Posted in: Movies, Sports, TV, WWE | Tagged: aj styles, finn balor, tlc, too sweet, wrasslin, wrestling, wwe
Secret Handshake Between 2 Middle-Aged Men Was Highlight Of WWE TLC
Amidst all the violence, fanfare, and attempted murder by libertarian mayoral candidates at Sunday's WWE Tables, Ladders, and Chairs event, one moment stood out from all the rest as the unprecedented highlight of the night. Following their long, competitive match last night, 36-year-old Finn Balor and 40-year-old AJ Styles exchanged a hand gesture known as the "Too Sweet" or the "Kliq Hand Gesture" to the roaring approval of the crowd. The hand gesture is copyright World Wrestling Entertainment.
Originally used by Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Shawn Michaels, Triple H, and Sean "X-Pac" Waltman as the official hand gesture of their 1990s backstage wrestling club, The Kliq, the symbol went on to be used by members of WCW's NWO faction, and eventually New Japan Pro Wrestling's Bullet Club, which is where Styles and Balor picked it up. WWE has recently sued wrestlers outside of its corporate umbrella for using the hand gesture, even though the symbol technically originated as the symbol of college sports team The North Carolina State Wolfpack.
Originally, Balor and Styles were not even scheduled to face each other, much less display a fan-favorite hand gesture, at Sunday's event. Balor was set to face Bray Wyatt for the 397th consecutive time, but Wyatt, who lives in an extremely unsanitary swamp shack, came down with a viral infection before the show. Styles, who wrestles for the Smackdown Live brand, was brought in for the one-night-only match against Balor, setting up the opportunity for the post-match Too-Sweeting. The rest, as they say, is history.