History HonorBeforeReason / ProfessionalWrestling

* Earlier in professional wrestling, one of the markings of a face was that, win or lose, they'd wrestle fair while the heels would do whatever they had to in order to win. Career babyfaces such as Wrestling/RickySteamboat and Wrestling/TitoSantana were famous for this. Eventually, as wrestling got DarkerAndEdgier, wrestlers like Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin, Wrestling/RicFlair, and Wrestling/EddieGuerrero would be massive faces for the fans despite cheating often.
* This trope was teased with at ''ECW: One Night Stand 2006'' as Wrestling/RobVanDam fought Wrestling/JohnCena for the [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/wwe-h.html WWE World Heavyweight Championship ]]in the Hammerstein Ballroom. Towards the end of the match, Cena was attacked by Wrestling/{{Edge}} (very much to the approval of the rapidly pro-ECW/anti-Cena crowd who shouted "Thank You, Edge!" as he departed) while Rob was out. When Rob came to, he recognized what happened and looked as if, for a moment, that he wasn't going to take advantage of the situation. The announce team (Wrestling/{{Tazz}} and the legendary Wrestling/JoeyStyles) yelled for him to capitalize on the opportunity and to not let his pride get the better of him. RVD then decided to shirk his pride and frog splashed Cena to win the title.
** This ended up being RVD's downfall later on in the storyline: during RVD's run as [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/ecw/ecw-h.html WWE ECW Heavyweight Champion]], [[{{Kayfabe}} General Manager]] Wrestling/PaulHeyman was handling him with kid gloves and protecting him from challengers. Recent ECW draftee Wrestling/TheBigShow decided he wanted a shot at the title; Heyman was against it, but RVD demanded the match. Heyman ended up betraying RVD and cost him the match, the championship, and his job (in reality he was suspended for a [=DWI=] incident).
* A face will continue to fight despite overwhelming odds or injuries causing the announcer to say "[[FearlessFool he has more guts than brains]]."
** Even "better"? If it's a non-match beatdown with no rules, expect said face to never just EyeScream and/or GroinAttack his tormentor(s) in self-defense. Not to mention if a fellow face interferes to help... despite often being outnumbered and/or unarmed, likely just making himself a target as well.
* One type of match is the Steel Cage match, where the objective is usually to climb over the top of the cage and escape before your opponents do. Chances are high that, at least once during the match, one wrestler will climb to the top only to sacrifice what ''could'' be a sure win for the sake of executing a [[DeathFromAbove high-flying move on the combatants still below.]] Bonus points if doing this move has put the wrestler in such a state that he's no longer in any condition to try climbing the cage again.
** The same in Ladder Matches.
* The main event of WWE Money in the Bank 2011 had Wrestling/JohnCena apply his "STF" hold on a tired Wrestling/CMPunk when Wrestling/VinceMcMahon and his cohort appeared, with Vince instructing his cohort to have the timekeeper ring the bell (recreating the Wrestling/MontrealScrewjob with Vince's minion in Vince's place from the original incident) -- however, Cena actually broke the hold, exited the ring, and promptly slugged the henchman, knocking him down and out and staring at Vince to make it clear, "no, not that way"... only for Cena to catch a "GTS" (Punk's own signature move) ''and'' be pinned for his troubles.
** Speaking of Money in the Bank, the actual Money in the Bank gimmick has become almost a character study in this trope. The winner of a Money in the Bank match has an open contract for a title shot that they can invoke at any time before the next year. Honorable grapplers will announce ahead of time when they are going to cash it in. Rob Van Dam announced he would use it to face John Cena at ''One Night Stand'', and Cena himself did it to CM Punk a week in advance before ''RAW 1000''. [[Wrestling/BryanDanielson Daniel Bryan]] announced that he'd be using it to challenge for the title at ''Wrestling/{{WrestleMania}}'' (though he would later subvert this trope later by cashing it in on Wrestling/TheBigShow). Dishonorable ones will run in right after the champion has taken a vicious beating, allowing them an almost assured victory.
*** Of the honorable wrestlers who cash in with fair warning, Cena's cash-in plays this trope the straightest. CM Punk had just taken a beating from Big Show, and Show was telling Cena to cash in on Punk right there and win the title. Instead, Cena chose to cash in next week at ''RAW 1000'', giving Punk time to recover. Cena would go on to win the match... [[OhCrap via disqualification.]] Thereby, he became the first person to cash in Money in the Bank and not win a title.
*** Punk himself has cashed in the Money in the Bank briefcase - twice in fact, and is the second person to do so. It's how he won his first two world titles. Both were "dishonorable," however the first time it was Wrestling/{{Edge}}, who was a heel and had just screwed Wrestling/{{Batista}} out of the title the night before, so nobody really cared. The second time it was Wrestling/JeffHardy, and that's when it was seen as dishonorable, because Jeff was an uber-popular face at the time who just won his second world title. Unsurpsingly, Punk turned heel shortly afterwards.
* Wrestling/BigBossman's 1990 face turn happened with a bout of this: he refused to return stolen property (the Million-Dollar Championship belt) to its rightful owner (Wrestling/TedDiBiase) because money changed hands between [=DiBiase=] and Slick to have Slick direct Bossman to recover the belt from the thief, Wrestling/JakeRoberts. He declared that he couldn't be bought and gave the belt back to Roberts.

