10 questions from WWE Extreme Rules that most need answering

#9 Should we be seeing more tapping when it comes to submission victories?

What’s wrong with tapping out?

There seems to be a trend at the moment in WWE to use the ‘tap out’ victory sparingly. When their main event talent are involved in signature matches, the bookers apparently prefer to have the match end with the victor making the loser pass out to the point where he is unresponsive to the referee’s voice.

This makes sense, in a way, as tapping out is probably the most humiliating way to be beaten. But for such a long time in WWE, we saw main event star after main event star tap out in order to make the winner look strong. Even Triple H, the man famous for denying others the chance to look strong at his expense, has occasionally tapped out on the biggest stages.

If we go back to Wrestlemania 13, and the timeless classic between Stone Cold and Bret Hart, the finish of that match told a fantastic story that helped a true legend be born. Stone Cold refused to quit against Bret’s sharpshooter despite visibly being in agony. This was a time when these sorts of conclusions to matches were reserved for special talents for special occasions.

Samoa Joe got a victory over Finn Balor, but we saw no tap out. Would it have really hurt Finn that much if we did see it? Joe is now going on to face Brock Lesnar, and if he can’t make somebody the size of the Beast’s leg tap out, what effect is his finishing move supposed to have on Lesnar himself?