Which is a more pleasing match finish to you?

[DarksideEric]

Which do you find more entertaining as a fan of wrestling?

Hit big finisher that was set up (such as say Michaels "Tuning Up the Band") with a pin fall.

Hit big finisher out of no where (such as like Evan Bourne leaping off the top and Orton catching an RKO) with a pin fall.

Unexpected pin fall with no big finish (such as Owen countering Bret's Victory Roll).

Locking in the submission with a set up for a submission victory.

Countering into a submission for a submission victory.

Personally, my favorite and most entertaining finishes for me are counters into a submission, usually after the submission was already locked in or almost locked in, broken, then countered back into it.

Yours?

 

[Uncle]

I kinda find it enjoyable to see someone use the oher persons finisher.. IE the rock using the stunner on Austin or HBK using the sharpshooter on Bret Hart.

 

[HBsam31]

HBK is my favorite wrestler of all time, but I absolutely hated when he "tuned up the band." Much like I hate Orton's pounding on the mat. It looks lame, and it is just so hard to believe that the opponent couldn't just find a way to get out of the way. Not a fan of the long set up for the finisher. I prefer the finisher out of nowhere. Loved how DDP hit the Diamond cutter. Love when Orton hits the RKO out of crazy positions like the OP mentioned. For me it just makes the whole thing more exciting.

 

[DetectiveZelix]

For me the old traditional finisher like Taker and Kanes tombstone or Kurt Angles ankle lock after removing the straps because the match should end in a more of a certainty IMO over the last couple of years we've been seeing so many false finishes or quick reversals it gets old

 

[Wolf Pac]

Unexpected pinfalls with no big finish. So many of my favourite victories have come by suprise roll-up pins, Bret vs. Diesel at Survivor Series 1995, Shawn vs. HHH at Summerslam 2002, AJ vs. Joe vs. Daniels at Unbreakable 2005 etc. You never see them coming, which makes the win all the more sweet to watch.

Big finishers out of nowhere. I'm a fan of suprise finishes as you can see.

And I also love submission victories where the person locked in really struggles to try and break out but can't and eventually ends up submitting or passing out e.g Austin vs Bret at WM 13, Orton vs Angle at ONS 06, HBK vs Angle at WM 21. Both men come out looking like warriors, never trying to give up.

 

[Mustang Sally]

Unexpected pinfalls with no big finish.

Those are my favorites, too. All the moves named by the OP are good, and there's room in pro wrestling for all of them, but the unexpected victories pulled out of a hat remind me of boxing; one guy can be losing the bout by a wide margin, seemingly ripe for a loss by points or a late TKO......instead, the guy being dominated delivers a knockout punch out of nowhere and wins the match.

That's what the unexpected pinfall does too; it surprises and shocks the crowd and since the move is usually pulled by the good guy, they love it. This is one of the great things about pro wrestling; they can do this whenever they want, but because they seldom do, it keeps the possibility fresh and exciting.

 

[Blade]

I don't like the pinfalls out of nowhere without the finisher, because it always feels a bit anti-climactic. It's fine for a TV match, but a big PPV match where a title is on the line should have something more decisive.

I love when the finishers come out of nowhere. Everyone gets out of their seats and counts along and then give a big pop if it's a 3 count. As the OP said, Orton does it brilliantly. Or how about that moment at Wrestlemania 21 where Michaels hit the Sweet Chin Music at the moment you least expected it? Yeah, that wasn't the finish, but the fact that you think it's going to be adds so much excitement. Or when Undertaker caught Michaels in the moonsault and tombstoned him? That's why I love those kinds of finishes, you've got the excitement of a finisher being hit out of nowhere, but you also have time to process it all and react quickly, unlike the sudden pinfalls which can sometimes completely catch you off guard.

The tension of a submission based finish is also pretty exciting. In Kurt Angle matches especially, they always leave me on the edge of my seat.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Well, they all have their moments. For me, that's what it comes down to. I think certain finishes work better during certain matches than in others. For instance, I was thinking about the hour + long match that Shawn Michaels & John Cena had on an episode of Raw from London, England back in 2007. It was a fantastic match packed with action and Michaels ultimately hit Sweet Chin Music out of nowhere to score the win. In matches that are basically hyped & booked as "wars" where the wrestlers throw everything they have at one another , hitting the finisher suddenly out of nowhere before scoring the win is an ideal scenario for such an ending. It can still be a satisfying ending even in a much shorter match, but that can depend on the build of the match, the pace of the action that takes place and how much "damage" the guys have taken.

Some will disagree but, personally, I thought the ending to Bryan vs. Orton at Battleground was the proper finish. It left matters unresolved between Orton & Bryan while ultimately keeping both of them looking like serious, virile challengers with strong claims of being WWE Champion. Did it upset some in attendance and who ordered it? Sure it did and I can understand the sentiment. However, sometimes, companies have to pick & choose at which events the really great or big endings happen. Not every show, whether it's a ppv or television taping, can end with the fans getting closure from a happy ending just like every single wrestler can't get a shot at being in the main event or World Champion.

 

[LSN80]

HBK is my favorite wrestler of all time, but I absolutely hated when he "tuned up the band." Much like I hate Orton's pounding on the mat.

Agreed. I hate those, and Kofi doing the "Boom!" signal with his hands, or Punk doing the "Nap Time" signal with his hands before going for the GTS. Unless their opponent is absolutely down and out, a finisher like most of those( the GTS is not) is going to bring awareness to the opponent, when rather, they should just be hit out of nowhere, rather then bringing attention to it whatsoever.

