10 Wrestling Finishes Performed On The Fly

On January 7th 2007, Shawn Michaels got to demonstrate why people call him the greatest wrestler of all time when he sided with Triple H against Edge and Randy Orton - D-Generation X versus Rated RKO - in a match for the tag titles at the New Year’s Revolution event.

This is, of course, the match infamous for the Game’s second blown quad (the first having taken place six years earlier, costing him over eight months of his career). A gritty grudge match, the bout saw plenty of blood and drama early on, but a botched spinebuster put a spanner in the works.

The senior partner in the match wasn’t about to give up, but there’s a limit to how much weight you can place on a near-useless leg, and Triple H carries around more heavy muscle than most men. Orton looked panicked and clueless, while Edge simply floundered. The match was in danger of completely falling apart.

That’s when Michaels stepped in, racing across the ring to dive onto Orton, springing up to unload on him at ringside and then back into the ring, never missing a step, to KO the referee, who tumbled from the ring to give them all space to work.

HBK’s grandstanding took the focus of the fans and the camera away from Triple H, giving his partner time out of the spotlight to get back to a standing position and regain his equilibrium. Both Michaels and Triple H took chairs to Rated RKO, beating their opponents to a pulp and drawing more blood. Eventually, after putting Edge and Orton through tables, D-Generation X were disqualified.

It seems clear that Michaels’ presence of mind ensured that the intended finish took place after all: this way Rated RKO retained the titles, while the grudge got more vicious, more personal. Sadly, it transpired that Triple H would remain out of action for nearly eight months, and the DX/Rated RKO feud, which could have gone somewhere after this match, fizzled and died as a result.