10 Dumbest WWE Match Finishes This Decade

5. Michaels Screws Bryan (Hell In A Cell 2013)

Hell in a Cell 2013 finish
WWE.com

The Hell In A Cell rubber match between Orton and Bryan should have been so, so much better than what it was.

It was supposed to be the night on which they'd made up for their previous Pay Per View disappointments by tearing the house down in what is still WWE's premier gimmick attraction. Their bouts at Night of Champions and Battleground were hamstrung by disputed and non-finishes. It seemed clear, too, that they were holding something back for this night.

It wasn't to be. WWE's insistence on dragging everything out until the next week put paid to that. Instead of crowning Bryan as the undisputed face of the company, and mapping out his clear road to WrestleMania, they had D-Bry lose after being kicked in the face by his mentor, Shawn Michaels.

What is exceptionally dumb about this finish is that, not only did it not, for the third special event in a row, separate the two men, it also teased a mouthwatering match between Bryan and Michaels at WrestleMania. This match was never going to happen - Michaels was happily retired before that - so why bother factoring him into the finish? The latter half of 2013 was a massively deflating exercise in falsely inflating fan expectations.

Yes, everything worked out in the end. It only took CM Punk's shocking and unexpected exit to realign the chessboard.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick (Creative Writing BA Hons) is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over a decade of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential UK institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!