*** Punk himself has cashed in the Money in the Bank briefcase - twice in fact, and is the second person to do so. It's how he won his first two world titles. Both were "dishonorable," however the first time it was Wrestling/{{Edge}}, who was a heel and had just screwed Wrestling/{{Batista}} out of the title the night before, so nobody really cared. The second time it was Wrestling/JeffHardy, and that's when it was seen as dishonorable, because Jeff was an uber-popular face at the time.

** Even more glaringly -- if it's a non-match beatdown with no rules, expect said face to never just EyeScream and/or GroinAttack his tormentor(s) in self-defense. And even more so if a fellow face interferes to help... despite often being outnumbered and/or unarmed, thus typically just making himself a target as well.

** Speaking of Money in the Bank, the actual Money in the Bank gimmick has become almost a character study in this trope. The winner of a Money in the Bank match has an open contract for a title shot that they can invoke at any time before the next year. Honorable grapplers will announce ahead of time when they are going to cash it in. Rob Van Dam announced he would use it to face John Cena at ''One Night Stand'', and Cena himself did it to Wrestling/CMPunk a week in advance before ''RAW 1000''. [[Wrestling/BryanDanielson Daniel Bryan]] announced that he'd be using it to challenge for the title at ''Wrestling/{{WrestleMania}}'' (though he would later subvert this trope later by cashing it in on Wrestling/TheBigShow). Dishonorable ones will run in right after the champion has taken a vicious beating, allowing them an almost assured victory.
*** Of the honorable wrestlers who cash in with fair warning, Cena's cash-in plays this trope the straightest. CMPunk had just taken a beating from Big Show, and Show was telling Cena to cash in on Punk right there and win the title. Instead, Cena chose to cash in next week at ''RAW 1000'', giving Punk time to recover. Cena would go on to win the match... [[OhCrap via disqualification.]] Thereby, he became the first person to cash in Money in the Bank and not win a title.

* Earlier in Professional Wrestling, one of the markings of a face was that, win or lose, they'd wrestle fair while the heels would do whatever they had to in order to win. Career babyfaces such as Wrestling/RickySteamboat and Wrestling/TitoSantana were famous for this. Eventually, as wrestling got DarkerAndEdgier, wrestlers like Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin, Wrestling/RicFlair, and Wrestling/EddieGuerrero would be massive faces for the fans despite cheating often.

