WWE Divas for their matches. In May 2001, he wrestled three matches in Germany and England. Finlay began working on
8901-433: The early 1990s. In June 1988, he teamed with Dave Finlay losing to Mile Zrno & Tony St. Clair in a match to crown the first CWA World Tag Team Champions in Linz, Austria . Rocco also wrestled in France for Roger Delaporte's Fédération Française de Catch Professionnel going back to the late 1970s. One of his last World Heavy Middleweight title defences, against Danny Boy Collins in Paris , France in 1991,
9030-426: The eldest of whom, David , was born in Germany. His children have been involved in wrestling, either at the amateur or professional level. His eldest son. David, has wrestled for New Japan Pro-Wrestling since 2015. His daughter, Alanna, won the Georgia state championship during her youth. His youngest son, Brogan , trained for a brief time at the New Japan Pro-Wrestling dojo before the COVID-19 pandemic , and
9159-414: The end of the famine, and under 17,000 by 1911. Irish is recognised by the Constitution of Ireland as the national and first official language of Republic of Ireland (English being the other official language). Despite this, almost all government business and legislative debate is conducted in English. In 1938, the founder of Conradh na Gaeilge (Gaelic League), Douglas Hyde , was inaugurated as
9288-515: The end of the night after Dynamite Kid pinned Finlay. The following week he again challenged the Dynamite Kid challenging him to a 30-minute "iron man" match which resulted in a time limit draw with one pinfall each. This led to a brutal feud between the two, which would lead to many aggressive, bloody encounters, culminating in the Dynamite Kid challenging Rocco to a ladder match for his World Heavy Middleweight title. Rocco successfully defended
9417-614: The family and is indigenous to the island of Ireland . It was the majority of the population's first language until the 19th century, when English gradually became dominant, particularly in the last decades of the century, in what is sometimes characterised as a result of linguistic imperialism . Today, Irish is still commonly spoken as a first language in Ireland's Gaeltacht regions, in which 2% of Ireland's population lived in 2022. The total number of people (aged 3 and over) in Ireland who declared they could speak Irish in April 2022
9546-560: The first President of Ireland . The record of his delivering his inaugural Declaration of Office in Roscommon Irish is one of only a few recordings of that dialect. In the 2016 census, 10.5% of respondents stated that they spoke Irish, either daily or weekly, while over 70,000 people (4.2%) speak it as a habitual daily means of communication. From the foundation of the Irish Free State in 1922 (see History of
9675-485: The follow-up promotion to Smash, defeating Akira in the main event. Two days later, Finlay defeated Zeus in the main event of another WNC event. Finlay's first tour of WNC concluded on 27 May, when he, Akira and Syuri defeated Kana , Mikey Whipwreck and Tajiri in a six-person main event. On 24 June at ROH's Best in the World 2012: Hostage Crisis iPPV, Finlay was defeated by Michael Elgin . Finlay returned to WNC on 20 September, when he defeated Ray Mendoza Jr. in
9804-462: The jump, also working for promoter Brian Dixon, whose Wrestling Enterprises promotion evolved into All Star Wrestling . When not on tour in Japan or elsewhere overseas, Rocco would continue to work for Dixon for the remainder of his career. Dixon would later comment that Rocco was his best employee, both as a worker and as a loyal friend. In 1983, Rocco appeared during All Star Wrestling's national tour of Great Britain and issued an open challenge for
9933-716: The language family, is derived from the Old Irish term. Endonyms of the language in the various modern Irish dialects include: Gaeilge [ˈɡeːlʲɟə] in Galway, Gaeilg / Gaeilic / Gaeilig [ˈɡeːlʲəc] in Mayo and Ulster , Gaelainn / Gaoluinn [ˈɡeːl̪ˠən̠ʲ] in West/Cork, Kerry Munster , as well as Gaedhealaing in mid and East Kerry/Cork and Waterford Munster to reflect local pronunciation. Gaeilge also has
10062-410: The language was in use by all classes, Irish being an urban as well as a rural language. This linguistic dynamism was reflected in the efforts of certain public intellectuals to counter the decline of the language. At the end of the 19th century, they launched the Gaelic revival in an attempt to encourage the learning and use of Irish, although few adult learners mastered the language. The vehicle of
