10 Unlikely Origins Of Wrestling Finishers

2. Seth Rollins Delves Deep For Inspiration

John Laurinaitis Randy Orton RKO
WWE

In 2019, Seth Rollins stood up for WWE.

Seth was put out by the heavy criticism his team had drawn for promoting Two out of Three Falls matches as the norm, spitefully burying the Revival, and creating the nonsensical Wild Card Rule - an admission that WWE was not in fact the best wrestling on the planet, period, since they relied on the same crop of talents to carry both shows instead of building more. Instead of just preserving the countless stars that got over in every other promotion they worked before signing with WWE.

But no: best pro wrestling on the planet. Period.

As part of a long meltdown, Rollins accused Will Ospreay of being an inferior Ricochet. In a separate development, he referred to AEW as "the minor leagues" at a convention in October of that year. Once Kenny Omega was done "playing" there, he could join Rollins on the WrestleMania stage.

That last "shoot" was clearly a bit of fun, but still, the preceding meltdown was serious enough to cause fall-outs. And if AEW was the minors, and New Japan Pro Wrestling was just a place for Ricochet to work before he made it to the big time, why then did Seth Rollins rip off Omega's V-Trigger for his very successful, over and enduring 'The Knee' finisher?

Why not use a move from the best promotion?

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Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!