** This ended up being RVD's downfall later on in the storyline; during RVD's run as [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/ecw/ecw-h.html WWE ECW Heavyweight Champion]], [[{{Kayfabe}} General Manager]] Wrestling/PaulHeyman was handling him with kid gloves and protecting him from challengers. Recent ECW draftee Wrestling/TheBigShow decided he wanted a shot at the title; Heyman was against it, but RVD demanded the match. Heyman ended up betraying RVD and cost him the match, the championship, and his job (in reality he was suspended for a dwi incident).
* A face will continue to fight despite overwhelming odds or injuries causing the announcer to say "[[FearlessFool he has more guts than brains]]".

* WWE Money In The Bank 2011's main event had Wrestling/JohnCena apply his "STF" hold onto a tired Wrestling/CMPunk when [[Wrestling/VinceMcMahon Vince [=McMahon=]]] and his cohort appeared, with Vince instructing his cohort to have the timekeeper ring the bell (recreating the Wrestling/MontrealScrewjob with Vince's minion in Vince's place from the original incident) -- however, Cena actually broke the hold, exited the ring and promptly slugged the henchman, knocking him down and out and staring at Vince to make it clear, "no, not that way"... only for Cena to catch a "GTS" (Punk's own signature move) ''and'' be pinned for his troubles.
** Speaking of Money in the Bank, the actual Money in the Bank gimmick has become almost a character study in this trope. The winner of a Money In The Bank match has an open contract for a title shot, that they can invoke at any time. Honorable grapplers will announce ahead of time when they are going to cash it in. Rob Van Dam announced he would use it to face John Cena at ''One Night Stand'', and Cena himself did it to Wrestling/CMPunk a week in advance before ''RAW 1000''. [[Wrestling/BryanDanielson Daniel Bryan]] announced that he'd be using it to challenge for the title at ''Wrestling/{{WrestleMania}}'' (though he would later subvert this trope later by cashing it in on Wrestling/TheBigShow). Dishonorable ones will run in right after the champion has taken a vicious beating, allowing them an almost assured victory.

*** Punk himself has cashed in the Money in the Bank briefcase - twice in fact, and is the second person to do so. It's how he won his first two world titles. Both were "dishonorable," however the first time it was Wrestling/{{Edge}}, who was a heel and had just screwed Wrestling/{{Batista}} out of the title the night before, so nobody really cared. The second time it was Wrestling/JeffHardy, and that's when it was seen as dishonorable, because Jeff was an uber-popular face at the time.

*** Of the honorable wrestlers who cash in with fair warning, Cena's cash-in plays this trope the straightest. CMPunk had just taken a beating from Big Show, and Show was telling Cena to cash in on Punk right there and win the title. Instead, Cena chose to cash in next week at ''RAW 1000'', giving Punk time to recover. Cena would go on to win the match... [[OhCrap via disqualification.]] Thereby, he became the first person to cash in Money in the Bank and not win a title.

* Earlier in Professional Wrestling, one of the markings of a face was that, win or lose, they'd wrestle fair while the heels would do whatever they had to in order to win. Career babyfaces such as [[{{Wrestling/RickySteamboat}} Ricky Steamboat]] and Tito Santana were famous for this. Eventually, as wrestling got DarkerAndEdgier, wrestlers like StoneColdSteveAustin, RicFlair, and EddieGuerrero would be massive faces for the fans despite cheating often.
* This trope was teased with at ''ECW: One Night Stand 2006'' as RobVanDam fought JohnCena for the WWE Championship in the Hammerstein Ballroom. Towards the end of the match, Cena was attacked by {{Edge}} (very much to the approval of the rapidly pro-ECW/anti-Cena crowd who shouted "Thank You, Edge!" as he departed) while Rob was out. When Rob came to, he recognized what happened and looked as if, for a moment, that he wasn't going to take advantage of the situation. The announce team (Tazz and the legendary [[{{Wrestling/JoeyStyles}} Joey Styles]]) yelled for him to capitalize on the opportunity and to not let his pride get the better of him. RVD then decided to shirk his pride and frog splashed Cena to win the title.
** This ended up being RVD's downfall later on in the storyline; during RVD's run as ECW champion, Paul Heyman was handling him with kid gloves and protecting him from challengers. Recent ECW draftee The Big Show decided he wanted a shot at the title; Heyman was against it, but RVD demanded the match. Heyman ended up betraying RVD and cost him the match, the championship, and his job (in reality he was suspended for a dwi incident).

