10 Most Copied Finishing Moves In Wrestling History

If you’re a professional wrestler and you want to demonstrate both technical precision and brute strength, while at the same time getting the audience to cheer and get on their feet, which move would you use? The Brainbuster, of course.

There are few moves that combine these different elements together so well, which is why so many wrestlers use this move as either a signature or finishing move, especially in Japan. 

Although Dick Murdoch invented this move decades ago, it rose to prominence during the 1990s when it was used in pretty much every main-event-level match. It’s like the outside dive of today’s WWE: so many wrestlers use that move despite their different sizes and skill levels because they know that it’s guaranteed to excite and impress the crowd.

Of course, the other wide of the coin with this is that over time, the fans get accustomed to seeing the move so much, which in turn devalues it. This, of course, leads to even more dangerous interpretations, like El Generico’s top-turnbuckle Spike Brainbuster.

Then again, there’s a very good reason why so many wrestlers adopt this move as their signature or finishing moves: it’s aesthetically-pleasing, and definitive of an era of ‘head-drops’ that led to some of the greatest matches in professional wrestling history.