The legendary Bruce Hart is back with his weekly column, “Hart Murmurs,” where this week he discusses the art of a “finish.”
Having been a booker (wrestling parlance for matchmaker) back in the day for the acclaimed Stampede Wrestling promotion for several years, I found that one of the secrets of sustaining business was to resist the temptation to constantly be resorting to “swerve” finishes (such as run-ins, disqualifications, contrived technicalities and that sort of thing) and, instead, have the majority of your finishes, straight and in the middle of the ring.
Unfortunately, straight finishes, such as pinfalls and tap outs, tend to be few and far between these days in the WWE, especially in major title matches. That proved to be the case once again at last week’s tournament to determine a WWE World Heavyweight Champion at Survivor Series. In this case, the world title showdown itself – between Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns, much to my pleasant surprise, had a straight finish with Reigns emerging victorious – no strings attached or any of the usual precursory bullcrap.
At that point, I was pleased that the WWE had chosen to take the high road and figured that perhaps poor Reigns, who was denied the title last year after having won the Royal Rumble, might finally be given his long awaited run with the title.
That, much to my chagrin, didn’t prove to be the case, as the misguided manipulators in the WWE who pull the strings, had Sheamus, aided and abetted by his “Authority” cohort, Triple H, come to the ring, ambush Reigns, cash in his bogus Money in the Bank contract and walk out of the ring as the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion. It should be noted that the previous champion Seth Rollins had also won the world title in much the same manner, having cashed in his Money in the Bank deed at WrestleMania last year.
It’s all well and good to have some kind of unconventional, unexpected swerve type finish once in a while, but those type of charades should be few and far between and for a damn good reason; not just to piss off the fans or get the strap around somebody’s waist without any-one having to do a job. Even though wrestling’s a work or “sports entertainment,” as the sanctimonious charlatans in Connecticut who coined that phrase like to call it, it still needs to be, correct me if I’m wrong, perceived, by the marks, as on the level, which is why the fans cheer, boo and invest their emotion in the outcome. Otherwise, what the hell is the point?
It’s also important to keep in mind that, regardless of the abiding preconceptions, the WWE World Heavyweight Championship is wrestling’s ultimate prize – our version of the Super Bowl, the Stanley Cup or whatever else. By that token, those orchestrating the finishes need to go to whatever lengths necessary to preserve and uphold the ostensible propriety and image of the world title. If they don’t and it becomes tarnished, such as when Ali beat Liston for the world title with the infamous “phantom punch”, it can really damage the whole sport.
Unfortunately, the WWE has almost made it routine to invite ridicule and derision with ill-conceived, convoluted crap like this and it’s no wonder that once die-hard wrestling fans continue to abandon wrestling for other things, such as UFC, which is disappointing because with the advent of social media, cable television and whatnot, pro wrestling should be more popular, worldwide, than ever, rather than struggling to retain its eroding fan base.
Putting things into perspective, can you imagine, if after the epic “Thrilla in Manila” title match between Smokin’ Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali, just after Ali had been given the strap, after twelve grueling rounds, the ubiquitous Don King and some marginal stiff, like Butterbean or Leon Spinks had come to the ring, ambushed Ali and cashed in some dubious contract and walked out with the world championship. If such had been the case, there would have either been universal outrage by boxing fans or, even more likely, they would have said I’ve had enough of this insulting to your intelligence bullcrap and ceased to be boxing fans anymore.
That, unfortunately, is becoming the mindset of all too many wrestling fans these days, and I can’t blame them and is one of the main reasons why I have continued apprehension about the long term future of pro wrestling. No doubt, the omnipotent despots in Stamford, Connecticut will dismiss my apprehensions as unwarranted fear mongering by some unenlightened, embittered dissident and assure everybody that wrestling’s in better shape than ever, but in my estimation that’s about like Nero fiddling while Rome was burning. I’d like to throw down the gauntlet, or whatever the hell other cliche one might want to use, to the powers that be in the WWE, to get their proverbial sh*t together, sooner rather than later.
It’s a testimony to the incredible ongoing popularity and appeal of pro wrestling that it remains as popular as it does, given how many times it’s dropped the ball or shot itself in the foot. At the same time, one can only wonder how much more popular and successful it would be if it had more respect for itself and its beleaguered fans.
On that desultory note, I’ll call it a wrap for this week. Thanks again, for tuning in and for your feedback. I’ll look forward to hooking up with you all again, next week. In the meantime and in between time, take care.
