10 Awful WWE Match Finishes That Ruined Everything

A proper blow-off grudge match between two genuine superstars of professional wrestling? A returning, vengeful ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin versus Triple H at the height of his heelery, in a gimmicked two-out-of-three-falls match? How can this possibly be screwed up?

Well, for starters the two-out-of-three-falls concept is ropey to begin with: everyone knows that the match has to go to all three falls to build dramatically, which means that each man has to win one apiece before the final fall.

In this case, the match was the inaugural Three Stages Of Hell concept: a straight singles match, a street fight (no DQ, falls count anywhere, weapons encouraged) and a traditional cage match. Since the cage has to come into play, we know the winner of the street fight as soon as it begins – in other words, once Austin wins the first fall, Triple H has to win the second in order for the third to even take place.

In the end, both men give it so much, and the matches are so flawlessly, seamlessly put together, that you’re almost able to suspend your disbelief… until the end of the cage match, where both men knock each other out. Austin collapses immediately, but Triple H runs a variation of the old Flair flop, out on his feet until he falls onto Austin’s prone form, and inadvertently gets the pinfall while (kayfabe) unconscious.

For the match to finish in such a ridiculous, contrived fashion ripped the heart – and the heat – right out of it. Worse, it failed as a blow-off for the feud. The babyface out for revenge didn’t get it… and since that babyface was the most vicious, unforgiving SOB in the WWF, it made no sense for Austin to consider the grudge with Triple H settled after this.