WWE: 10 Most Inventive Big Match Match Finishes Ever
3. Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels - "I'm Sorry, I Love You"
Event: Wrestlemania 24 The Finish: Talk about a heart breaker. After a war that saw Ric Flair pull every trick out of the bag to secure one final victory, Shawn Michaels gained the upper hand and nailed several Sweet Chin Musics. After kicking out again and again, Ric Flair hobbles to his feet, weak kneed, beaten, broken - fists clenched. Shawn, in the corner, knows what he has to do - put Ric Flair out to pasture. He mouths "I'm sorry, I love you" and in a "Mice & Men" esque moment, super kicks Flair one final time for the pin. His stylin', profilin', limousine riding, jet flying, kiss-stealing, wheelin' n' dealin' son of a gun days ending not with a bang, but with a literal whimper from his opponent. While dialog in pro-wrestling matches is often times..uh..awful (looking at you Triple H vs. Taker HIAC), hearing Shawn say the words he did, followed by the proverbial kill shot that put Old Yeller out to pasture was the perfect combination of drama, pro wrestling, and reverence for the past that makes hardcore fans' eyes well up with allergies. Yes. Allergies. Totally not tears. The Impact: While Flair has gone on to wrestle other matches and make more appearances, the ending of this match was so creative and emotionally wrecking that it turns out the story they told was better than the match itself - seeing it again only diminishes the magic of seeing it the first time. Flair's retirement party on the following night's Raw was bittersweet, as it was Flair didn't want to go, but had too. Tears flowed freely as everyone showed their respect for The Nature Boy. Ultimately Michaels ended up being retired by the Undertaker a few years later, and with a similar act of defiance, ultimately doing The Undertaker's own 'throat-cut' taunt as a final sign of exhausted desperation as crawled up Taker's body before receiving a final, career-ending Tombstone Piledriver. It's also worth noting a version of this was done with Stone Cold Steve Austin's final match, where he kept getting Rock Bottomed over and over until he finally laid down for good. However, Flair's match towers above them all because of just how damn sad it was. While Austin was rich and Michaels had found God, Ric Flair has always had the reputation for being a person who needs to work to be sane. Having the one thing in life that gives him clarity ripped away from him, on the biggest stage of them all, by the guy who ultimately supplanted Flair as the best performer in pro wrestling, is the kind of drama you can't make up.