10191-476: The language. For most of recorded Irish history , Irish was the dominant language of the Irish people , who took it with them to other regions , such as Scotland and the Isle of Man , where Middle Irish gave rise to Scottish Gaelic and Manx . It was also, for a period, spoken widely across Canada , with an estimated 200,000–250,000 daily Canadian speakers of Irish in 1890. On the island of Newfoundland ,
10320-645: The late 1980s where he and Keiichi Yamada would recreate their UK feud. In 1989, as Black Tiger, Rocco fought with Yamada's own superhero alter ego , Jushin Liger . He was also involved in Liger's early training. Back home in Britain, Rocco was lured away from the TV/Joint Promotions spotlight by independent promoter Orig Williams . Crucial to the defection was that Rocco brought his World Heavy Middleweight championship with him. Rocco agreed and made
10449-718: The later standalone ITV Wrestling show, he feuded with many of the top light heavyweight wrestlers of the era including Marty Jones , the Dynamite Kid , "Iron Fist" Clive Myers, Kendo Nagasaki and Satoru Sayama (billed in the UK as "Sammy Lee") in England. He and Sayama also feuded in Japan while both under masks, Sayama as Tiger Mask and Rocco as his nemesis Black Tiger . Born in Manchester, Rocco grew up in his father's gym where other local wrestlers trained. Although his father
10578-629: The main event at Korakuen Hall . Following the match, Finlay announced that he was done with WNC for the time being due to re-signing with WWE. Despite no longer scheduled to make appearances for WNC, Finlay was named the head of the WNC Championship Committee. Finlay wrestled his retirement match on 22 December 2012 at Hangover No.5 in Hanover , Germany, teaming with his son David Finlay Jr. to defeat Robbie Brookside and "Dirty" Dan Collins in an Irish street fight. Following
10707-594: The match would lead to Bruiser being removed from his scheduled tag team match with Regal at Slamboree . Finlay would then take a hiatus off WCW television for a stint in Catch Wrestling Association, while abandoning the Belfast Bruiser persona in the process. Finlay returned to WCW on 1 October 1997 by defeating Dave Taylor at a live event. He made his televised return on the 25 October episode of Saturday Night as Fit Finlay, sporting
10836-582: The mid-18th century, English was becoming a language of the Catholic middle class, the Catholic Church and public intellectuals, especially in the east of the country. Increasingly, as the value of English became apparent, parents sanctioned the prohibition of Irish in schools. Increasing interest in emigrating to the United States and Canada was also a driver, as fluency in English allowed
10965-729: The mononymous name Finlay . Finlay debuted in 1974, and has held over 20 championships around the world throughout his career, including the WCW World Television Championship and the WWE United States Championship . Finlay's first match was for his father 's promotion in Glynn in 1974, when he filled in for a wrestler who no-showed . He began wrestling on a full-time basis in Carrickfergus and throughout Northern Ireland and
11094-804: The name of the language is Gaeilge , from the South Connacht form, spelled Gaedhilge prior the spelling reform of 1948, which was originally the genitive of Gaedhealg , the form used in Classical Gaelic . The modern spelling results from the deletion of the silent ⟨dh⟩ in Gaedhilge . Older spellings include Gaoidhealg [ˈɡeːʝəlˠəɡ] in Classical Gaelic and Goídelc [ˈɡoiðʲelɡ] in Old Irish . Goidelic , used to refer to
11223-522: The new Smash Champion. On 19 February, Finlay made his first successful defence of the Smash Championship, defeating Tajiri. Prior to the event, Smash had announced that it would cease its operations on 14 March, which led to Finlay vacating the Smash Championship after the title defence. On 6 November 2011, Finlay wrestled in the main event of a Stampede Wrestling show in Barrie, Ontario in
11352-469: The new immigrants to get jobs in areas other than farming. An estimated one quarter to one third of US immigrants during the Great Famine were Irish speakers. Irish was not marginal to Ireland's modernisation in the 19th century, as is often assumed. In the first half of the century there were still around three million people for whom Irish was the primary language, and their numbers alone made them
11481-655: The number now is between 20,000 and 30,000." In the 1920s, when the Irish Free State was founded, Irish was still a vernacular in some western coastal areas. In the 1930s, areas where more than 25% of the population spoke Irish were classified as Gaeltacht . Today, the strongest Gaeltacht areas, numerically and socially, are those of South Connemara , the west of the Dingle Peninsula , and northwest Donegal, where many residents still use Irish as their primary language. These areas are often referred to as
