The false finish is effectively eroding the art of Wrestling – which is a great shame. There are far more people, far better qualified to discuss the art of wrestling, but as a fan – which we all are (as we are constantly reminded), the False Finishing is really diminishing the enjoyment of not just individual matches but story lines as well. The False Finish is when a wrestler absorbs another wrestlers finishing move, and then manages to escape the pin after the move. The pin fall is always a really really really close count and the kick out is meant to be a shock.
Meant to be a shock.
Let’s face it, whenever something is repeated five times it gets less and less shocking. Let alone if it is repeated 5 times within 20 minutes – it’s even more less shocking. So why do the WWE and other brands insist on it happening time and time again? The world of wrestling is a fad. We all know that. We all know that you could be hit by 10 Attitude Adjustments and still get up only aching a little as oppose to being out for a three count: whenever we watch it we allow ourselves to suspend our disbelief and it is this core principal of Sports Entertainment from the fans point of view that the false finish undermines. To expand…we all accept that when Shawn Michaels delivered the Super Kick it would but a man down. We all accept that when Steve Austin hit a Stunner it would put a man down. We all accept that when Dolph Ziggler or Alberto Del Rio hits a super kick identical to that of the Sweet Chin Music that it won’t put a man down because it is not their finisher. Their character doesn’t hit it as well as Shawn Micheals and we accept that as entertainment – it makes sense. But when you start to blur these key principles it can cause mayhem and carnage within the structure of our WWE belief systems.
I write this now in the wake of the John Cena v Kevin Owens series of matches. The first at Elimination Chamber, the second at Money in the Bank. All the output since Money in the Bank from JR Jim Ross, James Delow and Rob Leigh even Steve Austin himself believes that the second match was better. JR said it was simply because there were less false finishes. The reason that makes the match better is we can buy into the story of it. We can believe that the bigger the moves get the more hurt the performers get which is compounded by the finish move of said wrestler. With this in mind the false finish has to be set up. It as a feature of a feud has to be very close to be the epitome of the feud. The false finish has to be used in the fight of all fights. The big Championship moment and its effect is more resonant.
A great example of how good a false finish can be is at Wrestlemania last year when Bray Wyatt met the Undertaker. We only get to see the Undertaker once a year at Mania and therefore we don’t have the history of seeing each wrestler kick out the Tombstone piledriver. We still believe the mystery behind the move. When we get to see it…we expect it to be the end…and when it isn’t it stuns us sideways. It even shocked the Undertaker. His face when Bray kicked out of the finisher was the best moment of the whole match. The whole stadium, believed it was the end. And it wasn’t. It was shocking.
But now we have seen Kevin Owens kick out of the AA four times in two matches. So what’s the point? They have hit the infamous glass ceiling and are giving em selves no where to go – and its not just true of this feud. It’s true of matches. When you build in one false finish in a one on one match on RAW it makes the big PPV fight even harder to top – and you are pushing the audience expectation level too high. Far too high and the audience now are surprised when they are not disappointed as opposed to being entertained.
In truth the False Finish is endemic of the whole corporation. They are pandering to an instant gratification. Every match has to set new heights. But it doesn’t. Storylines have to be built and delivered. We all know what makes a good story…a beginning…a middle and an end. Not a beginning…a middle…an end…another end…and another end. The matches in these storylines have to be treated as part of the whole storyline. WWE you need to look more Macro than Micro. Please. Otherwise there will be nowhere left to go.
