E-wrestlers are so creative in the ways they come up with finishers, scour the indies for lesser known moves or just add their own flair to existing moves to make them unique. Even with that reputation in tow, there are still a bunch of moves out there that I think could get over in e-fedding. Today, I'll give you three submission holds that would be awesome finishers for any technical-minded grappler:
London Dungeon
58 seconds into this video and you'll find Nigel McGuinness' signature submission hold. It's a great ending move for a guy who likes to work the arm.
Hammerlock Beast Choker
I couldn't find a Youtube of this, but I think this could be a great choke-out move. Basically, the user puts the victim in a hard hammerlock, floats around to the front and puts the victim in a front chancery. The user grabs the hammerlock with the same hand used to put the victim in the chancery, pops back in a DDTing motion and proceeds to induce the tapout.
Horns of Aries
In the same vein as Cattle Mutilation, but a much more effective looking move. Why this hasn't caught on yet, I don't know.
Showing posts with label wrestling moves. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wrestling moves. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
The Finishing Touch
I've been around the e-fed circuits for almost a decade, and when you see as many feds and as many e-wrestlers as I do, you get exposed to a lot of different philosophies on wrestling movesets and finishing moves. Many of them are ports of famous wrestling finishers, mostly uranage/Rock Bottom clones, Stunner/Ace Crusher/Diamond Cutter variants, simple powerbombs, superkicks and over the shoulder piledrivers. Sometimes you get a run on finishers that are hot at the time, like the *ugh* Canadian Destroyer.
Although this is a point I've made before, I'll say it again: it's perfectly natural and acceptable to borrow moves from our favorite wrestlers. I mean, we wouldn't be in this game if it weren't for those guys, right? Since wrestlers usually outlast feds in our game, it's acceptable, if a little annoying, to see multiple guys with the same finisher. Usually, if you have a finisher, you've had it before you entered a certain fed where another tenured guy there has it. However, I like it best when someone either creates a move or picks one that's so rare or out there that it makes you mark out just reading the profile. Other moves just fit their characters so well that it doesn't matter how many other people do them.
The following is a list of my favorite e-fed finishers of all-time, not including my own. These are in no particular order.
Spoilerbomb The Spoiler - This was the move that birthed MBE all those years ago and by proxy, pulled me into e-fedding (in that MBE inspired A1E and well, yeah). Brutal powerbomb finisher that really fits the man in red and black.
HIDADRIVER~! (oh the humanity) Hida Yakamo - To me, this was probably the most mythical of finishers just because it had its own catchphrase. It's a running Splash Mountain (ie, sitout Razor's Edge). It seems like the kind of move that you'd see pulled out at the Tokyo Dome in minute 45 of a GHC Championship match.
The Judas Cradle Beast - I love a good submission hold, and this was really the first one that I latched onto. It's a weird, funky hold, sort of a cross between a backwards-applied figure four and an Indian deathlock.
Point of Impact Euclid - I really never got into the brainbuster as a match finisher until recently, like two or three years ago, but I always dug this variation on it. It's a brainbuster, but on the way down, E would drop his elbow across the victim's throat. Devastating all around.
Hell on Earth Liquid Snake - Another common move with a slight variation. This was a Pedigree, only at the end, Snake would turn his body slightly, jamming his knee on the back of the victim's head. I have no idea how this move could be performed safely, but it would look brutal as hell, something that the late Misawa would probably use if it were used in real life.
North of Sanity Craig Miles - I've always been a mark for Randy Savage's top rope elbow drop. People discount the elbow drop, but really, if you got an elbow, even from a stationary opponent dropping down on you on the canvas, your chest would be CAVED. The contrived part about the People's Elbow was the five minutes of set-up, not the payoff. Okay, end tangent. I think if anyone could deliver this move with as much pomp and urgency that Savage did, I'd picture it would be Miles, who in character (and some might say out of character) is legit insane.
Memphis Death Certificate Jeff Garvin - There was a time in the 90s when the piledriver became garden variety in real wrestling. Then Steve Austin got paralyzed and you never saw it again except from Jerry Lawler. Maybe that was the best thing that could have happened to its mystique stateside, because really, a piledriver should be death. It should be treated like it is in Mexico... borderline illegal. That being said, this move is on here more because of the name than because of my admiration for the move. It really gets across the seriousness of the move.
