The "Dusty finish" made Ric Flair a star; comes back to haunt Charlotte

A ‘Dusty finish’ on RAW saw Charlotte win the match but not the title

Did anyone else notice that the Nikki Bella/Charlotte match ended with the “Dusty Finish,” a move which helped Charlotte’s father, Ric Flair, become the “Dirtiest Player in the Game?”

The win for Bella, which was aided by the fact her sister Brie jumped into the ring, only to be pinned by the former NXT champion, is a time-honored finish that helped define wrestling in the 1970s and 1980s and led to the dominance of Flair as one of the greatest heels to ever get in a squared circle. Flair was involved in some of the most controversial endings in matches, some taken to the 60-minute time limit, that is was commonplace for the 16-time world champion to walk out of a match with no decision or having lost the match because of disqualification.

The fact it was a move Flair helped define in his height of popularity makes the moment Charlotte won and then lost the WWE Divas Title nostalgic in its own way.

According to lore, the Dusty Finish is often used to help put a wrestler over as a sympathetic figure by having him win a hard-fought match only to see him screwed out of the win. It can also be used to build up the hype for a rematch between the two wrestlers. The finish can have a negative effect on fans, especially if used frequently, as they may begin believing that something like a title change might never happen.

The Dusty Finish worked in the territorial days of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), when the NWA champion travelled to various territories to face the local favorite, and the fans could only see the matches by either going to see them live or on local television. With the progress of cable television and wrestling matches being seen in larger portions of the country, more and more fans began to recognize the Dusty Finish when it occurred, thus another reason for it to be used less.

The finish has had multiple variations over the years, but the most common version centers around the referee being hit and knocked out and a substitute referee coming in and eventually declares a clean pinfall or submission win. At this point the original referee is revived and reverses the decision, declaring a disqualification from either the hit on himself or another incident, like an illegal wrestling move or toss out of the ring. A full version of the finish would take place in a championship match, in which the champion causes the infraction and the challenger scores the pinfall, only to have the original referee disqualify the champion, thus depriving the challenger of the title since it can't change hands that way.

Other versions have the match decision reversed in the days following the match. The reversal can also be declared by other authority figures in the wrestling organization.

I remember matches where Flair would wrestle to a 60-minute draw with the Von Erich’s or hit referee Tommy Young to save his title from Barry Windham or Magnum TA. He would get in the face of a referee in Miami or Tampa, shoving the official, only to be shoved back. Those kinds of moments made the business of wrestling unique, historic and memorable. Being able to use The Dusty Finish to play on the heartstrings of the fans was as much a part of the match as the show Flair put on with any number of headliners (Harley Race, Rhodes, Ricky Steamboat) as it was with mid-card talent (Charlie Cook, Mike Von Erich, Wild Bill Synder).

Charlotte is now almost assured the Divas title in Houston on Sunday night at Night of Champions. The idea of a Dusty Finish has been used to cheat her out of the title. Now that the move her father help make famous has screwed her out of a chance to be champion, there is nothing left for the company to do but put the strap on the second-generation star. And hopefully a win that can come cleanly – something her father had trouble with as a world champion in his heyday.