10 Wrestlers Who Are The Worst In The World At Exactly ONE Thing
5. Vince McMahon: Selling Stunners
The Stone Cold Stunner evolved as the Stone Cold character did.
In its early phase, it was sold by Bret Hart and Mick Foley as something capable of really f*cking your face up. Hart in particular was outstanding at it. He appeared to plant his face deep into the brunt of Austin's shoulder blade - he didn't, he was just a working magician - and after the impact, he clutched at his windpipe and teeth, selling the stinging pain of getting his mouth rattled.
Over time, as the Austin character broadened to become an entertainment machine in a heightened environment, the bumps became sillier in the extreme, but hardly to the detriment of the act. The Rock's flailing tumbles into the ropes were pure slapstick, but it worked, and incredibly well, for that dynamic. Rock used to bet that he could take the Stunner in such ludicrous fashion that he'd make Austin corpse in the ring. The silliness even worked in the context of a competition as fierce in real life as it was onscreen.
If there was one constant, it was that Vince, in true McMahon fashion, could never be brought to his knees. With same terrible timing of a man who is only just attempting to do culture wars for heat, he never did grasp that he had to fall at the same time.