2010 Pro Wrestling Thread

It's kinda sad that a guy with a move set that cool will never get very high up the card in WWE just because he's small. On the other hand, as long as he can sell a beating that convincingly, he'll never be out of a job.

 

Eh, you never know. I bet he gets traded to SD at the next Draft and goes into a program with Mysterio. If he does a decent enough job there, he could very well get a look at the IC belt and, if that happens, who's to say he doesn't eventually get a realistic shot at MITB?

 

Leave it to the Mexicans to one-up the Canadians.

 

Orton doesn't use it as a finisher, though. It's more of a mid-match move that shows he's in control of his opponent. The way he uses it and the way he sells it, it's much more effective than the People's Elbow or Five-Knuckle Shuffle ever were.
And while also not a finisher, I really like Orton's over-the-hip backbreaker. It's a great momentum-changing move and looks really cool.

 

To agree with schiezainc, I think if you get a huge pop from the fans for years, eventually, the WWE feels compelled to move you up. Vince McMahon has his biases, but he's not stupid, and he eventually gave title runs to Jeff Hardy, Rey Mysterio, Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho despite their smaller sizes. (I suppose you could throw HBK and Bret Hart and Edge into that mix if you really wanted to, since none are really power wrestlers.)

 

Wrestlers live to be 84? What?

 

One finisher that has always annoyed me is the Pedigree. I just never saw it as that devastating. Meant to mention that one earlier.

 

It might help if the recipient of said Pedigree actually had his head land on the mat at the same time as HHH.Lately, for the past few years, Hunter has been pretty lazy, and lost his man half way down.

 

My favorite finisher was always the figure-four leglock. I used to win bets from kids who thought they could break it.

I also always liked the camel clutch. A very painful hold when applied correctly (stupid announcers constantly refer to a simple rear chinlock as a camel clutch -- the morons).

The abdominal stretch is quite painful, but difficult to apply. The lay-down version is actually better.

Now I'll go with the ankle lock and rear-naked choke, with the triangle armbar a close third. Taker's googleplata is a version of the triangle armbar, while Samoa Joe's submission hold is a form of the rear-naked choke.

Most dangerous? All the forms of piledrivers can cripple a man, just ask Stone Cold Steve Austin. The reverse tombstone, such as the one that Owen Hart used on Austin would be my pick for most dangerous.

 

I think it looks neat enough, like equivalent to moves like the Rock Bottom.

Jumping off what someone else said... The power bomb moves have ALWAYS looked the sickest to me, now that I think about it. Diesel, Razor Ramon, Vader and Sid Justice have all done powerbombs that just flat out looked scary.

What about the best "strike" finisher? Sweet Chin Music has to be pretty high up on the list - It always has such a sweet "smack" sound to it. Does he load up his boots or something? The other kick moves don't seem to pack nearly as much wallop. On the opposite end of the scale, A.J. Styles' bicycle kick is like the People's Elbow of strike moves.

 

He smacks his leg with his palm while hitting Sweet Chin Music. Watch a Golddust match and you can clearly hear him slap the plastic outfit he wears when he throws a punch. Sounds ridiculous compared to a skin slap.

Michaels is the best ever at using SCM, though. Some of the best slow-mo replays because he always appears to hit it. And just getting his leg that high at his age -- incredible. That and the nip-up.

 

Agreed on the powerbombs. A well-delivered powerbomb just looks absolutely devastating -- and can be for real, if it's delivered wrong. Back during the nWo's heyday, Kevin Nash damn near killed Big Show/Giant with one. Nash couldn't get Big Show up all the way and dropped him on his head. They even made an angle out of it where they banned the powerbomb, but Nash kept doing it anyway and was "fined" and "arrested." Like so many other WCW things, though, it was quietly dropped.

As for the Pedigree, it looks cool but has the same fatal flaw all those face-first type moves do. If you forcibly drive someone into the mat, face-first and unprotected, shouldn't it break their nose at the very least?
And Triple H really needs a new finisher. You look at most of the top guys in WWE (Cena, Undertaker, Jericho, HBK, Big Show, Orton) and they have at least two different finishers. Hell, Undertaker has four. Triple H has never developed a true quality finisher beyond the Pedigree. One of many reasons his character has gotten stale, I believe.