World Wrestling Entertainment (2001–present)
Trainer (2001–2005)
When WCW was bought by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), Finlay began working for the WWF as a trainer for new wrestlers and was eventually put in charge of training the WWE Divas for their matches. He trained several wrestlers which would become future stars such as CM Punk.
Return to in-ring action (2006)
Finlay began work on a comeback in 2004, even wrestling in a match against Jamie Noble at a house show in Glasgow, Scotland, and promos began airing for his impending in-ring return in December 2005. His gimmick is that of a proud native Irishman who loves to fight. His first televised WWE match was on the January 20, 2006 airing of SmackDown! against Matt Hardy, which ended in a disqualification loss for Finlay. After the match, Finlay dragged Hardy to the steel ring steps and smashed Hardy's face into them with his boot, quickly establishing himself as a villain. This helped to give him the nickname, "The Fighting Irish Bastard". Finlay continued to establish himself on theSmackDown! roster. During February and March 2006, Finlay was involved in a feud with Bobby Lashley which began when Finlay cost Lashley his unbeaten streak by interfering in Lashley's match with JBL at No Way Out. This feud would see 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 April 2, Finlay competed at his first WrestleMania, WrestleMania 22. He faced five other WWE Superstars, from both the Raw and SmackDown! brands in aMoney 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 the other finalist, Booker T, defeat Lashley in the King of the Ring finals. At the same pay-per-view, Finlay lost to Chris Benoit.
King Booker's Court (2006)
Beginning on the May 26 episode of SmackDown!, Finlay was joined by The 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 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 fellow court member William Regal at The Great American Bash.[24] He lost the title to Mr. Kennedy on the September 1 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 Booker and his newly won World Heavyweight Championship, including Lashley and Batista. Finlay defeated Booker in a non-title singles match and lost in a four way match at No Mercy for the title.
After leaving the court, Finlay continued to feud with Batista. On the November 10 edition of SmackDown!, he returned to fight Batista in a singles match which he lost after Batista pinned him following a spinebuster. At Armageddon, Finlay and King Booker faced Batista and his partner, the WWE Champion John Cena from Raw, but were defeated