* WWE Money In The Bank 2011's main event had JohnCena apply his "STF" hold onto a tired CMPunk when VinceMcMahon and his cohort appeared, with Vince instructing his cohort to have the timekeeper ring the bell (recreating the MontrealScrewjob with Vince's minion of place of Vince from the original incident) -- however, Cena actually broke the hold, exited the ring and promptly slugged the henchman, knocking him down and out and staring at Vince to make it clear, "no, not that way"... only for Cena to catch a "GTS" (Punk's own signature move) ''and'' be pinned for his troubles.
** Speaking of Money in the Bank, the actual Money in the Bank gimmick has become almost a character study in this trope. The winner of a Money In The Bank match has an open contract for a title shot, that they can invoke at any time. Honorable grapplers will announce ahead of time when they are going to cash it in. Rob Van Dam announced he would use it to face John Cena at ''One Night Stand'', and Cena himself did it to CMPunk a week in advance before ''RAW 1000''. DanielBryan announced that he'd be using it to challenge for the title at WrestleMania (though he would later subvert this trope later by cashing it in on TheBigShow). Dishonorable ones will run in right after the champion has taken a vicious beating, allowing them an almost assured victory.

* Earlier in Professional Wrestling, one of the markings of a face was that, win or lose, they'd wrestle fair while the heels would do whatever they had to in order to win. Eventually, as wrestling got DarkerAndEdgier, wrestlers like StoneColdSteveAustin, RicFlair, and EddieGuerrero would be massive faces for the fans despite cheating often.
* This trope was teased with at ''ECW: One Night Stand 2006'' as RobVanDam fought JohnCena for the WWE Championship in the Hammerstein Ballroom. Towards the end of the match, Cena was attacked by {{Edge}} (very much to the approval of the rapidly pro-ECW/anti-Cena crowd who shouted "Thank You, Edge!" as he departed) while Rob was out. When Rob came to, he recognized what happened and looked as if, for a moment, that he wasn't going to take advantage of the situation. The announce team (Taz and the legendary JoeyStyles) yelled for him to capitalize on the opportunity and to not let his pride get the better of him. RVD then decided to shirk his pride and frog splashed Cena to win the title.

*** Of the honorable wrestlers who cash in with fair warning, Cena's cash-in plays this trope the straightest. CMPunk had just taken a beating from Big Show, and Show was telling Cena to cash in on Punk right there and win the title. Instead, Cena chose to cash in next week at ''RAW 1000'', giving Punk time to recover. Cena would go on to lose the match for the title next week when Big Show interfered.

** Speaking of Money in the Bank, the actual Money in the Bank gimmick has become almost a character study in this trope. The winner of a Money In The Bank match has an open contract for a title shot, that they can invoke at any time. Honorable grapplers will announce ahead of time when they are going to cash it in. DanielBryan, for instance, has already announced that he'll be using it to challenge for the title in the Main Event at the next Wrestlemania. Dishonorable ones will run in right after the champion has taken a vicious beating, allowing them an almost assured victory.
*** The aforementioned DanielBryan would later subvert this trope later by cashing it in on TheBigShow.

