| Date: 03/24 | 6:30 PM |
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From now until WrestleMania XXIV we will count down to "The Grandest Stage of Them All" with a series of editorials taking a look at the show in Orlando. This week long series culminates on Saturday, March 29th - the last day before 24th annual WrestleMania takes places. In our second entry we take a look at the Belfast Brawl to be fought by Dave Finlay and John Bradshaw Layfield.
We've all heard it said many times before, whether attending a live show or watching WWE programming at home. "MY NAME, IS FINLAY, AND I LOVE TO FIGHT!" Originally this was supposed to be a heel gimmick, as former WCW standout 'Fit' Finlay was trying to establish himself to a WWE audience largely unfamiliar with his work. It wasn't too hard for people to catch on when he beat the crap out of fan favorite Matt Hardy in his first night on Smackdown, then beating Bobby Lashley to deny him a spot in the Money in the Bank match at WrestleMania 22. Wrestling marks are a curious breed though - we are the same group of people who openly embraced the anti-social and violent behavior of Stone Cold Steve Austin as a character. The only thing Austin had to do to legitimately turn face was start beating up on other heels (and Vince McMahon in particular). For Finlay this was not a hard turn, as the smashmouth brawler already had a pint-sized helper by the name of Hornswoggle. All that was required was for gigantic men like The Great Khali to put Hornswoggle's life in peril for the crowd to erupt when Finlay would come out wildly swinging a shillelagh to make the save.
Initially it appeared the smart money was on keeping Finlay face by having him feud with Vince McMahon at WrestleMania 24, something I myself incorrectly predicted (hey, we can't win them all). They seemed to be sowing the seeds with backstage vignettes on WWE programming where Hornswoggle's life would be placed in peril by his "father" Vince McMahon, and an irate Finlay would accost McMahon backstage and accuse him of breaking their "deal." McMahon would erupt and yell at Finlay to NEVER mention their deal again. Apparently that edict got passed down to the creative team as well, as this storyline has been completely dropped off TV to never be mentioned again. That's not unprecedented for the E - I'm sure many people are still wondering what the point of "GTV" was. Nevertheless they came up with a perfectly suitable way to keep Finlay face despite writing dropping the deal, which ironically involved resolving another storyline snafu. Before Ken Kennedy got suspended for a violation of the wellness policy he had been scheduled for the big reveal as Mr. McMahon's illegitimate son. Kennedy got kicked off TV, Hornswoggle took his place, and even McMahon himself seemed befuddled that the diminutive wrestler could be the fruit of his loins.
John Bradshaw Layfield simultaneously managed to free Mr. McMahon of any storyline guilt over what he did to his "son" and surplant him as an even bigger heel in two easy steps. Step one - beat the living holy hell out of Hornswoggle on live TV inside the confines of a steel cage. Step two - come out to "apologize" the next week only to reveal that McMahon has nothing to feel bad about because he's been duped all along and Hornswoggle was FINLAY'S SON, not his. JBL became the personification of all of Mr. McMahon's unresolved malevolence towards Hornswoggle, a self-righteous millionaire who couldn't stand seeing a fellow wealthy entrepeneur be swindled and duped by some elaborate con. Now if you try to examine the particulars closely, particularly the aforementioned "deal" storyline that got dropped, the story starts to fall apart. Why would Finlay put his beloved son at risk by putting his life in the hands of a depraved madman like Mr. McMahon? Don't ask. What's important is that once the charade was revealed, Finlay decided to "man up" and admit Hornswoggle was his boy, and he was outraged at both JBL and Mr. McMahon for what they let happen to him inside that steel cage.
Thankfully for all parties involved this has worked out exactly the way it should have. JBL has become increasingly vile and loathesome with every passing week leading up to WrestleMania, playing the big bully heel like only he can. Finlay has in turn become more and more infuriated at his inability to stop the cowardly Bradshaw for beating the crap out of Hornswoggle. This storyline is brilliant in its simplicity, and is actually one of the most underrated matches on the entire WM24 card. There's something in this match for all ages - the children want to see Hornswoggle be avenged for the beatings he took from a big fat coward. The adults want to see Finlay, the man who "loves to fight," have a slobberknocker of a match with a wrestler who does nothing BUT fight - Cthulhu knows JBL is no technician. Adding the Belfast Brawl stipulation has enhanced the match by turning it into a no rules hardcore street fight where anything goes inside or outside of the ring. Unfortunately this may be the only age inappropriate part of the match - it's likely to get a little bit bloody as a result.
Ultimately it's my feeling that WWE intends to use this match to pop the crowd, as Bradshaw will undoubtedly lay a can of whoop ass on Finlay, and Finlay will lay an even BIGGER can of it right back on him in return to get the win and avenge his son. There's really no reason for this storyline to continue after WrestleMania 24, because the longer we all dwell on it the more likely we are to notice the plot holes in how we got from point A to point B. JBL can bully anybody around to get heat, so he'll undoubtedly just pick a guy to fight with who won't fight back as hard as Finlay. Hornswoggle & Finlay can go back to working together as a tag team, something they had been doing quite successfully and to the thunderous cheers of live crowds. Sure it may be a little absurd to see the big Irish brawler and the smaller Hornswoggle doing a jig in the middle of the ring when they win, but the WWE embracing the absurdity of it whole hog is what makes it so much fun. Finlay loves to fight, Hornswoggle loves to bight, and when Finlay finally clobbers Bradshaw with his shillelagh at WrestleMania 24 it's gonna be one HELL of a night.