10 Awesome Times Wrestlers Learned From Their Mistakes
Counters, strategies and storyline directions - starring Steve Austin, MJF, Hangman Page and more.
It's very easy for a professional wrestler to look as dumb as sh*t because they very often don't learn from their mistakes.
They have to look like morons, at least in WWE, because their being distracted facilitates rematches. To matches you've literally just seen. No WWE act ever learns that, by standing there and looking gormless, they are susceptible to a roll-up finish, the likes of which happen multiple times per week. Then again, it's likely they don't watch the product to learn this because why would they?
Some wrestlers aren't complete morons who haven't yet figured out that standing on the outside of the ring for several protracted seconds means that an aerial attack is imminent. Is that why they can't catch? Because they won't catch? Or is the Performance Center just woeful?
It's not all distraction finishes and roll-up nihilism.
Wrestler takes move > becomes wise to second attempt > counters to create thrilling near-fall informed by heart-pounding momentum swing is a trusty storytelling device in the back-and-forth battleground of the modern pro wrestling match.
Those moments performed well are excellent snippets of strategy and immersion - but the following entries are next-level...
10. Steve Austin Retires Ill-Fitting Finisher
At Survivor Series 1996, Bret Hart and Steve Austin worked a pulsating, totally believable scrap forgotten as a classic only because the WrestleMania 13 rematch transcended even that. The sort of match that hooked the crowd in with the ferocity of the opening collar-and-elbow tie-up, it ended when Hart countered the Million Dollar Dream by climbing up the ropes and using the momentum for the winning pin.
Christ, remember when pins were framed as legitimate winning holds and not some bullsh*t way to get out of delivering a result?
Brilliantly, even in a Submissions match, Austin - who wasn't a specialist shooter - didn't use the same hold because he knew Hart held the answer to it. He just fought, and lost, but fought so well that he was received by the famous genius layout as a megastar babyface. In what was the most incredible finish ever conceived, driven by the events of November, he wasn't a loser nor a quitter.
Austin abandoned the hold and got the Stunner over in '97, but used it twice more subsequently. Both examples were brilliant; his "I need to beat you" desperation realised itself with an old, failed move at WrestleMania X-Seven, and his delusional heel arrogance led him to dust it off against submission wizard Kurt Angle at SummerSlam 2001.