10 Wrestlers Who Perfected A Finisher On Its Owner
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery...
Fashioning a finisher that is both devastating and aesthetically dumbfounding is no mean feat. We see fledgling superstars cycle through an array of combinations in their rookie WWE years (or even established stars, such as Seth Rollins) until a move pops the crowd enough to fully convince them that the character is on the verge of ending proceedings.
Finishers are incredibly personal, with some wrestlers going as far as to protect the move from being over-exposed in other performer's arsenals - Chris Jericho recently asked Private Party to nix their double spinning back elbow as it bared too much resemblance to The (not yet fully over) Judas Effect.
Therefore, it is seen as the ultimate sign of disrespect when an adversary opts to inflict a person's own finisher on them. Embarrassing as that certainly is, it is in fact just a catalyst for something almost unfathomably more humiliating - the opposition perfecting a stars finisher on the creator.
For a wrestler to have the guts and sheer balls to attempt to mimic their rival is worthy of a salute, but to sharpen the submission/grapple/suplex/strike variation on the originator for the world to see deserves hailing on an online list for a fanatical audience to appreciate.
So...
10. Brock Lesnar Takes Angle To Suplex City
Way before Lesnar had fully constructed Suplex City, he used the move to highlight his amateur background and get him over as the physical specimen he was.
A man who was synonymous with the move, before Lesnar's mauling of John Cena at SummerSlam 2014, was the Olympic Gold Medallist, Kurt Angle.
In the thick of their classic 30 minute iron man match on Smackdown! in 2003, Angle and Lesnar began to trade suplexes, yet it was a taste of things to come when Lesnar decided to steal Angle's trifecta of Germans.
What Lesnar lost in seamlessly linking the three, he more than made up for in the unreal power he generated in each arced throw. Angle's sickening impact - his surgically repaired neck baring his full body weight with each slam - made for uncomfortable watching at the time, and it still makes you shudder today.
This exchange sowed the seeds for The Beast's coronation as the undisputed Mayor of Suplex City. Lesnar went on to claim the title of iron man (and another WWE Championship), withstanding Angle's Ankle Lock until the clock struck 0:00 - that being the lasting memory of the match. When, in reality, Lesnar's German trio had started a snowball that the former UFC champion would still be rolling in 2019.