As for me, my favorite type of finisher happens for a wrestler only once or twice a career, and that's the debut of a new finisher, which usually happens when a wrestler is on the verge of a big-time push. At the end of a big match, they debut a new finisher that's going to be incredibly important to them, likely for the rest of their career. It happened for John Cena in 2003 with the FU(now AA), and it or the STFU(now STF) has won some of the biggest matches for Cena in his career. His first year or so he won matches with wacky roll-ups, spinebusters, or powerbombs. Here, he got two different finishers that were definitively his own.

As for a more recent example, how about Daniel Bryan, in the "main event" of Summerslam 2013?:

[YOUTUBE]3s6g8JUbwRU[/YOUTUBE]​

Sure, Bryan did his "YES!" chant before hitting it, but to be fair, he does the "YES" chant before half of the things he does. Secondly, it was a move we had never seen before. Finally, it was a legitimate surprise, as at first it just looked like a simple running knee. Rather, its a devastating blow to the Maxillary Nerve, which knock's ones lights out for 15-20 seconds. Being that it came out of nowhere and the audience had never seen Bryan use that move before, and it made for an example of my favorite finisher.

As much as I 'dislike' this fact, what makes this type of finisher so special and effective for me is that we rarely see it. Technically, if the wrestler has a long career, we see the move hundreds of times in their career. And there's something special about a match ending with one of your favorites use a finishing maneuver for the first time.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

I like the rare finishes. Like the above said when DB pulled out the running knee. Or when you see a burning hammer.

I usually like finishes that tell a story. HBK putting flair out of his misery works. Owen getting a flash pin on Bret works. Angle and Benoit trading a million submission finishes works. Austin hitting the stunner out of nowhere works. It's all about the story. The best stories end with the new/rare finish because it means he had to really dig deep. Punk pile driving Cena last year on raw wasn't a finish but I loved it.

 

[Rocky84]

Wow, kinda surprised to see the various preferences. I've always been a fan of the unexpected finish. Like Austin's stunner out of nowhere, and DDP's diamond cutter....dude hit it out of nowhere with like 50 different variations....absolutely amazing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XY2_zFvJuiY

...might have to skip a few minutes in...starts off slow.

Even HBK came outta nowhere with the super kick most of the time. Rock Bottom too before the People's elbow took over.

 

[Dirk]

Which do you find more entertaining as a fan of wrestling?

1)Hit big finisher that was set up (such as say
Michaels "Tuning Up the Band") with a pin fall.

2)Hit big finisher out of no where (such as like Evan
Bourne leaping off the top and Orton catching an
RKO) with a pin fall.

3)Unexpected pin fall with no big finish (such as
Owen countering Bret's Victory Roll).

4)Locking in the submission with a set up for a
submission victory.

5)Countering into a submission for a submission
victory.

1) I liked Shawn tuning up the band and I LOVE Orton snaking out on us before the RKO. Those are the only examples, though (okay, maybe Jeff Hardy's finger-guns). Let's throw logic back IN the window, however - if your opponent signals his next move (which happens to be his most effective), you would know how to counter it, or at least roll out of the ring. Nowadays, ADR signals his armbar, Sheamus his kick, Kofi his kick and it all feels so interchangeable, to be honest. Bryan's thing where he "rages up" signals his knee is coming, but it feels more organic.

2) This is a huge favourite of mine. Only problem is, that it doesn't work with a lot of finishers. For example, RVD can't hit the 5-star out of nowhere. The Spear, the RKO, the Codebreaker and probably the WMD can be hit against the run of the match, but it's hard to pull off. It didn't end the match, but a while ago Orton countered RVD's Rolling Thunder with that signature slam of his and it was glorious.

3) If it's a dastardly heel or an underdog "stealing the win", it makes a lot of sense, since there probably aren't a lot of other believable ways to pull off the match. Otherwise, it can be a bit of a disappointing swerve to a big match.

4) Nowadays everybody has a submission finisher. If it's a technical guru like Angle or Bryan, it's fine, but if a muscle-bound guy like Cena uses it, I'm left thinking "Is he pointlessly trying to appease the thankless smark crowd?" Also, submissions can make a wrestler look weak, so it has to be used either sparingly or on jobbers.

5) Bryan is great at this. He can counter anything into the Yes-lock, even getting powerbombed! Another classic is the reversal of the figure four - it doesn't make sense to me, but it gets used effectively. My favourite example of this is Kurt Angle countering Sweet Chin Music into an ankle lock.

I kinda find it enjoyable to see someone use the oher persons finisher.. IE the rock using the stunner on Austin or HBK using the sharpshooter on Bret Hart.

Having to use your opponent's finisher to get the win is an "Embarrassment Match". Learnt it during the last WZ tournament. I'm also a big fan of this. Last year was a big year for this type of finish, with Cena/Rock doing it at WM and Hardy/Angle on a lesser scale.

 

[DDevine]

I agree with the idea that it is different for each match. While I like it when it comes out of nowhere, the build up can be just as entertaining. I remember WM24, with the HBK-Flair match. Even sitting where I was, about halfway up, I could still see the emotion and the story in the build up. Michaels didn't want to hit Flair with the finisher, so he'd start up the band, and then just stop. So each time, we/I were/was like "Is he going to do it this time?". It made it special. But I'm a fan of irony, so I'd say I would ultimately go with the out of nowhere option.

 

[Bro. Paul]

I like when a finisher is set up to happen. When a finisher is set up, it is fun to hear the crowd get excited right before the move is done.

 

[JoeyJoeJoe]

Parroting what Jackhammer said, I pretty much like any of them as long as they fit the match.

I'll tell you what I really hate though: Matches where the ending is nothing but multiple false finishes using each guy's big finisher. The Rock Vs. John Cena, most recent Undertaker matches, etc.

I know some of these really get a lot of oohs and aahs, and I was guilty of getting into it at first as well, but by the time Taker and Triple H were hitting multiple Pedigrees, and multiple Tombstones in their WM matches, I was just numb to it.