10 Wrestling Moves Improved By Kickass Names
To be the man, you've got to beat the man... with a cool sounding move.
There are two elements to making a great signature move: what it looks like and what it's called. Some moves have neither going for them, like MVP's Playmaker or Gail Kim's Eat Defeat.
Others both look badass and sound awesome. Gregory Helms's Vertebreaker, Prince Devitt's Bloody Sunday, The Revival's Shatter Machine, Shinsuke Nakamura's Bomaye knee, and Kenta Kobashi's Burning Hammer are as visually convincing as they are impactfully named. (No. Not Tyler Reks's Burning Hammer. Never Tyler Reks's Burning Hammer.)
Or the name pairs well with the wrestler using it. Bret Hart was the Excellence of Execution, so employing a move called the Sharpshooter reinforces that aura of crispness and proficiency. (And it takes more than just naming the move after the person doing it, like virtually every move in ECW, from Taz-plexes to Bubba Cutters.)
But whereas some names fail utterly and others pair with a movie perfectly, there are certain names that overachieve. They take a pedestrian move, or one that's overexposed or overutilized, and make it sound far more dangerous than it really is. It has the potential to elevate both the move and the wrestler who executes it.
In the Goldilocks Zone between the Canadian Destroyer and the Butterface Maker, there are these ten moves.
10. Chaos Theory
A German suplex not only drops an opponent on the back of his head, but it also shows off the strength of the wrestler delivering the move. Look back at any clips of classic New Japan or All Japan matches from a few decades ago, and you'll see the likes of Vader dropping guys on their heads.
But Doug Williams made the movie look AND sound more dangerous as the Chaos Theory, a rolling variation of the suplex that appeared to disorient the opponent before putting them down for the three-count.