10 Most Copied Finishing Moves In Wrestling History

9. The Shining Wizard

Sid Powerbomb Heath Slater
WWE.com

When the Great Muta/Keiji Mutoh changed his gimmick in 2001, he adopted a unique move that had never been seen before in Japanese wrestling, the Shining Wizard. Prior to this, Muta used other wrestlers’ moves as his own: the Moonsault, the green mist and the Figure-4 Leglock.

Then, over time, Muta’s new maneuver helped re-launch his career, as it helped him catapult himself to the top of the Japanese wrestling industry. As a result, other wrestlers decided to emulate Muta’s work (and hopefully his success) by adopting his now-world-famous Shining Wizard.

Interestingly, despite the move’s more ‘legitimate’ image (it is, after all, a shin to the side of one’s face, and looks like it can really hurt someone making it perfect for WWE with their attempt at ‘realistic’ moves), the move's has been emulated more by Japanese and independent wrestlers than WWE Superstars.

Because of that, you’re more likely to see multiple people in the same match in Japan use the Shining Wizard than you’re likely to see it used in WWE. Oddly enough, the only people who actually did use it in WWE were CM Punk, AJ Lee and the Hurricane; and two of those people are persona non grata with the company at present. 

Maybe the move’s cursed or something. Otherwise, it’d be as popular in WWE as it is elsewhere in the wrestling industry.

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Alexander Podgorski is a writer for WhatCulture that has been a fan of professional wrestling since he was 8 years old. He loves all kinds of wrestling, from WWE and sports entertainment, to puroresu in Japan. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Queen's University in Political Studies and French, and a Master's Degree in Public Administration. He speaks English, French, Polish, a bit of German, and knows some odd words and phrases in half a dozen other languages.