10 Awesome Times Wrestlers Learned From Their Mistakes

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.