Early career (2012–2015) On 22 December 2012, Finlay made his professional wrestling debut for German promotion European Wrestling Promotion (EWP). In 2014, Finlay became the inaugural Power of Wrestling Junior Champion. He held the title for 314 days before vacating it on 20 August 2015, due to his signing with
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW).
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2015–2026) Young Lion (2015–2016) Finlay entered the
2015 Best of the Super Juniors tournament hosted by
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), but failed to win, losing all his matches in the tournament and ending with a final tally of 0 points. After the tournament, Finlay was announced as a "
young lion". He would carry this moniker until September 2016, when Finlay announced he was no longer a young lion. They lost the titles at
Wrestle Kingdom 11 on 4 January 2017 to
Los Ingobernables de Japón (
Evil,
Bushi and
Sanada). At
Wrestling Dontaku in May, Finlay was defeated by
Cody. In August, he formed a tag team with
Juice Robinson, dubbed
FinJuice. They teamed for the rest of the year before going their separate ways for the
NJPW World Tag League in December, which saw Robinson teaming with
Sami Callihan, while Finlay teamed with
Katsuya Kitamura. Finlay and Kitamura failed to win the tournament, ending with 0 points. At
Strong Style Evolved in March 2018, Finlay attacked
Jay White, after White's successful defense of the
IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship over
Hangman Page. Finlay was granted a title shot, but at the main event of Road to Wrestling Dontaku, he was defeated by White. Finlay returned to teaming with Robinson and other
Taguchi Japan members for the remainder of the year; he and Robinson participated in the
2018 World Tag League, where they finished with a record of eight wins and five losses, failing to advance to the finals. Their final block match against
Best Friends (
Beretta and
Chuckie T.) ended by disqualification, when Chuckie, who had recently been prone to violent outbursts, struck Finlay in the back with a chair. At New Years's Dash!! 2019, another match between FinJuice and Best Friends ended in a disqualification, when Chuckie once again struck Finlay in the back with a chair. On day one of The New Beginning in USA, Finlay defeated Chuckie in a no disqualification match, ending their feud. Finlay was announced for the
New Japan Cup, however on 23 February 2019, he suffered a shoulder injury removing him from the tournament. The injury happened during FinJuice's
ROH World Tag Team Championship match against then-champions
The Briscoes (
Jay Briscoe and
Mark Briscoe) at the
Honor Rising NJPW/ROH event. It was later revealed to be a torn
labrum and that he would be out of action for around six months. On 14 October at
King of Pro-Wrestling, Finlay made his return to the company, by making the save on Robinson who was being attacked by
Lance Archer, after their match for the vacant IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship. He then challenged Archer to a title shot a later date. This happened at
Showdown in San Jose, but he was defeated by Archer. At
Showdown in Los Angeles, Finlay, Robinson and Clark Connors were defeated by
Suzuki-gun (
Minoru Suzuki, Archer and
El Desperado). Finlay would go on to enter the
2019 World Tag League with Robinson where they made it to the finals defeating
Los Ingobernables de Japón (Evil and Sanada) and earning a shot at the
IWGP Tag Team Championship against
Guerrillas of Destiny (G.O.D;
Tama Tonga and
Tanga Loa). On 4 January 2020, at night one of
Wrestle Kingdom 14, they defeated G.O.D to win the championship. They lost the titles back to G.O.D at The New Beginning USA on February 1. In March 2020, New Japan suspended all of its activities, due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, causing many non-Japanese talent to not be able to travel to Japan to compete, including Finlay. Therefore, a new American-based NJPW show was produced, called
NJPW Strong. After a 6-month absence from in-ring competition, Finlay made his Strong debut in August, participating in the inaugural
New Japan Cup USA tournament. He defeated
Chase Owens in the quarter-finals and Tonga in the semi-finals. In the finals, Finlay lost to
Kenta. In November, Finlay and Robinson both returned to Japan to compete in the 2020
World Tag League tournament. FinJuice topped the table with 12 points but lost to the Guerillas of Destiny in the finals. In March 2021, Finlay entered the
New Japan Cup. He defeated Owens and
Yoshi-Hashi to advance to the quarter-finals. In the quarter-finals, Finlay achieved a massive win by defeating White, the
NEVER Openweight Champion at the time. In the semi-final round, Finlay lost to eventual cup winner,
Will Ospreay. Due to his quarter-final victory, Finlay received a shot at the Never Openweight Championship at
Resurgence. In August at the event, White retained the title against Finlay. In April 2022, at
Windy City Riot, FinJuice and
Brody King defeated
TMDK (
Jonah and
Shane Haste) and
Bad Dude Tito in a
6-man tag-team street fight match. After Robinson turned
heel by joining Bullet Club and breaking up FinJuice, Finlay focused on solely singles competition. In June, Finlay was announced to be making his G1 debut in the
G1 Climax 32 tournament, competing in the D Block. Finlay ended his first G1 with 6 points, although he earned points off of wins against Robinson, Ospreay and
Shingo Takagi.
