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Kicking out of finishers is stupid

3K views 23 replies 19 participants last post by  elbowdrop3000 
#1 ·
I just can't buy into it. How am I supposed to suspend disbelief when a fucking FINISHER is used 6 times in a match at WM? It's a FINISHER, when you hit it you're supposed to be done. I wouldn't mind it happening once or twice every once in a while, but it just gets old. At least do it by the end of the match to make it more credible, not at the beginning when literally no one believes it.
 
#8 ·
Once or twice in a match adds drama and storytelling but 6-5 :punkout
 
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#14 ·
At WrestleMania or a big ppv a finisher fest isn't a rarity. Some posters criticize them, but I think they're appropriate for today's audience.

Fans' suspension of disbelief isn't strong today like it was 20 or 15 years ago. White Noises and Lionsaults are entertaining, but ultimately fans realize they have no bearing on the outcome. The punishment a wrestler sustains, unless a body part is worked, won't make a difference in the end. We don't stop believing it's not predetermined.

But matches obviously do end with finishers and sometimes roll up moves. When Orton hits the RKO, the drop kicks and DDTs he hit earlier won't matter and fans know it. The RKO or the Punt will determine the ending.

But finisher fests aren'tt always good. Rock/Cena 2 depended solely on Rock Bottoms, Attitude Adjustments. Besides wear down moves, that was nearly it. The "WWE Universe" know suplexes and psychology ultimately don't tie into the finish, but the fans still find it entertaining. They just don't suspend disbelief.

Steamboat/Savage was ahead of it's time. Now that wrestling's evolved, that blueprint is used constantly.
 
#15 ·
This is why they need different tiers of finishers... have finishers that finish most matches, but can be kicked out of more often and the one move that doesn't kicked out of, so if it does ever happen it is a huge event.

Right now, it's a finisher spam and the moves have been diluded to mere signature level maneuvers.
 
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#16 ·
Yeah I love that stuff, that super move that they only go for after everything else has failed. For quite a long time Kane and even The Undertaker (as the biker) was this way with The Tombstone, relying on the chokeslam/Last Ride for most opponents.

Van Dam has the Van Terminator, Seth Rollins used the Phoenix Splash (wait, did someone kick out of that or was it broken up?)...Brock had the Shooting Star Press and we all know how that ended. Heh, I'm trying to picture Brock doing that now - you know he could and obviously wouldn't but it's a pretty horrific visual.
 
#3 ·
If people didn't kick out of finishers that would make things even worse because matches would become more predictable. It'd just end up being "Oh damn it, he hit his finisher, the match is over."

Not to say that always kicking out of finishers is exactly great either but I'd take that over finishers almost never getting kicked out of any day.
 
#4 ·
So every normal match at a live event or TV taping is predictable? A match can perfectly be built with countless other moves besides the finisher. You can just go for the finisher and create that suspension and then block it. Like I said, I wouldn't mind it if they done it once in a while, but they totally overdo it to the point where I think it devalues it.
 
#7 ·
It's overdone in big matches like WrestleMania as you said. It hasn't got to the point of being ridiculous yet--well apart from Brock Lesnar getting up immediately after two back to back AAs and then kicking out of the third--and finishers still do score victories in the vast majority of matches but it does lessen the effectiveness of finishers, I don't see how that's deniable.

To be clear: even if you think it's worth the trade off, it's obviously diminishing the impact of a wrestler hitting their finisher - I'm okay with where it is at the moment but let's not pretend the OP's crazy for seeing this.
 
#9 ·
Yes, professional wrestling sucks now. They should go back to the days of no one kicking out of finishers, or at the very least, build up a few finishers that nobody ever kicks out of. It's pretty annoying when every main event match has to be booked like Rock/Austin at WrestleMania X-7. Want to know why the Burning Hammer is a legendary finishing maneuver (other than it being legitimately dangerous)? It's because nobody ever kicked out of the fucking thing.
 
#10 ·
If every single match ended after 1 finisher it would be super predictable, they need to kick out sometimes, and btw getting hit with finisher 1-2 minutes in a match when you are fresh is not same as getting hit after 20-25 minutes.

Sometimes matches should end up after punch, suplex, or some shit, to make it less predictable, otherwise covering or pinning your opponent is useless, people will just wait till you hit finisher to get into count.
 
#13 ·
It is called "finisher" as shorthand for "finishing move" -- which is to say the move the wrestler employs as his BEST move to defeat an opponent.

It doesn't mean it's supposed to be infallible, that every time it's hit the match is automatically, unquestionably, never-fails over.

I couldn't suspend disbelief enough to accept that there are as many of those moves as there are wrestlers, with each guy somehow finding his own unique move that 100 percent guaranteed a victory in every single circumstance against any possible opponent.

Heck, people survive gunshots and all kinds of other normally-deadly trauma every single day ... but there are moves that cannot fail to produce an instant victory every time?
 
#18 ·
Jawn Cena is the ultimate finisher spammer. Just dreadful.

But at least there I buy it because even my 80 year old grandma would kick out of an AA.
 
#23 ·
I think it's better to end some big matches with surprises. For example, HBK reversed HHH's attempted Pedigree to a sucessful bridge pin at SummerSlam 2002. That caught me off guard because I thought HHH had Shawn finished. Eddie Guerrero's reversal of the ankle lock at Mania 20 was pretty clever.

Therefore, I think wrestlers need to attempt finishers and have opponents reverse them more often instead of kicking out of finishers. Submission finishers need to find creative ways to be reversed (Paige reversing the black widow into the RamPaige is the most recent) to catch an opponent off-guard.
 
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