Credible Finishers and Who has Kicked Out Of Them
Posted: Oct 4th, '13, 14:02
From Reddit:
This has always been one of my favorite parts of wrestling. Seeing wrestlers kick out of credible finishers, with no/minimal delay between the finish of the move and the pin (due to an incapacitated referee or a wrestler "crashing" due to fatigue after using his finisher).
To be honest, this isn't what it might look like-- a list of the best matches in which one can find at least a single false finish. I intend this to be more about discovering/discussing which finishers are most credible, and/or which wrestlers have the (kayfabe) durability to survive the most effective finishers of the last decade-plus.
This list is going mostly off of memory, with me going back to find video to confirm and make sure I'm right. Others are free to contribute by correcting mistakes on my part, listing occurrences I missed, telling me any finishers you think should be added, or anything else that you feel might add to the thread.
I also included some instances of "No-selling," where a wrestler takes a finisher, and immediately recovers, usually to apply a ground-based submission (Undertaker's Hell's Gate, Lesnar's Kimura Lock, etc). I understand that this is very much a judgment call, so I'll listen to any and all opinions regarding this aspect of this list.
I'll post links to as many videos of each occurrence as I can, but for now, I'll leave it as is until I see how well-received this thread is. I apologize to anyone who might want video of the below instances.
Sweet Chin Music:
Undertaker:
WrestleMania 25 (x2)
WrestleMania 26 (x2)
Pedigree:
Undertaker:
WrestleMania 27 (x3)
WrestleMania 28 (x2)
2009 No Way Out
Jeff Hardy:
2008 No Way Out
Brock Lesnar:
2012 SummerSlam
2012 SummerSlam (no-sell)
Steve Austin:
2001 No Way Out
John Cena:
October 19, 2009 Raw
CM Punk:
2011 Night of Champions
Tombstone Piledriver:
Undertaker:
WrestleMania 27
2010 Hell in a Cell
Triple H:
WrestleMania 27
WrestleMania 28
Shawn Michaels:
WrestleMania 25
WrestleMania 26
Batista:
2007 Survivor Series
Stone Cold Stunner:
The Rock:
WrestleMania X-7 (x2)
WrestleMania 19
Undertaker:
2001 Judgment Day
Kurt Angle:
2001 SummerSlam (x2)
Attitude Adjustment:
CM Punk:
2012 Night of Champions (x2)
2011 Money in the Bank
2011 SummerSlam
The Miz:
WrestleMania 27
Triple H:
October 19, 2009 Raw
Triple H, WrestleMania 22
The Rock:
WrestleMania 28 (x2)
Batista:
WrestleMania 26
Randy Orton:
2009 Hell in a Cell
Wade Barrett:
2010 Hell in a Cell
RKO:
Undertaker:
WrestleMania 21
Kane:
July 22, 2011 SmackDown
John Cena:
2009 Hell in a Cell
Mark Henry:
2011 Hell in a Cell
Go To Sleep:
John Cena:
2012 Night of Champions (x2)
2011 SummerSlam
Jeff Hardy:
2009 Extreme Rules
Last Ride:
Shawn Michaels:
WrestleMania 25
WrestleMania 26
Batista:
WrestleMania 23
Triple H:
WrestleMania 27
F-5:
Kurt Angle:
WrestleMania 19
Goldberg:
WrestleMania XX
Triple H:
2012 SummerSlam
Clothesline From Hell:
John Cena:
2009 Royal Rumble
Batista Bomb:
John Cena:
WrestleMania 26
Undertaker:
WrestleMania 23
2007 Cyber Sunday
Spear (Edge):
Jeff Hardy:
2009 Royal Rumble
Undertaker:
WrestleMania 24
WrestleMania 24 (no-sell)
John Cena:
2006 New Year's Revolution
Chris Jericho:
2010 Extreme Rules
Chokeslam (Kane):
Randy Orton:
2012 Extreme Rules
Undertaker:
2010 Hell in a Cell
2010 Night of Champions
WrestleMania XX
KO Punch (Big Show):
Sheamus:
2012 Hell in a Cell
Brogue Kick:
Big Show:
2012 Hell in a Cell
This has always been one of my favorite parts of wrestling. Seeing wrestlers kick out of credible finishers, with no/minimal delay between the finish of the move and the pin (due to an incapacitated referee or a wrestler "crashing" due to fatigue after using his finisher).