Bullet Club War Dogs and Unbound Co. (2023–2026) On February 18, 2023, at
Battle in the Valley, Finlay entered the ring to attack his former partner and longtime rival
Jay White, after he was forced to leave NJPW, showing a more cocky and villainous persona. On March 5, after defeating
Tomohiro Ishii in the first round of the
2023 New Japan Cup, Finlay was introduced by White's former manager
Gedo as the newest member of
Bullet Club, becoming the stable's fifth leader, following the departure of White. Finlay ended up making it all the way to the finals of the tournament, before losing to
Sanada on March 21. During this time, El Phantasmo left Bullet Club while Finlay included
Clark Connors,
Drilla Moloney,
Gabe Kidd and
Alex Coughlin as Bullet Club's War Dogs. Finlay also defeated
Tama Tonga Tonga to win the
NEVER Openweight Championship. The following month, Finlay entered the annual
G1 Climax tournament, where he would compete in the C Block. Finlay finished his tournament campaign at the top of his block, scoring 10 points, thus advancing him to the quarter-finals. In the quarter-finals, Finlay was defeated by
Will Ospreay, eliminating him from the tournament. On October 9 at
Destruction in Ryōgoku, Finlay lost the NEVER Openweight Championship back to Tonga. On November 4 at
Power Struggle, Finlay attacked and
Jon Moxley and Ospreay, after he had defended the
IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship, before proceeding to destroy both UK and the US Championship belts. Finlay faced them at
Wrestle Kingdom 18 for a new title, the
IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship, winning the match and becoming the inaugural IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion. He lost the title in his first title defense to
Nic Nemeth on February 23 at
The New Beginning in Sapporo, but regained at
Wrestling Dontaku. From July 20 and August 12, Finlay took part in the
2024 G1 Climax, where he won his block with a record of six wins and three losses, advancing to the semi-finals of the tournament. On August 17, Finlay was defeated by
Yota Tsuji in the semi-finals. On January 4, 2025 at
Wrestle Kingdom 19, Finlay lost his title to Tsuji, ending his second reign at 245 days. Finlay won the
2025 New Japan Cup, defeating
Shota Umino in the finals and earning a shot against
Hirooki Goto for the
IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at
Sakura Genesis, but was defeated. Shortly after, Finlay and Evil resume their feud over the leadership of Bullet Club, War Dogs and
House of Torture rivalry culminated in a Dog Pound match, on May 3 at
Wrestling Dontaku: Night 1, where the losers must leave Bullet Club. At the event, they defeated House of Torture in the Dog Pound match, forcing them out of the Bullet Club. At
Dominion 6.15 in Osaka-jo Hall, Finlay was defeated by Evil in a
Dog collar match. From July to August, Finlay competed in the
G1 Climax, where he was placed in A Block. Finlay finished second in his block with 10 points, where he was elimianted by
Konosuke Takeshita in the quarter-finals. On October 13 at
King of Pro-Wrestling, the War Dogs formed an alliance with Mushozoku (Daiki Nagai,
Hiromu Takahashi,
Shingo Takagi,
Titán, and Yota Tsuji). After
Wrestle Kingdom 20, at
New Year Dash!!, Finlay and
Yota Tsuji announced the dissolution of
Bullet Club and Mushozoku, replacing the alliance with
Unbound Company, which was a complete merger. On February 11, 2026, at
The New Beginning in Osaka, Finlay was defeated by
Callum Newman. On February 17, it was reported that Finlay's contract with NJPW had expired. On February 27 at
The New Beginning USA, Finlay defeated
Fred Rosser in his final NJPW date. After signing with partner promotion
All Elite Wrestling, it was reported by Sean Ross Sapp of
Fightful that Finlay was "effectively done" with NJPW, ending his 11-year tenure with the promotion.
