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The real-life people behind WWE’s on-screen characters have to work together during their matches to make it seem like they are legitimately hurting each other.
In wrestling slang, the term ‘selling’ is used to describe the art of making moves look genuinely painful.
One of the best sellers in modern-day WWE, Dolph Ziggler, discussed the art of selling in an interview with the Journal Sentinel in 2013.
“I pride myself on being one of the hardest workers in the business and part of that is making my opponent look good. They love it and the fans love it, too, because I try to make them feel the shots.”
Now, while Ziggler clearly takes selling very seriously, did you know that several WWE Superstars have been known to no-sell moves in the ring?
No-selling essentially means that someone pretends not to be affected by a move that has been delivered to them.
No-sells in WWE are often scripted and everybody involved usually knows in advance that the no-sell is going to happen.
In this article, let’s take a look at five WWE Superstars who no-sold moves.
#5 The Fiend Bray Wyatt no-sold Seth Rollins’ Stomp (untelevised WWE events)
One of the most controversial match outcomes in WWE history occurred at WWE Hell in a Cell 2019 when The Fiend Bray Wyatt challenged Seth Rollins for the WWE Universal Championship.
The main event saw Rollins hit 11 Stomps on The Fiend before striking him in the skull with a sledgehammer, prompting the referee to end the match as a no contest.
In the weeks leading up to the show, The Fiend repeatedly no-sold Rollins’ Stomp at live events and in an untelevised moment after the September 23, 2019 episode of WWE RAW went off the air (see above).
Within a second of Rollins hitting his finisher, Wyatt’s monstrous persona hopped straight back to his feet and pretended that the move did not harm him in any way.
In November 2019, WWE Superstar Big E even joked that WWE NXT Superstars should prepare themselves for The Fiend no-selling their moves in the future.
The inspiration for this article actually came from the October 9, 2020 episode of WWE SmackDown, which saw The Fiend defeat Kevin Owens in the main event.
Although The Fiend did not completely no-sell Owens’ Stunner, he was still seemingly unaffected by the move while he kept the Mandible Claw locked in on his opponent.
#4 Hulk Hogan no-sold The Undertaker’s Tombstone (WWE Survivor Series 1991)
Only a select few WWE Superstars have kicked out of The Undertaker’s Tombstone over the years, so it is unthinkable that somebody would completely no-sell the move and get straight back to their feet.
However, that is exactly what happened in the early stages of The Undertaker’s career when he went one-on-one with Hulk Hogan at WWE Survivor Series 1991.
As WWE commentator Gorilla Monsoon pointed out at the time, nobody had ever gotten back up after The Undertaker landed his famous move.
That was, of course, until Hogan received it. The Hulkster laid on the mat for one second before he “Hulked up” and took control of the match again.
Ultimately, The Undertaker had the last laugh. He hit another Tombstone on Hogan onto a steel chair, courtesy of help from Ric Flair, to win the WWE Championship for the first time in his career.
The second Tombstone caused real-life animosity between the two men, according to WWE director Bruce Prichard, as Hogan felt that his opponent botched the move.
“I heard all that and I watched it back, several times, and it looked like that ‘Taker could have probably gotten run over by a mack truck and he had such a tight hold of Hogan that there was nothing that was going to happen to Hulk. It is what it is.” [H/T 411mania, quotes via Something to Wrestle With]
Nine days later, Hogan regained the WWE Championship from The Undertaker in a rematch at WWE This Tuesday in Texas.
#3 The Ultimate Warrior no-sold Triple H’s Pedigree (WWE WrestleMania 12)
In March 1996, The Ultimate Warrior squashed Hunter Hearst Helmsley (aka Triple H) at WWE WrestleMania 12 in a match that lasted just 99 seconds.
Unlike some WWE squash matches, Triple H actually had quite a bit of offense in the match. The first 30 seconds were dominated by The Game, who unleashed a flurry of punches on his opponent before landing his Pedigree finisher.
In the same way that WWE Superstars rarely recover from The Undertaker’s Tombstone, Triple H’s opponents are usually down and out after he executes the Pedigree.
However, that was not the case with The Ultimate Warrior. The former WWE Champion, who had not competed in a WWE match in over three years, suddenly got back to his feet and dominated the rest of the match.
Speaking to the American Way magazine in 2016, Triple H clarified that, contrary to what some people might think, he enjoyed losing to Warrior in such quick fashion.
“A lot of people bring it up to me as if it was a sore spot in my career. It's not. It's actually something I'm really proud of. Who can say that, in their first WrestleMania ever, they got to step in the ring with one of the biggest icons in the business?” [H/T Wrestling Inc.]
Warrior only competed in five more televised WWE matches before leaving the company again in June 1996.
#2 Hercules no-sold Sid Justice’s powerbomb (WWE MSG event)
After a seven-year run in WWE, Hercules (real name Ray Fernandez) left the company in February 1992 following an appearance at a Madison Square Garden event.
The shortest match on the eight-match show saw Sid Justice defeat Hercules in just 25 seconds.
Sid landed several kicks and clubbing blows in the first few seconds of the match. He then followed up with his powerbomb finisher to pick up an easy pinfall victory.
WWE color commentator Bobby Heenan shouted, “Nobody beats Hercules that quick!” while lead announcer Gorilla Monsoon summarized the shocking nature of the finish by simply saying, “Holy mackerel.”
As soon as the match finished, Sid shouted something in the direction of his opponent and began to celebrate. Hercules, meanwhile, no-sold the powerbomb by standing up and walking out of the ring immediately after the pinfall.
Hercules’ night did not end there. He also competed in a 20-man Battle Royal in the main event, which was won by his opponent earlier in the show, Sid.
Unsurprisingly, the outgoing WWE Superstar was quickly eliminated by Hulk Hogan and he never competed in WWE again.
#1 Braun Strowman no-sold Brock Lesnar’s German suplex (WWE RAW)
Two weeks before the WWE Universal Championship match between Brock Lesnar and Braun Strowman at WWE No Mercy 2017, the two men engaged in a brawl in the middle of the ring on WWE RAW.
Lesnar got the better of his challenger in the early stages of the altercation, which included The Beast hitting one of his trademark German suplexes.
When Lesnar lands a German suplex on somebody, they usually stay down for a lengthy period of time. Or, in some cases, he will pick them straight back up and throw them to the mat again with another suplex.
On this occasion, Strowman no-sold the move by getting back to his feet in less than a second. The Monster Among Men then hit his running powerslam finisher on Lesnar before posing with the WWE Universal Championship.
While the former Wyatt Family member won that particular battle, it was Lesnar who ultimately won the war.
Paul Heyman’s client defeated Strowman in WWE Universal Championship matches at WWE No Mercy 2017, WWE Royal Rumble 2018 and WWE Crown Jewel 2018.
To this day, Strowman has still never picked up a win over Lesnar.
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