According to WWE Hall of Famer Jerry Lawler, former WWE ring announcer and fellow Hall of Famer, Howard Finkel is not in good health, possibly suffering from a stroke that's left him in a very bad place.
Lawler recently noted on his Dinner With The King podcast that Finkel isn't doing well at all. Lawler doesn't know exactly what the problem is, but he said, "I just heard not long ago that Howard [Finkel] is in really, really bad health. Not good at all. He may have had a stroke. I'm not sure but I just know that he's not doing well."
For WWE fans who have been watching prior to the year 2000, Howard Finkel is iconic in WWE. Having announced the some of the biggest matches in the company's history, he's the WWE's version of what Michael Buffer is to boxing or Bruce Buffer is to the UFC. Take a few minutes to pull up some of the WWE's greatest matches of all time on WWE Network and there's a good chance Finkel was the ring announcer.
Finkel started working with WWE in 1975 and in 1976 started ring announcing shows at Madison Square Garden, soon becoming the company's lead ring announcer. While he was replaced as the lead announcer in the early 2000's and had taken a lighter schedule with the additions of Lilian Garcia and Tony Chimel, Finkel was still very much a part of the WWE family. He would announce the bigger pay-per-views and stayed a part of some the companies larger-profile matches.
By 2006, he was rarely on WWE programming but he was inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame in 2009, took part in reunion shows, did voiceover work and was a cast member on WWE Legend's House which debuted on the WWE Network in 2014.
The last time fans saw Finkel doing what he became famous for was when he introduced The Undertaker during Raw 25.
We can only hope whatever Finkel is suffering from he can bounce back and rejoin the WWE in some capacity.