10 Awesome Wrestling Spots That Were Totally Improvised
7. Thunder Clap
The above gif has done the rounds on line before gifs were even called gifs.
A vintage botch that turn-of-the-century fans waited for hours to download on Limewire, the moment Great Sasuke slipped on a springboard attempt during his 1994 Super J-Cup match with Jushin Liger appeared to be his humiliating undoing. Instead, Liger's own arrogance after the fact got them both to their required destination.
The patronising applause is legitimately hilarious, but is such a grand gesture of confidence that the masked icon appears in total control. In doing so, he walks into a Sasuke hurricanrana pin and loses the match.
We can infer from the conclusion that the move was perhaps what Sasuke had aimed for before splatting face first on the unforgiving canvas, but the finish became a much bigger part of both men's history the way it played out and served as a reminder of pro wrestling's bizarre complexion - even when things go badly wrong, the true in-ring greats can make them right.