10 Wrestlers Who Won Despite Taking The Finish

1. Kevin Owens (WWE Extreme Rules 2018)

Braun Strowman Kevin Owens
WWE

This whole feud was backwards from the beginning so perhaps it's fitting that the finish went much the same way.

Kevin Owens as a hypothetical heel on television may have antagonised hypothetical babyface Braun Strowman by trying to galvanise forces against him in the weeks leading up to a Money In The Bank match 'The Monster Among Men' won, but the endless sh*thousery Owens endured had more than evened the odds before he was thrown off the top of a steel cage to steal a win.

Owens was at least permitted to get his sh*t in before he was sh*t on, but even when he had any kind of advantage, his character was deemed too stupid, weak or embittered to truly take it. Handcuffs were as close as he came to ever assuming control of his monstrous foe, but instead of actually benefitting from WWE's clandestine escape rule, he simply hung around to be brutalised instead. As he was when he "won" with the aforementioned horror bump.

There are select finishes on this list that are victories for invention, innovation and genuine preservation of a feud or a character. This wasn't that.

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett