Finishing moves

Question
Hi James,

Do you think that the finisher move is the pre curser to the ultimately staged matches that we have today?

What i mean by this is, it seems to me that wrestling in the past (upto the very late 80's) although obviously still staged seemed less rehearsed therefore the finisher move was less important. It seems in todays wrestling that the finsher move is the highlight of the match and the match is completely geared towards the staged and obviously rehearsed theatrics.

In my opinion wrestling back when the finisher move was less important the in ring performances and matches were far more entertaining than what we have today. There would be a variety of moves that would determine the match and this variety would keep the crowd entertained and coming back for me. These days we all know what wrestler will finish the match with and pretty much when its going to happen.

Whats your thoughts on this?

Answer
hello Damien,

Really wanted to get to this one earlier but VCE keeps me busier than before.

I know what you are saying and I agree. I'm not sure that I would go so far as to say that it was the only such precursor, but it is definitely the most significant one.

It isn't this way in every match today. I believe ROH have matches which end by moves other than finishers and I also recall AJW matches where finishers did not always end the match. The Shinobu Kandori vs. Akira Hokuto match at DreamSlam on the 2nd April 1993 ended with a each wrestler delivering a punch to each other. There have been ROH matches where the ending has not been by a finisher.

I think in general match structure has become more rigid. A good deal of that is the use of finisher moves, which often has a element of illogic to it. If your finishers are the best moves you have and you are trying to win, why don't you try to use them at the first/every opportunity? It makes sense to use finishers at the end to send a message, but no message is sent for the most part- exceptions have been with Randy's RKO and Undertaker's Hell's Gate and Tombstone Piledriver in certain storylines, for example- when it is used as often as it is. There is also the fact that when in dire straits, that is a sound time to break out whatever moves you have to help turn the tables.

I too think that the late 80's or early 90's mark that general point of change. I cannot help but think that the widespread manner in how the finisher is used nowadays might in part be due to the downfall of the territorial days, where there was more focus on wrestlers having to develop mic skills and take charge of their wrestling if they wanted to become big stars. That is reflected today with the independents, where wrestlers have independence of a kind not found in major promotions, where there is more control for the sake of storylines. A big difference between the territorial days and the late 80's onwards in that independent promotions have been significantly more influenced overall, by promotions like the WWE, with its story-driven style and a lot more people involved in the development of a match, including the ending. This why, after TNA, numerous independent promotions have their own X Divisions and after WWE, there are more promotions with Entertainment as part of their name, like PCWe or Professional Championship Wrestling Entertainment in Australia, for example.

As wrestlers go through the independents to reach the big leagues, including the TV audience, there is greater exposure of the big promotion's way of doing things, notably WWE, on the independent wrestlers/promoters. There are certainly wrestlers, promotions and new wrestlers influenced significantly by the NWA and the older wrestling product, the way WWE do things, with its emphasis on telling in-ring stories, has definitely had great potential to rub off and influence pro wrestling. It may or may not have done so with match structure in the nations WWE has been prominent.

I'd say that the changes in match structure and the authenticity of in-ring performances has also been impacted by some of the smaller touches which most pro wrestling schools are unlikely to teach. Again, I'd have to point to AJW, partly because it is the one with a match relatively fresh in my mind that shows this and also because in several ways AJW was ahead of its time. In some ways, like its tag team division or some of the little touches in their matches, it remains ahead of today with its material in the 80s and 90s especially, despite the company closing due to bankruptcy in 2005.

There's a Crush Gals (Chigsua Nagayo and Lioness Asuka) vs. The Queen's Combo (Jaguar Yokota and Devil Masami) match from the 28th June, 1984, that particularly catches my notice. At this time the Crush Gals were WWWA World Tag Team Champions, Yokota was WWWA World Heavyweight Champion and Masami was WWWA All Pacific Champion. In this match, like other AJW matches, there are elements that either just haven't been common in general or used to be in promotions but has lost its prominence, at least in the Western world. Incidentally, this is another match which doesn't end by a finisher, though it is by a powerbomb variant that is pretty impressive.

One of the most prominent features is how they resist submission moves at all times as much as their on-screen state of fatigue allows. In more modern matches, its customary to either counter a submission immediately, wait it out or to have it on and then reach the ropes or counter, sometimes in a truly dramatic way, but more times not. This match- which is worth watching- shows counters being squirmed out of or otherwise resisted as soon as it begins to be applied. It makes the match seem a lot more authentic, become it looks natural and also makes successful submissions- which occur more towards the middle and ends of a match, generally, a more serious affair. if it's on, the wrestler already has been worn down to some extent.

They also have tag team members running in to assist if there is a pin or submission that looks like it has a fair chance of leading to a win for the other team- in modern times, it has been more the case that tag teams just cheer on their partners from the sidelines, only running in rarely- such as at the very end where they are intercepted in the corner of the screen. If you are in the live audience, it is a little suspicious when a tag partner has done no run-ins and then suddenly tries to enter the ring on behalf of their partner. Some might have the view that staying on the sidelines is more honourable, but a true tag team match is not a match with two teams of singles wrestlers and the constant potential of a partner that hasn't been weakened enough to break up a move or pin helps to make tag team matches different.

They also have a logical progression when it comes to pin-counts. It isn't always two-counts or near-three falls, but one in the beginning #two if wrestler is taking serious blows/really well-pinned#, early to mid-two counts for the middle of the match #near-three falls if serious blows/pins are the case) and two and near-three falls counts towards the end. We have one-counts mainly for rapid pinning moves in matches today, especially early in the match, but the way near-three fall counts can be stacked, especially in some bigger matches, has also made matches more predictable- most big matches don't end nowadays without at least one big near-fall and if it hasn't occurred yet, chances are the match is yet to end.

Then there is the jostling for position, as well as there being more in terms of a struggle to pull off harder moves, which is still done today, but to the extent it used to be in promotions. Like some of the 80s and early 90's crusierweight matches, there is a bit of dodging and sidestepping, though that's more in other matches. A match like Hokuto/Kandori in particular shows the development of fatigue over a match- and without sudden comebacks.

So, in general I think that its both finisher moves but the less freestyle nature of matches in general, partly due to promotions like the WWE where creative direction shifted to be from writers instead of just the wrestlers, also with a more story-driven style and the nature of training schools that have led to match structure to turn out the way it has. Since creative writers aren't all wrestlers/managers, etc., some of them, at least, might be inclined to fall into templates- such as repeated near-three falls and the way finisher moves are used. Some of it, I think, also has to have stemmed from doing things a certain way because it did fit storylines and did make things more dramatic, but then became routine and this routine has sort of being the orthodox and accepted way of doing things.