11610-482: The other finalist, Booker T , defeat Lashley in the King of the Ring finals. At the same pay-per-view, Finlay lost to Benoit. Beginning on the 26 May episode of SmackDown! , Finlay was joined by Little Bastard , who came out from under the ring to attack Finlay's opponents. Finlay then joined forces with William Regal as loyal subjects of the newly renamed King Booker and his Court . Both men were later " knighted " by
11739-503: The other official language, if not already passed in both official languages. In November 2016, RTÉ reported that over 2.3 million people worldwide were learning Irish through the Duolingo app. Irish president Michael D. Higgins officially honoured several volunteer translators for developing the Irish edition, and said the push for Irish language rights remains an "unfinished project". There are rural areas of Ireland where Irish
11868-402: The pair brawl on many occasions, including a parking lot segment in which Lashley tried to overturn a car onto Finlay. Later, the pair competed in a Money in the Bank qualifier lumberjack match that Finlay won. During this time, Finlay began to wield a shillelagh as a weapon. On 2 April, Finlay competed at his first WrestleMania , WrestleMania 22 . He faced five other WWE superstars from both
11997-557: The political party holding power in the Stormont Parliament , the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), was hostile to the language. The context of this hostility was the use of the language by nationalists. In broadcasting, there was an exclusion on the reporting of minority cultural issues, and Irish was excluded from radio and television for almost the first fifty years of the previous devolved government. After
12126-492: The relationship between the three Goidelic languages (Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Manx). Gaelic is a collective term for the Goidelic languages, and when the context is clear it may be used without qualification to refer to each language individually. When the context is specific but unclear, the term may be qualified, as Irish Gaelic, Scottish Gaelic or Manx Gaelic. Historically the name "Erse" ( / ɜːr s / URS )
12255-488: The requirement for entrance to the public service was changed to proficiency in just one official language. Nevertheless, Irish remains a required subject of study in all schools in the Republic of Ireland that receive public money (see Education in the Republic of Ireland ). Teachers in primary schools must also pass a compulsory examination called Scrúdú Cáilíochta sa Ghaeilge . As of 2005, Garda Síochána recruits need
12384-478: The rest of 2008, Finlay challenged for the ECW Championship . He, along with Matt Hardy , Chavo Guerrero , The Miz and ECW Champion Mark Henry participated in the first ever Championship Scramble match at Unforgiven , which was won by Hardy won. He defeated Mark Henry on an episode of ECW to earn an opportunity for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship, but was defeated by Hardy. Then he started
12513-647: The revival was the Gaelic League ( Conradh na Gaeilge ), and particular emphasis was placed on the folk tradition, which in Irish is particularly rich. Efforts were also made to develop journalism and a modern literature. Although it has been noted that the Catholic Church played a role in the decline of the Irish language before the Gaelic Revival, the Protestant Church of Ireland also made only minor efforts to encourage use of Irish in
12642-400: The ring name of The Belfast Bruiser . Finlay made his WCW debut on 27 January episode of Saturday Night by emerging from the stands to viciously attack Lord Steven Regal , with Tony Schiavone stating "It says Northern Ireland on the back of his jacket", as the only means of identification at the time. He then cut a promo to the camera in which he introduced himself and declared that Regal
12771-618: The second half of 1986, Rocco lost his title to Yamada, regained it and then lost it again. During this feud, All Star finally gained a share of ITV's wrestling coverage and so when Rocco finally won the belt back in Lewisham in March 1987, it was televised nationally. Another televised confrontation between Rocco and Yamada would come in 1987, on opposite sides of a tag match. Yamada and his tag partner in Britain, "Ironfist" Clive Myers had challenged legendary masked wrestler Kendo Nagasaki to
