FATAL FINNEGAN

Real Name: Unrevealed, last name possibly Finnegan (see comments)

Identity/Class: Human

Occupation: Wrestler

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Alicia Masters, the Yancy Street Gang

Enemies: Thing (Ben Grimm)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: "Big Man"

Base of Operations: New York City, New York, USA

First Appearance: Fantastic Four I#15 (June, 1963)

Powers/Abilities: Fatal Finnegan has no superhuman powers but he is an extremely skilled wrestler, able to even grapple superhuman opponents such as the Thing.

Height: Unrevealed (approximately 6'7")
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 215 lbs.)
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Brown

History: (Fantastic Four: First Family#3 - BTS) - As the recently transformed Thing entered Clancy's Irish Pub, a wrestling match featuring Fatal Finnegan was on the television. During the match, Fatal Finnegan got his opponent into his Atomic Sleeper Hold and the announcer suggested that Finnegan might earn another notch on his belt. The announcer continued, stating that the term "unbeatable" could be safely used on such a legendary grappler. The patrons in the Irish Pub cheered for Finnegan to win the televised match and commented that Finnegan would go all the way to Wrestlemania. When the Thing began asking the bartender about the bar's former owners, the Grimm Brothers, the man commented on how the younger Ben Grimm had become a test pilot and had really made something of himself, further remarking that no one was a hero in his bar except perhaps Fatal Finnegan. The unruly patrons soon threatened the Thing, unaware he was Ben Grimm, and suggested the Thing pipe down while their boy Finnegan was giving the smackdown on television.

(Fantastic Four I#15) - When a shifty wrestling manager approached the Thing in a local gym and attempted to get the Thing to sign a wrestling contract with him by claiming the Thing would be the biggest sensation since Strangler Lewis, the Thing declined, prompting the manager to ask Thing if he were afraid of Fatal Finnegan, the idol of the Yancy Street Gang. Sufficiently coerced into joining the manager's wrestling group, the Thing later wrestled Fatal Finnegan himself but complained, asking the manager how long he had to dance Finnegan around the ring. Pinning the Thing on the mat, Finnegan began to flirt with an audience member, claiming he was going to take the woman out on a date. Angry that Finnegan was flirting with "his girl" Alicia Masters, the Thing jumped up, spun Finnegan around on his finger like a basketball and hurled Finnegan out of the ring with his so-called "boomerang throw." As the spinning Finnegan was flung out of the ring, the Thing suggested they could talk about the situation if Finnegan came back from his throw. When Finnegan indeed returned, the Thing wrapped Finnegan up against a turnbuckle with a sign that read "Do not open till Xmas" as Finnegan protested, demanding a rematch.

Comments: Created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers.

Profile by Proto-Man.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Fatal Finnegan should be distinguished from:

Strangler Lewis

Ed "Strangler" Lewis (real name Robert H. Friedrich) was a professional wrestler born in Nekoosa, Wisconsin on June 30, 1891 and later four-time World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion. Active in sports as a youngster, Friedrich focused on wrestling and began professional wrestling at the age of 14 under the stage name of Ed "Strangler" Lewis, supposedly named after using the sleeper hold during a French match and the French, unfamiliar with the move, thought he was strangling his opponent. After joining the promotional Gold Dust Trio wrestling roadshow, Strangler Lewis and captured his first World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship in 1920 against Joe Stecher. Throughout the early 1930s, Strangler Lewis became famous and eventually became legally blind due to trachoma, relying on friends and family to survive and ultimately dying on August 8, 1966. By the modern era, Strangler Lewis was known as a former wrestling sensation and when a wrestling manager attempted to recruit the heroic Thing into his organization, he suggested the Thing would be a bigger sensation than Strangler Lewis.

Ed "Strangler" Lewis was a real-life professional wrestler and is a known as a wrestling legend. This subprofile combines his real life history with that of his mention in Marvel Comics.

--Fantastic Four I#15 - BTS
images: (without ads)
Fantastic Four I#15, p14, pan1 (Fatal Finnegan, main image)
Fantastic Four I#15, p14, pan5 (Fatal Finnegan wrapped up)
Fantastic Four I#15, p13, pan6 (Fatal Finnegan wrestling the Thing)

Appearances:
Fantastic Four I#15 (June, 1963) - Stan Lee (writer, editor), Jack Kirby (pencils), Dick Ayers (inks)
Fantastic Four: First Family#3 (July, 2006) - Joe Casey (writer), Chris Weston (pencils), Gary Erskine (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)

First posted: 06/30/2022
Last updated: 07/10/2022

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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