Rants

Rope Breaks

By Scott Keith on 6 March 2019

Why is it acceptable for the referee to kick a wrestler's arms when he is holding on to avoid a sunset flip? I thought reaching the ropes means that you need to break the hold?

This popped into my head as I watched Bret win the 1991 King of the Ring over IRS with this exact finish.

The rule is that you have to be in the ropes to break the hold, but you can't USE the ropes to gain leverage. So reaching for the ropes to block a hold is illegal, because you're not actually breaking the hold with your own power. It's just like grabbing the ropes to help you pin someone. The ropes are out of bounds, period.