Anticlimactic finishes to a match.

[Foale]

Has anyone said Austin vs Rock at WM17? Repeatedly hitting somebody with a steel chair over a few minutes whilst McMahon watched just seemed utterly cheap for the biggest match on the biggest card, possibly in history. It seems to get brushed over though and possibly for good reason, I just think they could have come up with far better given that The Rock was going away to the Movies.

 

I think this was a good way to end the match. It shows Austin at his most brutal, battering The Rock as hard as he can a thousand times until he finally got the three count. Remember, The Rock kicked out of everything else that Austin threw at him and he had to be as sadistic and barbaric as that in order to get the Championship that consumed him. It was enough to convince my 11 year old self that Austin was evil.

[Van Dammer]

Has anyone said Austin vs Rock at WM17? Repeatedly hitting somebody with a steel chair over a few minutes whilst McMahon watched just seemed utterly cheap for the biggest match on the biggest card, possibly in history. It seems to get brushed over though and possibly for good reason, I just think they could have come up with far better given that The Rock was going away to the Movies.

 

I think this was a good way to end the match. It shows Austin at his most brutal, battering The Rock as hard as he can a thousand times until he finally got the three count. Remember, The Rock kicked out of everything else that Austin threw at him and he had to be as sadistic and barbaric as that in order to get the Championship that consumed him. It was enough to convince my 11 year old self that Austin was evil.

 

Yeah I think it was built quite well, I just think that for a Wrestlemania main event, the biggest ever in my opinion to be decided by somebody repeatedly smashing someones back with a chair is a bit of a shitter. A bit like the last man standing matches that end with somebody being pinned under a forklift etc.

[The Miz]

And Steve Austin turning heel on The Rock and siding with his bitter enemy Vince was a massive twist that nobody predicted. The match was excellent and the ending was superb.

[Phil_version_1]

Aye, Lex and Yoko might be my pick for the worst as well. It frustrated me that everyone came out celebrating afterwards as well, when the standard wrestling reaction to beating a champion by count-out was "Fuck! I'll get you next time. Fuck!"

 

Personally I think finishing moves are over rated. Don't get me wrong, the stunner, pedigree, tombstone etc are valuable tools to get wrestlers over, but when you have some guys having crap finishers (heath slater im looking at you) for the sake of it, i think it ruins it.

 

Why must EVERY wrestler need a finisher? Why can't Daniel Bryan win every match with a different submission move? Why can't Sin Cara win with a variety of impressive high flying / pinning combinations? Why cant Brodus win with a selection of power moves? Personally I think everyone believes a wrestler MUST have a finisher, and I don't believe that has to be the case.

It's like saying why must EVERY band have songs that people know? Because that's what sells tickets. If wrestlers didn't have established finishers, they couldn't tease the crowd with them and then deliver the satisfaction of hitting it, and the gasp if the opponent kicks out. A finisher is as valuable a part of a wrestler's act as their look and their catchphrase. If I'd bought a ticket to see The Rock in a match and he went "fuck the Rock Bottom and People's Elbow, I'm just gonna do the Emerald Fusion tonight instead" I'd have felt cheated.

Daniel Bryan has won matches with different submission moves, and not a single fuck was given because you can't get a million finishers over at the same time. Plus a lot of his submissions (like the Cattle Mutilation and that front facelock one) just look like restholds. The LeBell lock looks like a finisher.

 

I agree with both points really. Being a traditionalist, I love it when someone does use a submission out of the blue to finish an opponent off, in a way it can be more believable that someone gives up because of pain being inflicted. Some finishers though, that actually 'look' like they are doing harm I can't get enough of, things like the stunner and pedigree when done out of the blue in a match can make an awesome finish. It's the joke finishers I can't stand, ones that just wouldn't work In real life or just be outright be illegal in wrestling, the cobra - closed fist in wrestling match? Same goes for every 'punch' thrown in wrestling though. A lot of matches now use so many near falls to build tension, it's almost like a lot of finishers have lost their edge as you almost expect them to be kicked out of first time round, there's very few if any now that when hit your like, "its over".

 

Anyway, back to the subject, can't say I liked the end to that match bret and hbk had at survivor series 1997

[A Screen Up]

In reference to both the OP and the points regarding 'none-finishers' being used to end matches, I must say that unless done very well, they can really tarnish a match.

 

When I used to watch ROH on TWC I remember numerous times where there'd be a gripping near-30 minute match with believable near falls that actually ended with sub-par, simple move. It always seemed like such a let down and the perfect word would probably be 'anti-climatic'. The best analogy I can compare it to is when you have an awesome match on SvR that ends with your opponent getting the pin after a clothesline or making you submit to an abdominal stretch.

