Howard Finkel Howard Finkel ( June 7 , 1950 ) is a professional wrestling ring announcer , best known for his work with WWE . He began working for Vincent J . McMahon ' s World Wide Wrestling Federation in 1977 , and is the company ' s longest serving employee . Career . A native of Newark , New Jersey , Finkel began announcing for wrestling shows at Madison Square Garden in 1977 . By 1979 , he had become the WWF ' s first employee , as lead ring announcer for the their biggest events . Throughout his career , Finkel ' s distinctive voice was sometimes used in the title sequence for the company ' s various television programs . Finkel ' s signature call was his announcement of a new champion following a title change , in which he would place extra emphasis on the word " new " , in order to draw the greatest reaction from the crowd . Finkel came up with the event name " WrestleMania " , as well as Ricky Steamboat ' s " Dragon " nickname . On January 19 , 1987 , Howard Finkel was presented a plaque by Gene Okerlund , commemorating ten years of announcing at Madison Square Garden . In 1993 , at the " Roman " - themed WrestleMania IX , Howard Finkel was introduced as Finkus Maximus . In a 2011 interview , Finkel said he had also played a part in the talent relations and creative departments during the early days of the WWF . Finkel in storylines . As an announcer , Finkel was generally separate from the scripted angles , but occasionally became part of the company ' s storylines . In 1992 , he was attacked by Kamala . At WrestleMania X , he pushed manager Harvey Wippleman to the ground , after Wippleman had verbally and physically harassed him . This led to Finkel ' s first match on January 9 , 1995 ; on " Monday Night Raw " , he won a tuxedo match over Wippleman , by stripping him to his underwear . Finkel became involved in a feud between X - Pac and Jeff Jarrett , when Jarrett shaved the already near - bald Finkel ' s head . This feud culminated in a Hair versus Hair Match at SummerSlam 1998 , with Finkel in the corner of X - Pac . X - Pac won the match and Finkel assisted him in cutting Jarrett ' s hair . In August 1999 , Finkel became a lackey of the recently debuted Chris Jericho . On August 26 , during the pilot episode of " WWF SmackDown , " Jericho enouraged Finkel to attack SmackDown announcer Tony Chimel and take back his place as lead announcer . Finkel ran down the aisle , shoving Chimel and ordering him to step aside . As Finkel started to announce , Chimel threw Finkel from the ring . While Jericho helped Finkel to the back , they crossed paths with Ken Shamrock , who jostled with Jericho . Jericho convinced Finkel to distract Shamrock during his match . After Finkel berated Shamrock , Shamrock began twisting Finkel ' s finger , permitting Jericho to hit Shamrock from behind with a steel chair . Several weeks later , Finkel adopted the role of El Dopo , a masked referee who unfairly officiated a Shamrock match , awarding the win to Curtis Hughes . On the October 14 episode of " SmackDown ! " , Jericho defeated Hughes with help from Finkel , but gave Finkel to Curtis Hughes after the match . Four days later on " Monday Night Raw " , Curtis Hughes bet and lost Finkel in a game of poker , to The Acolytes . On the August 22 , 2002 episode of " Raw " , Finkel began a brief feud with " Raw " ring announcer Lilian Garcia over the lead spot , before both were attacked by 3 - Minute Warning . The following week , Garcia defeated Finkel in an evening gown / tuxedo match with help from Trish Stratus and Stacy Keibler , who were ostensibly insulted by a " dumb blonde " remark made by Finkel . 2000 - present . By 2000 , Howard Finkel had taken a lighter schedule with the additions of Lilian Garcia and Tony Chimel to " Raw " and " SmackDown " , respectively , but he still announced for some of the WWF / E ' s pay - per - view events . By 2006 , Finkel was rarely heard from even at pay - per - views . However , he regularly introduced the WWE Hall of Fame inductees at WrestleMania . Finkel himself was inducted on April 4 , 2009 by " Mean " Gene Okerlund . Because Finkel was one of that year ' s inductees , SmackDown announcer Justin Roberts replaced him in introducing the group at WrestleMania XXV . Finkel ' s current television appearances are sporadic , at major pay - per - views and occasional episodes of " Raw " and " SmackDown " . Finkel is the only person to appear on - screen at every single " WrestleMania " event . Finkel did the voiceover in the intro for the WWE . com video show , " The Dirt Sheet " , and also conducted interviews for various WWE . com programs . He is WWE ' s chief statistician . On September 7 , 2009 , he announced in special guest host Bob Barker ' s " The Price is Right " - inspired segments . He was in the background of the " Decade of SmackDown " celebrations on the October 2 episode . Finkel returned to ring announcing ( for one night only ) on the November 15 , 2010 " Old School " episode of " Raw " . He appeared on an episode of " NXT " , in an " Outthink The Fink " challenge . In a March 28 , 2011 interview , Finkel stated his favourite ( and career - defining ) accomplishment was announcing at WrestleMania III , in front of over 93 , 000 fans . In a March 30 , 2011 interview , Finkel gave Bobby Heenan credit for helping the success of Hulkamania by acting as a tremendous antagonist to Hulk Hogan . On November 20 , 2011 , at Survivor Series in Madison Square Garden , Finkel was the special ring announcer for CM Punk , in his WWE Championship match against Alberto Del Rio . On April 10 , 2012 , Finkel appeared on the " Blast from the Past " episode of " SmackDown " . On July 23 , 2012 , Finkel was a special ring announcer on the 1 , 000th episode of Raw .