Twitter reacts to death of legendary WWE announcer Howard Finkel

On Thursday morning, World Wrestling Entertainment announced that legendary ring announcer Howard Finkel passed away. "The Fink," as he was affectionately known by professional wrestling personalities and fans, was 69 years old.

Finkel first debuted inside of a WWE ring at a Madison Square Garden event in 1977. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, he was a wrestling voice of multiple generations linked with WrestleMania cards and other noteworthy and historic shows.

In 2009, the company inducted Finkel into the WWE Hall of Fame.

Finkel returned to WWE TV multiple times during the 2010s, such as during an "old school" edition of "Raw" and when he served as the personal ring announcer for CM Punk.

Soon after the news of Finkel's passing went public, multiple WWE performers, other wrestling personalities and fans reacted to his death via Twitter:

As noted by the official WWE statement and the New York Post, Finkel became WWE's longest-tenured employee during his stint with the promotion. The native of Newark, N.J., also sporadically worked as an active in-ring participant for WWE, albeit in comedic roles.

Finkel is credited with coming up with the "WrestleMania" name that became associated with WWE's biggest annual show. WWE's 2020 version of its Super Bowl was filmed in front of no fans due to the coronavirus pandemic.