5 Wrestling Innovations That Did As Much Harm As Good
4. Finisher Kickouts
In any given big match, promoted by any given company, you might as well sneak in a quick pint as soon as the first finishing move is hit. Odds are that the actual finish won't occur until at least five minutes later.
The All Japan Pro Wrestling headliners of the 1990s kicked out of finishing moves frequently, but the trope wasn't arbitrary. The most prominent stars all possessed a tiered repertoire. Kicking out of a signature move was a method of furthering the career of a man seen perceived as a notch below the man who had delivered it. That company also innovated the super-finisher, like Kobashi's Burning Hammer, which nobody kicked out of.
Steve Austin and The Rock kicked out of everything at WrestleMania X-Seven, creating jaw-dropping drama in one of the finest matches the WWF ever promoted, but it was justified. It was the biggest show ever, and they were two of the three biggest stars to have ever wrestled in North America.
In subsequent years, finisher kickouts became more prevalent, but not quite overcooked. Then, at WrestleMania XXV, Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker used the false finish as the crux of their classic match. The stage and the rivalry almost demanded it, but the shortcut to the pop was so effective that it became commonplace, even on throwaway television matches, a development accelerated by the latter influx of independent scene veterans.
Nowadays, fans have been conditioned to expect them. It still generates incredible drama, but at a dubious consequence. It no longer feels major; if anything, it's contrived . At its worst, it stretches suspension of disbelief and dilutes the repertoire of a performer and by extension, the performers themselves.