Ring of Honor (2016–2019) Prior to Finlay's official debut for
Ring of Honor in January 2019, his previous involvement with the American promotion was at the NJPW-ROH promoted
Honor Rising: Japan shows, held in
Korakuen Hall. His first appearance in this capacity was on 20 February 2016, where he was defeated by
Jay White. In February 2017, Finlay tagged with
Juice Robinson and
Kushida, defeating
Jado & Gedo and
Silas Young, but the following night, he and Kushida lost to Young and
Jado. In February 2018, Finlay was again involved in tag matches, tagging with Robinson in a defeat to
The Young Bucks, and the following night, he, Robinson and
Jay Lethal defeated
Bullet Club (
Chase Owens,
Hikuleo and
Yujiro Takahashi). Finlay made his debut for Ring of Honor during the January 2019 TV tapings, in a loss to
Tracy Williams. Robinson later announced the formation of Lifeblood, with the goal of bringing honor back to ROH; the stable included Finlay, Williams,
Bandido,
Mark Haskins and
Tenille Dashwood. and in the semi-finals, they won in a three-way dance over Lethal and Gresham and Coast 2 Coast (LSG and Shaheem Ali). In the final, they were defeated by
Villain Enterprises (
Brody King and
PCO). They feuded with
The Good Brothers (
Doc Gallows and
Karl Anderson), defeating them at
Sacrifice to win the
Impact World Tag Team Championship. They successfully defended their titles against Gallows and Anderson in a rematch at
Rebellion. On the May 20 episode of
Impact!, FinJuice lost the tag team titles to
Violent By Design (
Rhino and
Joe Doering), ending their reign at 65 days. They would return to the company at
Slammiversary, defeating
Madman Fulton and
Shera.
All Elite Wrestling (2022; 2026–present) One night appearance (2022) On the June 8, 2022 episode of
Dynamite, Finlay made his debut for
All Elite Wrestling (AEW), in a losing effort to
Adam Page.
The Dogs (2026–present) On the March 4, 2026 episode of
Dynamite, Finlay returned to AEW as a heel, attacking
Orange Cassidy and
Darby Allin, and joining his former
Bullet Club stablemates
Clark Connors and
Gabe Kidd as "
The Dogs" (a reference to their former NJPW stable, Bullet Club War Dogs). It was later announced that all three were now signed to AEW. At
Revolution on March 15, The Dogs were defeated by Allin, Cassidy, and
Roderick Strong in a
tornado trios match. On the April 8 tapings of
Collision, The Dogs defeated
Místico and
JetSpeed (
Kevin Knight and
"Speedball" Mike Bailey) to win the
AEW World Trios Championship, marking Finlay's first championship in AEW. AEW officially began recognizing this reign when the episode aired on
tape delay on April 11. They then lost the Trios Title to
The Conglomeration (Orange Cassidy, Roderick Strong, and
Kyle O'Reilly) at
Dynasty on April 12, ending their reign at 4 days, although AEW officially recognizes that their reign only lasted one day. ==Personal life==