12900-437: The title after he had tied the Dynamite Kid's arms to the cord of the area curtains. He would later defend the title in a rematch against Cullen, Robbie Brookside and his former tag team partner The Cobra during the last weeks of the tour. In late 1985, Rocco lost his title to Cullen but regained it a few days later. The following year, he faced the challenge of Yamada, now billed by All Star as "Flying" Fuji Yamada. During
13029-420: The title to Mr. Kennedy on the 1 September edition of SmackDown! in a Triple Threat match that also involved Bobby Lashley. After the title loss, Finlay continued to attack and wrestle threats to court leader King Booker and his newly won World Heavyweight Championship, including Lashley and Batista . Finlay defeated King Booker in a non-title singles match and lost in a fatal four-way match at No Mercy for
13158-652: The title to him on 13 September 1978. After Jones vacated the title, Rocco regained the title after defeating then-rookie Chris Adams in a tournament final on 6 December 1978. Rocco lost the championship to Adams a few months later, and regained it towards the middle of 1979. Touring North America the following year, he teamed with Greg Gagne and briefly competed in the World Wide Wrestling Federation , one of his opponents being Terry Bollea . In 1981, Rocco had his first feud with Satoru Sayama , then wrestling in Britain as Sammy Lee. Rocco
13287-454: The title. After leaving the court, Finlay continued to feud with Batista. At Armageddon , Finlay and King Booker faced Batista and his partner, WWE Champion John Cena from Raw but were defeated. Shortly after the Royal Rumble , Finlay began a feud with The Boogeyman . At No Way Out , he and Little Bastard defeated The Boogeyman and The Little Boogeyman. Finlay earned a place in the Money in
13416-498: The tournament and coming in last place. He returned from the tour of NJPW in December and then teamed with Flynn against Brian Adams and Scott Norton in a losing effort at Starrcade . After defeating Van Hammer at the Souled Out pay-per-view on 17 January 1999, Finlay was randomly paired with Dave Taylor to participate in a tournament for the vacant World Tag Team Championship , where they lost to The Faces of Fear in
13545-976: The transition of WWE's presentation of the WWE Divas from bra and panties matches to more respectful traditional wrestling. Former WWE Diva Victoria attested: "He made us and molded us. He got to know what made us tick, exposed that, and there was nothing we couldn't do. Today, the girls pick and choose what moves they want to do. If Fit Finlay wasn't around, that wouldn't happen. We worked stiff. We made contact." Other women wrestlers such as Torrie Wilson , Lita , Jazz , Stacy Keibler , Molly Holly , The Bella Twins , Beth Phoenix , Natalya , Trish Stratus , Ruby Riott , Liv Morgan , Sarah Logan , Sasha Banks , Charlotte Flair , Becky Lynch , Lana , Bayley , and Ronda Rousey have credited Finlay for helping them hone their wrestling abilities and find their identities. They described Finlay as "an incredible wrestler and patient coach who treats everyone equally and brings out
13674-465: The trio did not achieve much success. During that time, Finlay began competing in the emerging hardcore division. At Bash at the Beach , he won a Junkyard Invitational involving Ciclope , Jerry Flynn , Johnny Grunge , Hak , Horace Hogan , Brian Knobbs , Hugh Morrus , La Parka , Steve Regal, Rocco Rock , Silver King , Dave Taylor, and Mikey Whipwreck , winning what was initially announced to be for
13803-671: The vacancy to which they are appointed. This requirement is laid down by the University College Galway Act, 1929 (Section 3). In 2016, the university faced controversy when it announced the planned appointment of a president who did not speak Irish. Misneach staged protests against this decision. The following year the university announced that Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh , a fluent Irish speaker, would be its 13th president. He assumed office in January 2018; in June 2024, he announced he would be stepping down as president at
13932-594: The work of such writers as Geoffrey Keating , is said to date from the 17th century, and was the medium of popular literature from that time on. From the 18th century on, the language lost ground in the east of the country. The reasons behind this shift were complex but came down to a number of factors: The change was characterised by diglossia (two languages being used by the same community in different social and economic situations) and transitional bilingualism (monoglot Irish-speaking grandparents with bilingual children and monoglot English-speaking grandchildren). By
