10 Wrestlers Who Won Despite Taking The Finish

4. JBL (No Way Out 2005)

Braun Strowman Kevin Owens
WWE.com

A fairly inspired finish on the last night the company would really need one for the JBL character, WWE produced a believable way for the SmackDown steward to undeservedly escape with his title one final time at No Way Out 2005.

Teddy Long had booked a barbed wire cage match with The Big Show to - at long last - force John Bradshaw Layfield to either fight to keep his prize or suffer some serious consequences losing it. The visual wasn't quite as terrifying as the possibility (barbed wire only bordered the top of the structure rather than slotting itself between the mesh), but it was enough of a trap for the rat...until he slipped through yet another hole.

Literally, in this case. Bradshaw was chokeslammed through the ring, but Big Show took his time escaping due to the wire on the cage and the padlock on the door. By the time he'd ripped that off, Layfield had crawled to safety from under the ring.

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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