WWE ring announcer Howard Finkel, who spent decades introducing the likes of Hulk Hogan, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, The Rock, and Randy "Macho Man" Savage as they strode to wrestling rings around the world, has died, the WWE announced Thursday.
Finkel was 69.
The Newark, NJ native began his career as the ring announcer for the then-WWWF in 1977, at Madison Square Garden. He was a full-time employee when the WWE was established in 1980, and became its longest-serving worker.
He was elected into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2009.
WWE stars of past and present reacted to Finkel's passing on social media: