6 Wrestling Finishers That Were Discovered By Accident
2. DDT (Jake Roberts)
For the sake of accuracy, it's important to recognise that Black Gordman is the man credited with inventing the modern DDT. The Mexican was a frequent user of that hold throughout the early-1970s, and that precedes Jake 'The Snake' Roberts' own use of it by a good few years or so.
Still, to the vast majority of wrestling fans, it was Roberts who popularised the hold and turned it from a transitional one into a deadly finisher. That's why Jake's name is on this entry, not Gordman's, and there's a secondary reason. The Snake accidentally drove another worker's head into the mat as he was attempting to transition.
Think about that: the DDT was a transitional move originally, then became Roberts' finisher when he flubbed a transition. There's something poetic about that.
The worker in question was (rather blandly) known as The Grappler. Jake had him synched in a basic headlock, and slipped as he moved. Without warning, Grappler's cranium struck the canvas, and Roberts liked how abrupt the move's execution was.