10 Most Copied Finishing Moves In Wrestling History
1. The DDT
Once upon a time, Jake ‘the Snake’ Roberts had The Grappler in a front facelock, but he tripped and in doing so, he created the wrestling maneuver that would eventually become the DDT. It was once considered a dangerous move, and some people even believed that one could get knocked out from this move.
Today, the DDT is literally what every wrestler’s first move is. If you look at several wrestlers as they go through their careers, during their early years, they use some variation of the DDT as their finisher, completely devaluing the move as unique or exciting.
Known wrestlers to have done this include: Carlito, Maryse, Eva Marie, Cody Rhodes, Tommy Dreamer, and many more. Worse yet, pretty much every wrestler on the WWE roster has some variation of the DDT as a signature move, from the Miz’s kneeling DDT to Cena’s take on a tornado DDT.
This leads to a very confusing situation at times: if someone like Cena uses a DDT variation as a signature move or as simply something to draw in extra attention, but doesn’t actually win the match with one, then how are people supposed to buy into the idea that another wrestler can win with the same move.
Sadly, overuse has effectively destroyed one of the most timeless move in wrestling history.