Welcome to another edition of #FinisherFriday! This is Wreddit_Regal giving you a recap of the hottest Twitter feud of the week and the cause of the said feud.
As we all know by now, a finisher is what makes a wrestler stand out from the rest of the roster. Whether it be a strike, a dive, a slam, or a submission, the fact that the audience's attention is brought up until the moment a decisive move hits speaks volumes about the importance of having a good finisher in your arsenal.
Many casual wrestling fans tend to equate a finisher with the performer's overall ability, which in turn makes or breaks the wrestler's star quality. As a general rule for them (and arguably all of us), eye candy finishers = good wrestler:
Poorly-executed finisher = shit wrestler
This is mostly the reason why most wrestlers tend to be possessive over their prized moves. Sometimes they get a bit overzealous and start unnecessary Twitter beef over it. Enter the short-lived feud between T-BAR and Sammy Guevara:
The finisher in question? This one. T-BAR calls it EWS (Eyes Wide Shut), and Sammy calls it GTH (Go To Hell):
The move does seem to be done first by Matt Demorest, as seen in this highlight video:
But if we were also to take T-BAR's word, then it might have just been a case of "I thought of it, turns out it already existed but I arrived at it independently!" And mind all of you, he actually cares for giving people credits to finishers. Last year he asked for, and got Taz's permission to use the katahajime as his finisher during his NXT days. So there's some weight to what he's been trying to convey (albeit in a poor manner).
Now back to the move. It starts in the typical torture rack position, and ends with the performer's knee being in contact with the recipient's face or jaw. This works because of the principle of misdirection:
Flipping an opponent nonchalantly creates a subtle unconscious effort by the opponent to focus primarily on his feet to land safely, and lean slightly forward as he is landing to make sure that he can land on all fours in case he loses balance. Think of it like a cat falling from a high place, but landing on all fours.
And as the opponent is engrossed in this minuscule act of survival, the performer exploits this momentary lack of concentration and delivers a swift knee to the opponent's head. The velocity of his knee, combined with the short acceleration of a falling head, results in a blow capable of delivering concussive force. For another example which exploits an opponent's tendency to keep his footing, take a look at this GIF:
Using my trusty Regal Rating, I would give the move a:
10/10 for aesthetics. It has elements of flippy shit, ends with a savage primal blow that renders the opponent's body limp for the three-count. If you're already a fan of the GTS, then you'll definitely love this move.
10/10 for damage. An unprotected knee strike to the jaw can cause more than just 'lights out' for the unlucky recipient. It can result in a myriad of traumatic brain injury (TBI) symptoms that may linger long after a wrestler's active ring life. It can also result in a ridiculous war on Twitter, with none emerging the victor.
And that's it chaps, my short review of the EWS/GTH! What do you think will happen from here? Will any of them fight small battles with finisher intellectual properties in the future? Let us know in the comment section below!
Wreddit_Regal is the resident sports kinesiologist of Reddit's wrestling forum, r/squaredcircle. From the most basic of punches to the most intricate double-team manoeuvres, he can explain them within the realm of human anatomy and physics, because when doing absolutely nothing wrestling-related, he also happens to work as an operating room nurse.
: There Can Only Be One Finisher Wielder?!){kind=link}