15 Greatest Match Finishes In Modern Wrestling History

The word "cinema" has infested pro wrestling throughout the 2020s. "Cinema" is the defining trend of the decade, in fact; it's what wrestling resorted to in the absence of fans throughout the pandemic, and it was what wrestling thought of itself thereafter. Powerful moments, or pretentious, terrible acting? 

This "cinema era" has yielded as much brilliance (Sami Zayn turning on Roman Reigns, Hangman Page committing arson) as second-hand embarrassment (Roman and Cody Rhodes meeting on an empty football field, Roman and CM Punk's straight-to-video parley). 

CM Punk Vs. MJF was pure cinema in the truest, most wonderful definition. It wasn't a cinematic match, in which a terrible short film is clumsily welded onto something resembling a wrestling match; it was one of the most artful pro wrestling matches ever. 

The emotional heft was a genuine, all-or-nothing third act. CM Punk walking out to AFI's Miseria Cantare was the needle-drop moment. This was as visually striking as pro wrestling gets, mostly as a result of CM Punk's iconic crimson mask. The suspense MJF milked before finally bumping on the thumbtacks was thriller-style, heart-pounding excitement. Every story beat was linked together as tightly as the chain that tethered hero and villain together. The shot composition of the finish, which had been built towards for over two years, was something of which an actual film director would be proud.

With zero exposition nor any hokey, conflicted melodrama, Wardlow feigned to forget where he had placed the ring before shrugging with a silent "Whoops" and exiting the frame to a monstrous pop.

The deft, dovetailing vision of Tony Khan realised.