* WWE Money In The Bank 2011's main event had JohnCena apply his "STF" hold onto a tired CMPunk when Vince [=McMahon=] and his cohort appeared, with Vince instructing his cohort to have the timekeeper ring the bell (recreating the MontrealScrewjob with Vince's minion of place of Vince from the original incident) -- however, Cena actually broke the hold, exited the ring and promptly slugged the henchman, knocking him down and out and staring at Vince to make it clear, "no, not that way"... only for Cena to catch a "GTS" (Punk's own signature move) ''and'' be pinned for his troubles.
** Speaking of Money in the Bank, the actual Money in the Bank gimmick has become almost a character study in this trope. The winner of a Money In The Bank match has an open contract for a title shot, that they can invoke at any time. Honorable grapplers will announce ahead of time when they are going to cash it in. Daniel Bryan, for instance, has already announced that he'll be using it to challenge for the title in the Main Event at the next Wrestlemania. Dishonorable ones will run in right after the champion has taken a vicious beating, allowing them an almost assured victory.
*** The aforementioned Daniel Bryan would later subvert this trope later by cashing it in on The Big Show.

** Speaking of Money in the Bank, the actual Money in the Bank gimmick has become almost a character study in this trope. The winner of a Money In The Bank match has an open contract for a title shot, that they can invoke at any time. Honorable grapplers will announce ahead of time when they are going to cash it in. Daniel Bryan, for instance, has already announced that he'll be using it to challenge for the title in the Main Event at the next Wrestlemania. Dishonorable ones will run in right after the champion has taken a vicious beating, allowing them an almost assured victory.

* WWE Money In The Bank 2011's main event had JohnCena apply his "STF" hold onto a tired CMPunk when Vince [=McMahon=] and his cohort appeared, with Vince instructing his cohort to have the timekeeper ring the bell (recreating the MontrealScrewjob with Vince's minion of place of Vince from the original incident) -- however, Cena actually broke the hold, exited the ring and promptly slugged the henchman, knocking him down and out and staring at Vince to make it clear, "no, not that way"... only for Cena to catch a "GTS" (Punk's own signature move) ''and'' be pinned for his troubles.

** The same in Ladder Matches.

** This ended up being RVD's downfall later on in the storyline; during RVD's run as ECW champion, Paul Heyman was handling him with kid gloves and protecting him from challengers. Recent ECW draftee The Big Show decided he wanted a shot at the title; Heyman was against it, but RVD demanded the match. Heyman ended up betraying RVD and cost him the match, the championship, and his job(in reality he was suspended for a dwi incident).

* One type of match is the Steel Cage match, where the objective is usually to climb over the top of the cage and escape before your opponents do. Chances are high that, at least once during the match, one wrestler will climb to the top only to sacrifice what ''could'' be a sure win for the sake of executing a [[DeathFromAbove high-flying move on the combatants still below.]] Bonus points if doing this move has put the wrestler in such a state that he's no longer in any condition to try climbing the cage again.

* Earlier in Professional Wrestling, one of the markings of a face was that, win or lose, they'd wrestle fair while the heels would do whatever they had to in order to win. Eventually, as wrestling got DarkerAndEdgier, wrestlers like StoneColdSteveAustin, RicFlair, and EddieGuerrero would be massives faces for the fans despite cheating often.
* This trope was teased with at ''ECW: One Night Stand 2006'' as Rob Van Dam fought JohnCena for the WWE Championship in the Hammerstein Ballroom. Towards the end of the match, Cena was attacked by {{Edge}} (very much to the approval of the rapidly pro-ECW/anti-Cena crowd who shouted "Thank You, Edge!" as he departed) while Rob was out. When Rob came to, he recognized what happened and looked as if, for a moment, that he wasn't going to take advantage of the situation. The announce team (Taz and the legendary Joey Styles) yelled for him to capitialize on the opportunity and to not let his pride get the better of him. RVD then decided to shirk his pride and frog splashed Cena to win the title.
** This ended up being RVD's downfall later on in the storyline; during RVD's run as ECW champion, Paul Heyman was handling him with kid gloves and protecting him from challengers. Recent ECW draftee The Big Show decided he wanted a shot at the title; Heyman was against it, but RVD demanded the match. Heyman ended up betraying RVD and cost him the match, the championship, and his job(in reality he was fired for a dwi incident).