What is a Finisher?
A finisher is the move that a professional wrestler uses to end a match in victory. After a hard fought contest of trying to incapacitate an opponent with a series of blows and maneuvers, a wrestler will begin to look for an opening where they can hit a maneuver that will end the match. This move is typically devastating and when struck, it means that the match is going end with the referee slapping the mat three times to signify the victory of one competitor over another.
Perhaps the most mainstream famous finisher or finishing maneuver is the RKO, the finisher of one Randy Orton of the WWE. For a time, Orton's finisher became a popular meme as it could be hit, outta nowhere. Kids playing around swimming pools would run and grab a friend around the neck and pull them into pools outta nowhere. Memes of Orton grabbing his opponent around the neck and slamming them to the mat as their chin rested upon his shoulder began to pop up in animated GIF form in the mid to late 2010's in ubiquitous fashion.
In the parlance of professional wrestling, the RKO is a well protected finishing maneuver. What does that mean? Well, as a storytelling device, the RKO was the end of a story for whatever opponent stood across the ring from Randy Orton. For a time, no one, not even the biggest stars in the company were allowed to 'kick out' of the RKO. Once the blow was struck, the match was over. Kicking out is another kind of wrestling storytelling device, one key to some of the best drama in professional wrestling. Kicking out when it appears that you are about to lose a match is a big moment, it's a storytelling crescendo, a moment of breathless wonder for fans rooting for a hero to overcome the odds and come back to win or for fans hoping that a hated foe had finally been vanquished.
Thus, the fact that no one ever kicked out of the RKO, built the importance of the move. In terms of long term storytelling, if a finishing maneuver like the RKO is never kicked out of, it means that if someone ever did kick out of it, that person would gain a particular level of prestige. Only the most valiant and resilient of babyface heroes or the most dastardly of hated foes could ever come close to kicking out once Randy Orton hit the RKO Outta Nowhere. It's a storytelling device so well established in WWE lore that when Randy goes to the biggest shows of the year and competes in the biggest matches of his career, whether or not he can hit the RKO is a major part of the story of the show and the match he's competing in.
Find the full length article at Geeks.Media
