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As you may have already heard, WWE Extreme Rules 2022 marks the end of Liv Morgan's first reign as WWE SmackDown Women's Champion.
As the story goes, the underdog champion went to war with The Baddest Woman on the Planet. If you thought Liv was just going to hand over the title like some jabroni, you'd be sadly mistaken.
Wrestling is built on storytelling, and whether this was your favorite match of the night or not, it certainly told a story.
Rousey may have been the one with her hand raised, but Liv refused to tap out. She may have lost the match, but she never gave up. This sort of finish is typically used to make a babyface look strong in defeat. Moreover, it's happened a few times in the past.
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So, if you're in the mood for it, let's relive a few times WWE Superstars passed out instead of tapping out.
#5. Bianca Belair refuses to submit in her pursuit to become NXT Women's Champion
Let's begin the first entry with an astonishing statistic. Although The EST is a former WWE SmackDown Women's Champion and currently holds the WWE Raw Women's Title, Belair never won the top prize in NXT's Women's division.
However, she did come pretty close. This went down in Pheonix at NXT TakeOver in 2019.
Bianca Belair sparked a streak of wins the prior year, and then-champion Shayna Baszler was next to unbeatable during this time. With that said, it only made sense for the pair to mix it up sooner or later. So the stage was set, and as you can imagine, The EST didn't go down without a fight.
Baszler's patented Kirifuda Clutch has made a number of superstars tap for dear life, including Bianca a few months following this very event. However, on this night, she didn't technically say uncle.
Instead, she passed out.
#4. Brock Lesnar offers The Undertaker the bird in lieu of submitting
If you've seen this match, the ending may not be what stands out to you. The Undertaker laughing hysterically at Lesnar's mock sit-up? Well, that's a different story.
If that's not the case, then perhaps it's the controversial ending that was obviously meant to protect Brock Lesnar in defeat.
The Beast had The Deadman on the ropes with the Kimura Lock when all of a sudden, the bell rings. Charles Robinson AKA Lil Natch informed the ringer he didn't call for the bell, as his hand only hit the mat for a count of one.
Little did Little Naitch know, Taker was tapping whilst his eyes were focused on Brock's shoulders. Lesnar broke the hold, thinking the match was over due to submission. The Deadman struck The Beast down low while his back was turned, synched in Hell's Gate, and earned himself a one-finger salute from Brock before making his foe pass out.
Disclaimer, though. You may not be able to see Lesnar flipping off Taker if you didn't see this match live.
#3. Shayna Baszler meets cray-cray Nikki Cross
Are you an NXT diehard? Do you remember how unstable Nikki Cross was before she became a superhero... or almost a superhero? Do you remember further back before she ever set foot on Raw or SmackDown?
If you answer yes to all of those questions, then you probably know just how well Nikki got over as a deranged lunatic during her days as a member of Sanity. If you find some sort of irony in the stable's name, just know that you're not alone.
Nikki brought all her craziness to TakeOver Chicago in 2018 and came face to face with The Queen of Spades. The ending saw Baszler locking in a familiar submission hold (rear naked choke) for the win.
Call it pride if you want, but legend has it that Nikki Cross' smile before passing out was an indication that she enjoyed the pain.
#2. Stone Cold Steve Austin; no quit in The Texas Rattlesnake
The landscape of wrestling in the late 90s was much different than that of today. Still, there were a few things that remained the same during our generation.
Back then, the clean-cut white-meat babyface who played by the rules typically wasn't well received, as wrestling fans were looking to cheer on wrestlers with a bit more "attitude." Enter Stone Cold Steve Austin, a foul-mouthed, finger-gesturing, rebellious rattlesnake who didn't care whether you loved him or hated him.
At WrestleMania 13, Stone Cold and Bret Hart did battle in one of the most iconic WWE matches of all time.
While The Hitman was announced the winner, Austin's unwillingness to tap as he struggled in the Sharpshooter with blood running down his face will no doubt rank as one of the greatest moments in WWE history.
#1. Liv Morgan; the former WWE SmackDown Women's Champion who'll live to fight another day
Sometimes there's no shame in tapping out. But, given the fact that Liv has recently been booked to look like a superstar with a never-say-die attitude, the pass-out route was the best way for her to lose the title.
The Morgan/Rousey SummerSlam encounter wasn't well received. So much so that Liv received some backlash for the way in which she defeated Ronda.
Instead of an expected surprise roll-up, the former WWE SmackDown Women's Champion tapped out as the ref counted to three for her pinfall over Ronda. Luckily for Liv, the ref didn't see the submission.
WWE Extreme Rules pretty much played out a lot like some fans thought SummerSlam would: A resilient and defiant babyface who has too much heart to give up. So much so that they'd rather pass out.
Does that not make for a tearjerker of a story?
