10 Times Wrestlers Stole An Opponent’s Finisher (& Did It BETTER)

Theft is a central theme of professional wrestling. WWE, AEW, virtually every promotion ever borrows, even if they pretend they don't. 

Take the concept of a wrestling 'gimmick'. Everything is stolen and subsequently labelled as inspiration. There is no more originality. AEW Women's World champion Toni Storm has been a revelation as 'The Timeless One', but her entire schtick is inspired by Marilyn Monroe. Will Ospreay became 'The Aerial Assassin' because he enjoyed the Assassin's Creed series of video games.

Wrestlers even steal from other wrestlers. Ric Flair became 'The Nature Boy' after Buddy Rogers got there first. Shark Boy was a staunch caricature of 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin. Hulk Hogan was 'Superstar' Billy Graham to a tee, brother. Don't even try to become a wrestler if you wish to don a faux supernatural persona; you will never escape comparisons to The Undertaker. Hell, WCW hired Christi Rock, an imposing bodybuilder, and burdened her with the alias of Asya to combat the rising popularity of Joanie 'Chyna' Laurer in the WWF. This was because Asia, the continent, is larger than China, the country. Accurate, yes, but Jesus Christ.

It is an endless conversation to have - and it isn't just gimmicks that are at risk of wrestling's biggest kayfabe crime...

Cody Rhodes vs. Roman Reigns II was a well-structured spectacle of a WrestleMania main event that benefitted from its poignant three-act structure, the third, interference-laden of which produced either the best or worst ten minutes of a wrestling match you will ever see, depending on the eye of the beholder.

It also featured the death of the Cross Rhodes.

A rolling Cutter, the move doesn't lend itself to the same level of opportunism that the Cutter was designed to have. The executor will grab their opponent in an inverted facelock position, and then, nothing. They'll stand there, pandering. The crowd, no matter how electric, will ponder why the victim doesn't simply snapmare their way to freedom. Furthermore, it took three of the things for Cody to end Roman Reigns' 1,316 days of tyranny over WWE; every subsequent match for Cody sees a similar amount of Rhodes being Crossed.

Still, the move provided a pivotal spot in the match, one of the first to grab a fatigued audience out of their chairs. Cody, attempting a Cody Cutter, was caught mid-flight by Roman Reigns, who grabbed 'The American Nightmare' in that fateful inverted facelock and rotated Cody's face into the canvas with the same remorseless, stomach-churning intensity as Cody himself would do in AEW.

The only negative aspect was the lack of a head spike.