Former WCW and WWE Official Nick Patrick has opened up about officiating the match in which Fit Finlay almost bled to death following a leg injury.
On July 25, 1999, the Irishman who loved to fight went to war with one half of The Nasty Boys Brian Knobbs on a live event in Jackson, Mississippi. The match ended in a no contest and a gruesome injury that came close to costing Finlay his life when he was put through a table which cut his leg so deep that he almost bled to death in the middle of the ring.
Now, the referee for that bout, Nick Patrick has spoken to Sportskeeda’s Inside Scoop to recount the night in question and reveal why the match ending stunt went awry:
“He got a terrible injury too when he was in WCW working with The Nasty Boys over in Europe. One of them put him through a table and it wasn’t like one of the normal tables that we go through. It was more some kind of a plastic type thing. It snapped and broke. It cut the back of his leg and he almost bled to death. He actually almost lost his leg.
“For the longest time he had to wear a special boot, special brace, when he first started back. He ended up working through all that, to his credit. Fit’s one of the toughest people I know.”
Despite Partick insisting that the bout occurred in Europe, records actually show that the bout did happen in Mississippi with his last recorded clash for five months being against Knobbs in a match that ended in the aforementioned no contest.
Though he almost lost a leg, the former WCW United States Champion would return to action in December 2000 where he formed The Hardcore Soldiers with Knobbs and The Dog, drastically altering his image from the black and green doublet he’d been sporting for years to a black and white camo outfit that the star has orated he absolutely hated.
Following reigns as WCW Hardcore Champion, the talent took a producing job in the World Wrestling Federation following the purchase of WCW and is widely credited for the evolution of the promotion’s women division, aiding stars such as Trish Stratus and Lita in their quest to become the best.
Credit for the interview and transcription: Sportskeeda