10 Surprising Origins Of Your Favourite Wrestling Moves
3. Irish Whip: Danno O'Mahoney
If you've ever listened to Stone Cold's podcast you learn two things. One: the man really likes to hunt. And two: he almost takes it as an affront to pro wrestling as a whole that the DDT isn't a finisher anymore. The DDT certainly has become weakened over time by overuse, but that's nothing compared to the Irish Whip, which is now just considered a means of moving from one area of the ring to the other.
Consider the Irish Whip for a second and think of a reality in pro wrestling where this is not only a highlight move but a finisher, because originally it was.
The Irish Whip was innovated by Danno O'Mahoney in the early 1930s. The Irish (as if you hadn't already guessed) wrestler originally wouldn't let go of the arm and instead used it as a precursor to an arm drag. So instead of using the momentum to jerk an opponent's arm and send them into a rope, Mahoney would instead send his opponent into the mat then proceed into the pin position.
Mahoney used the manoeuvre to go on a 49-match winning streak, all of them ending with a move we today would consider a pretty basic opening gambit.