100 Best Wrestling Moves EVER
33. Taz | Tazmission
Taz boasted a superb array of suplexes, all of which could feature here.
His head-and-arm Taplex was probably the best variation - a vile-looking throw with a terrifying landing before he ventured up the top turnbuckle to perform a white knuckle avalanche modification - but all of them ruled. Taz could pop his hips like nobody else to make it seem as though he was in total control of any opponent, no matter their size. His MMA-inspired look, combined with his mastery of dangerous-looking angles, elevated his suplexes into video nasty territory.
His finish deserves high placement for its layered innovation.
The Tazmisson, or kata ha jime, was a judo choke with an imported real combat legitimacy to it. The move itself was unique and believable on its own terms, and, as with so much else in ECW, was rendered even cooler in contrast to the dreck offered up by the WWF and WCW at the time.
Taz also made his opponents tap out, rather than verbally submit - and is thus directly responsible for a transformative and permanent shift in the dramatic principles of the very sport.
That agonising hover of the hand over the canvas does not exist without Taz.