14061-465: Was 1,873,997, representing 40% of respondents, but of these, 472,887 said they never spoke it and a further 551,993 said they only spoke it within the education system. Linguistic analyses of Irish speakers are therefore based primarily on the number of daily users in Ireland outside the education system, which in 2022 was 20,261 in the Gaeltacht and 51,707 outside it, totalling 71,968. In response to
14190-468: Was aired on Eurosport 's New Catch programme, with Williams providing English commentary. In 1990, Rocco emigrated to Tenerife. In 1991, Rocco collapsed in the dressing room following a match against Fit Finlay in Worthing . Rocco, who had been suffering from pain in his back and kidneys since a match against Dave Taylor the previous night, was taken to a nearby hospital where doctors found his heart
14319-542: Was also a competitor in the Rumble, was disqualified as well. Finlay fought in the SmackDown Elimination Chamber match at No Way Out , ultimately being pinned after a chokeslam on the steel floor by The Undertaker . Finlay then began making occasional appearances on Raw to protect Hornswoggle from Mr. McMahon, who had been showing him "tough love". After Hornswoggle was injured by JBL in
14448-531: Was also sometimes used in Scots and then in English to refer to Irish; as well as Scottish Gaelic. Written Irish is first attested in Ogham inscriptions from the 4th century AD, a stage of the language known as Primitive Irish . These writings have been found throughout Ireland and the west coast of Great Britain. Primitive Irish underwent a change into Old Irish through the 5th century. Old Irish, dating from
14577-507: Was an "English pig" who was "paying for 400 years " of English-Irish conflict. This marked the beginning of a lengthy feud between the Bruiser and Regal. Bruiser won his first match in WCW on 10 February episode of Saturday Night by defeating enhancement talent Mike Marcello. The feud played out over subsequent Saturday Night episodes in which the Bruiser and Regal's stablemates The Blue Bloods ( Squire David Taylor and Earl Robert Eaton ) interfered in each other's matches. The Bruiser won
14706-513: Was an English professional wrestler who competed for Joint Promotions , All Star Wrestling and the second BWF as Mark "Rollerball" Rocco and as the original masked Black Tiger in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) during the 1970s and 1980s. A fourth-generation wrestler, he was the son of British wrestler "Jumping" Jim Hussey and the father of boxer Jono "Rocco" Hussey. Regularly appearing on ITV 's World of Sport and
14835-440: Was angry at Finlay for having ended the wrestling career of his father, Steve Wright, which led to a match between the two at Halloween Havoc , where Finlay was pinned by Wright. However, Finlay defeated Wright in a rematch on the 29 October episode of Thunder . Finlay would then team with WCW colleague Jerry Flynn to participate in New Japan Pro-Wrestling 's Super Grade Tag League , with their team losing all of their matches in
14964-428: Was attempting, mid-match, to unmask Nagasaki and had nearly succeeded when Rocco intervened. Rocco attempted to pull the mask back down, but Taylor forearm-smashed Rocco, causing the mask to come off in his hands. As Taylor and Myers celebrated, Nagasaki fled to the dressing room and returned with another mask. Nagasaki's manager George Gillette blamed Rocco for the unmasking, igniting a major feud that would run on into
15093-403: Was contacted by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) several times, but was unable to agree upon contractual terms. He began to wrestle again on the independent circuit , making his first appearance on 26 July 2011, defeating Sami Callihan at Evolve 9 . On 20 August 2011, Finlay made his debut for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG), taking part in the 2011 Battle of Los Angeles tournament . He
15222-497: Was eliminated from the tournament in the first round by PWG World Champion Kevin Steen . On 28 October 2011, Finlay's debut for Yoshihiro Tajiri 's Smash promotion was announced, when he was revealed as the mysterious "King of Terror", Michael Kovac had promised to bring to the promotion and named first ever Smash Champion StarBuck 's first challenger for the title. On 24 November at Smash.23 , Finlay defeated StarBuck to become
15351-668: Was enacted 1 July 2019 and is an 18-page document that adheres to the guidelines of the Official Languages Act 2003 . The purpose of the Scheme is to provide services through the mediums of Irish and/or English. According to the Department of the Taoiseach, it is meant to "develop a sustainable economy and a successful society, to pursue Ireland's interests abroad, to implement the Government's Programme and to build
