Yeah that's for E3 to keep the matches going, they do that in several matches shown. Sometimes the meters also fill up so they can show off the x-rays when they want.

ya.. It's just strange that they would even add an animation for it.

I think I over heard Ed Boon saying that it is going to make it into the final cut that people will be able to do a certain move to regain health. I may be wrong though but I think it was on one of the Youtube videos I saw a few days ago of last month's Evo.

is this a joke?

No I am not joking but I may have been wrong. I sometimes here things sometimes but I still think I heard him say it.

Why is having a move to regain health a joke? That would actually be kind of cool to see some characters perform that.

I was being sincere asking if it was a joke. I couldn't tell if you were being sarcastic or not.

What the OP was referring to was a Test/Demo function. Like a cheat code used while developing a game. It's just there so the devs can show off features and mechanics whenever they need to. It will NOT be in the final release.

Now, a separate move/command to regain a percentage of health could be a thing, similar to Injustice's Clash system letting you regain health if you bet correctly.