 

You have to remember that mainstream North American wrestling matches are fundamentally built towards one wrestler hitting their signature move at the end of it; it is what we as fans have been conditioned to anticipate - the babyface beating the villain with their finisher.

 

Edited for piss poor spelling errors.

[IronSheik]

Can anyone tell me what the fuck was going on here!!?

 

What the fuck was Piper doing?

Why did Bret no-sell then slide away?

Did the referee make a cunt of it by counting the pin when Piper was on top of Goldberg?

Heenan was trying to tell the story but it was the shits.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKfnmmdyU2I...be_gdata_player

[rubbafish]

First match that came to mind, Joe V Misawa. I hated the finish to that match, was so anti-climatic.

[Whiskey_Jim]

When I used to watch ROH on TWC I remember numerous times where there'd be a gripping near-30 minute match with believable near falls that actually ended with sub-par, simple move. It always seemed like such a let down and the perfect word would probably be 'anti-climatic'.

thats the problem with a promotion like RoH with loads of MOVEZ~~~!!!1!! they do so much shit throughout the match that the finish seems less surprising or spectacular by example... its why John Cena makes millions and why Ive never watch an entire Davey Richards match.

[A Screen Up]

^ In fairness to the group, the matches in question weren't necessarily head drop fests. There were a few with Bryan Danielson wrestling that suffered this problem. I will give credit where it's due and say that plenty of his matches told a compelling story up until the end sequence. Now whether or not this was him trying to be more Japanese~ or whatever is a different topic again.

[Vipes]

Can anyone tell me what the fuck was going on here!!?

 

What the fuck was Piper doing?

Why did Bret no-sell then slide away?

Did the referee make a cunt of it by counting the pin when Piper was on top of Goldberg?

Heenan was trying to tell the story but it was the shits.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKfnmmdyU2I...be_gdata_player

 

 

Bret was supposed to get the win and then Piper would run out and cover Goldberg from any more punishment, but he got his cue wrong and ran out before Bret had pinned him.

 

The problem stemmed from the fact that before Pipoer went out, he was told that under no circumstances was he to stop covering Goldberg.

 

When Piper ran out early he continued to follow the instructions and covered Goldberg and then refused to get off of him, so the ref just counted the pin to end the match even though Bret to start with was barely touching Goldberg and then got off of him before the count had finished.

[King Pitcos]

Has anyone said Austin vs Rock at WM17? Repeatedly hitting somebody with a steel chair over a few minutes whilst McMahon watched just seemed utterly cheap for the biggest match on the biggest card, possibly in history. It seems to get brushed over though and possibly for good reason, I just think they could have come up with far better given that The Rock was going away to the Movies.

I've always thought this as well. It wasn't sudden enough for a WrestleMania main event finish, for me.

 

This is the one that sticks in my mind, it ended his undefeated streak. Then he lost to Kofi using the SOS, which I don't think anyone else has ever been pinned by. Very Strange!

Kofi has beaten a fair few people with the SOS. I think especially at the time he beat Drew with it, it was in a phase of experimenting with it as his main finisher (which must have been when WWE All-Stars was being developed, as it's his finisher in that).

[andrew "the ref" coyne]

Infact why not use your "Heath slater vs. Ted dibiase" level matches to occasionally enforce the possibility that the match could come from any move? After all I don't see people clambering to see slater hit his reverse DDT anytime soon.

And if he never beats anyone with it, they never will. See how it works?

 

Of course I do, but a similar argument can be used to defend my point to. Nobody saw a sleeper hold win a match very often, hence why nobody saw it as a potential match ender when triple h used it versus Hardy.

 

Nice side step on my question btw: do you feel that finisher (as awesome as they are) potentially hurt mid match excitement?

 

Your right, out right getting rid of finishing moves would be mad, but I think there is a balanced that could be made, and all I did was applaud triple h for trying to experiment with match finishes.

[IronSheik]

Thanks Vipes. How rottenj a finish was that man!?

[Van Dammer]

Has anyone said Austin vs Rock at WM17? Repeatedly hitting somebody with a steel chair over a few minutes whilst McMahon watched just seemed utterly cheap for the biggest match on the biggest card, possibly in history. It seems to get brushed over though and possibly for good reason, I just think they could have come up with far better given that The Rock was going away to the Movies.

I've always thought this as well. It wasn't sudden enough for a WrestleMania main event finish, for me.

 

 

Yeah thats what I meant, as far as 'anti-climatic' goes I think it should be right up there. It was clear that for the few minutes Austin was belting him with the chair what the finish was going to be.

[thekingofkingsisback]

the rollup victory from Kurt vs Benoit wm 17