15480-527: Was establishing itself as the primary language. Irish speakers had first arrived in Australia in the late 18th century as convicts and soldiers, and many Irish-speaking settlers followed, particularly in the 1860s. New Zealand also received some of this influx. Argentina was the only non-English-speaking country to receive large numbers of Irish emigrants, and there were few Irish speakers among them. Mark Rocco Mark Hussey (11 May 1951 – 30 July 2020)
15609-468: Was opposed to his being a professional wrestler, going so far as to have his son banned from his gym, Rocco would receive lessons from some of the veterans while his father was out on tour. Rocco started amateur wrestling at age 16, competing as far away as southern France and Pakistan, was definitely wrestling professionally by July 1970, being then a regular at Northern venues such as Liverpool Stadium and Blackpool Tower . In July 1970 he appeared on
15738-474: Was passed 14 July 2003 with the main purpose of improving the number and quality of public services delivered in Irish by the government and other public bodies. Compliance with the Act is monitored by the An Coimisinéir Teanga (Irish Language Commissioner) which was established in 2004 and any complaints or concerns pertaining to the Act are brought to them. There are 35 sections included in
15867-509: Was released by WWE in March 2011 after authorising the interruption of the US national anthem by The Miz during a house show, which offended many, including National Guard members who were in attendance. Finlay stated that his intention was to intensify the audience's dislike of the Miz in preparation for the latter's WrestleMania XXVII main event appearance, but accepted full responsibility for his dismissal. After being released from WWE, Finlay
15996-506: Was scheduled to wrestle Lee for the World Heavy-Middleweight title (recognised as vacant by Joint Promotions) at Wembley Arena that year on the undercard of the famous Big Daddy versus Giant Haystacks grudge match, but this was cancelled after Lee returned to Japan due to a family bereavement. Rocco was awarded Joint Promotions recognition as champion by default that night; later that year he defeated Joel de Fremery at
16125-598: Was signed to WWE in December 2023, where he currently performs under the ring name Uriah Connors. Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish : Gaeilge ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( / ˈ ɡ eɪ l ɪ k / GAY -lik ), is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family . It is a member of the Goidelic language group of the Insular Celtic sub branch of
16254-693: Was spoken throughout Ireland, Isle of Man and parts of Scotland . It is the language of a large corpus of literature, including the Ulster Cycle . From the 12th century, Middle Irish began to evolve into modern Irish in Ireland, into Scottish Gaelic in Scotland, and into the Manx language in the Isle of Man . Early Modern Irish , dating from the 13th century, was the basis of the literary language of both Ireland and Gaelic-speaking Scotland. Modern Irish, sometimes called Late Modern Irish, as attested in
16383-572: Was the subject of the 2011 song "Inside the Restless Mind of Rollerball Rocco" by English musician Luke Haines. It is featured on Haines' psychedelic rock concept album about British wrestlers entitled "9 1/2 Psychedelic Meditations on British Wrestling of the 1970's And Early 1980's". In September 2012, Rocco was named as one of the mentors on the Challenge reality television programme TNA Wrestling: British Boot Camp . In June 2013, he
16512-495: Was unable to accomplish some everyday tasks, as portrayed in his documentary No Béarla . There is, however, a growing body of Irish speakers in urban areas, particularly in Dublin. Many have been educated in schools in which Irish is the language of instruction. Such schools are known as Gaelscoileanna at primary level. These Irish-medium schools report some better outcomes for students than English-medium schools. In 2009,
16641-444: Was working at only 30% and diagnosed him with a heart condition which forced him to retire from professional wrestling. He vacated his World championship, which was soon after won by Robbie Brookside in a tournament. Following the retirement of Cullen in 2002, ten years into an unbeaten reign with Rocco's old World Heavy-Middleweight title he had won from Brookside in 1992, the following year Rocco and Cullen came together to oversee
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