10 Times Wrestling Finishers Passed The Torch

6. Mandible Claw - Mick Foley To Bray Wyatt

Stunner Steve Austin Kevin Owens
WWE.com/WWE.com

Mick Foley didn't particularly invent the Claw - with that move so often synonymous with the Von Erich family - but Foley and his Mandible Claw popularised that choking manoeuvre for a whole new generation of fans when he began using it during his Mankind days.

The Hardcore Legend was a staple of the Attitude Era, amassing three runs as WWE Champion, and defeating many a foe with the Mandible Claw. Here in 2021, though, it's 'The Fiend' Bray Wyatt who has taken on this move as his own.

In a nice passing of the torch moment, Wyatt only really started doing the Mandible Claw after he put Foley down with the move during a July 2019 episode of WWE Raw. While many thought the use of the move here was merely because the Eater of Worlds was attacking Saint Mick, it turned out to be a far more regular arrangement for The Fiend.

As he revealed later in the year, Foley detailed his happiness of being able to pass that move over to Bray Wyatt.

"I felt like when those lights went out and he put me down with my own hold that we had, that he, more than I had done something special, but I had been part of it”

For Wyatt, laying out Foley with the WWE Hall of Famer's own move was a major part of setting the tone for what fans could expect from his then-new Fiend persona.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.