To be honest, this isn't what it might look like-- a list of the best matches in which one can find at least a single false finish. I intend this to be more about discovering/discussing which finishers are most credible, and/or which wrestlers have the (kayfabe) durability to survive the most effective finishers of the last decade-plus.
This list is going mostly off of memory, with me going back to find video to confirm and make sure I'm right. Others are free to contribute by correcting mistakes on my part, listing occurrences I missed, telling me any finishers you think should be added, or anything else that you feel might add to the thread.
I also included some instances of "No-selling," where a wrestler takes a finisher, and immediately recovers, usually to apply a ground-based submission (Undertaker's Hell's Gate, Lesnar's Kimura Lock, etc). I understand that this is very much a judgment call, so I'll listen to any and all opinions regarding this aspect of this list.
I'll post links to as many videos of each occurrence as I can, but for now, I'll leave it as is until I see how well-received this thread is. I apologize to anyone who might want video of the below instances.
Sweet Chin Music:
Undertaker:
WrestleMania 25 (x2)
WrestleMania 26 (x2)
Pedigree:
Undertaker:
WrestleMania 27 (x3)
WrestleMania 28 (x2)
2009 No Way Out
Jeff Hardy:
2008 No Way Out
Brock Lesnar:
2012 SummerSlam
2012 SummerSlam (no-sell)
Steve Austin:
2001 No Way Out
John Cena:
October 19, 2009 Raw
CM Punk:
2011 Night of Champions
Tombstone Piledriver:
Undertaker:
WrestleMania 27
2010 Hell in a Cell
Triple H:
WrestleMania 27
WrestleMania 28
Shawn Michaels:
WrestleMania 25
WrestleMania 26
Batista:
2007 Survivor Series
Stone Cold Stunner:
The Rock:
WrestleMania X-7 (x2)
WrestleMania 19
Undertaker:
2001 Judgment Day
Kurt Angle:
2001 SummerSlam (x2)
Attitude Adjustment:
CM Punk:
2012 Night of Champions (x2)
2011 Money in the Bank
2011 SummerSlam
The Miz:
WrestleMania 27
Triple H:
October 19, 2009 Raw
Triple H, WrestleMania 22
The Rock:
WrestleMania 28 (x2)
Batista:
WrestleMania 26
Randy Orton:
2009 Hell in a Cell
Wade Barrett:
2010 Hell in a Cell
RKO:
Undertaker:
WrestleMania 21
Kane:
July 22, 2011 SmackDown
John Cena:
2009 Hell in a Cell
Mark Henry:
2011 Hell in a Cell
Go To Sleep:
John Cena:
2012 Night of Champions (x2)
2011 SummerSlam
Jeff Hardy:
2009 Extreme Rules
Last Ride:
Shawn Michaels:
WrestleMania 25
WrestleMania 26
Batista:
WrestleMania 23
Triple H:
WrestleMania 27
F-5:
Kurt Angle:
WrestleMania 19
Goldberg:
WrestleMania XX
Triple H:
2012 SummerSlam
Clothesline From Hell:
John Cena:
2009 Royal Rumble
Batista Bomb:
John Cena:
WrestleMania 26
Undertaker:
WrestleMania 23
2007 Cyber Sunday
Spear (Edge):
Jeff Hardy:
2009 Royal Rumble
Undertaker:
WrestleMania 24
WrestleMania 24 (no-sell)
John Cena:
2006 New Year's Revolution
Chris Jericho:
2010 Extreme Rules
Chokeslam (Kane):
Randy Orton:
2012 Extreme Rules
Undertaker:
2010 Hell in a Cell
2010 Night of Champions
WrestleMania XX
KO Punch (Big Show):
Sheamus:
2012 Hell in a Cell
Brogue Kick:
Big Show:
2012 Hell in a Cell