Legendary Co Antrim wrestlers recognised

Noel Arnott from Newtownabbey wrestled across the island of Ireland from the the late 1940s until 1980, when he retired from wrestling, but continued for a few more years as a referee.

At the age of 90 years old, Noel is the oldest living wrestler on the island of Ireland and is still regarded as one of the top figures of the game by his peers.

Dave Finlay from Greenisland is the patriarch of the most famous wrestling family, pro or amateur from the island, the Finlay’s.

His son ‘Fit’ Finlay having wrestled for years with American-based World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), and his grandson Dave Finlay Jr carries on the tradition by wrestling in Japan for that country’s biggest wrestling promotion, New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW).

Mr Finlay wrestled himself across the UK and Ireland, and was also a very successful promoter and trainer in the game throughout the 1960s, 70s and 80s.

Dave is also still the President of the Northern Ireland Wrestling Association.

The former athletes were honoured on Tuesday, March 3 at their homes in Newtownabbey and Greenisland by The Wrestling Ireland’s Nick Campbell.