Uraken~! the School Girl - tSC was always known as "the workrate fed" of all the angle feds back in the day. Now, if you're, say, ROH and you're labeled that, it's a good thing. If you're an e-fed and you're labeled it, well... let's just say tSC in its day had match writeups that made Charles Dickens look terse. Still, the profile pages were a sight to behold, a veritable workrate mark's dream. Of these, the oddest was the School Girl, a dinky little Asian chick on a roster of big male wrestlers. However, what made her believable was her finisher, the Uraken. I'm a mark for this move in real life. It will fuck your day up something else. Looking back, this was the only finisher that really could have been credible on tSG. She couldn't believably slam, suplex or power even the lightest men, but her fleet-footedness would have put a wallop behind that spinning backfist.
NyQuil Driver D! - This was the move I used as D!'s de facto finisher throughout the initial Tournament of Champions. It really is a sick move if you think about it, and all it is is a tweak on an existing move. It's basically Edge's Edge-o-Matic only done out of a sleeper hold. Brutal, brutal stuff.
C-4 Karina Wolfenden - Imagine a vertebreaker. Okay, now imagine it being done out of a springboard backflip. This is the epitome of a "death move".
Humility Bomb Dan Ryan - I almost didn't put this on here just because I already led off with the Spoilerbomb, but in all actuality, they're different moves and are attached to different mythos. While the Spoilerbomb is correlated to the Last Ride, this bomb, to my understanding, is more like a sheer drop powerbomb on the head and neck. This move runs neck and neck with the following one as the most over finisher in the FW circuit's history.
Slackknife Troy Windham - A sharp contrast to the Humility Bomb in that it's a lightning quick strike that capitalizes on stunning an opponent for a quick win rather than a move bent on destruction of a body part after a long war of attrition, just in the same vein as Windham is a cocky character whose speciality is getting out one liners and crowing heartily about his accomplishments while Ryan will break you down cerebrally. Wow, that was an epic run-on sentence for two epic moves :p Anyway, the Slackknife is basically an inverted stunner, like a Rude Awakening, but only done a lot quicker and in the stunner style.
Mjollnir Blow Olvir Arsvinnar - I've always pictured Olvir as the sort of wrestler the smarks would loathe if he were real. Lumbering, slow but powerful and possibly stiff. He'd the Nordic Goldberg of FW, insanely over due to his animal charisma. He may not work well, but his signature moves look good because that's all he'd really concentrate on perfecting. The Mjollnir Blow is a Polish Hammer to the chest with a roar for effect done after. While it's not listed as one of his finishers, no one can deny that a huge Viking clubbing both his hands balled together in a MEGA FIST on your chest at terminal velocity would look real enough to make everyone believe that chest is now caved and the match could be finished. I'd love to see Strawsma make this Olvir's finisher, especially when done out of the Irish Whip.
Smile For Me Tony Gamble - Talk about a move that fits the character. Gamble's face is disfigured on one side to make it look like he's smiling all the time. You could say he's got half-a-Joker going on. This move is a play on that, a Texas Cloverleaf with a fishhook applied to one side of the face. It fits so well with the character's mafioso paranoia.
Bulimia Nervosa Bomb Dos Equis - Flying double stomp to the stomach... BRILLIANT! Why more people, both in real life and e-feds, don't try to use this as a finisher is beyond me, but I guess I'm glad it's so underused. It makes this application more special.
Although this is a point I've made before, I'll say it again: it's perfectly natural and acceptable to borrow moves from our favorite wrestlers. I mean, we wouldn't be in this game if it weren't for those guys, right? Since wrestlers usually outlast feds in our game, it's acceptable, if a little annoying, to see multiple guys with the same finisher. Usually, if you have a finisher, you've had it before you entered a certain fed where another tenured guy there has it. However, I like it best when someone either creates a move or picks one that's so rare or out there that it makes you mark out just reading the profile. Other moves just fit their characters so well that it doesn't matter how many other people do them.
The following is a list of my favorite e-fed finishers of all-time, not including my own. These are in no particular order.
Spoilerbomb The Spoiler - This was the move that birthed MBE all those years ago and by proxy, pulled me into e-fedding (in that MBE inspired A1E and well, yeah). Brutal powerbomb finisher that really fits the man in red and black.
HIDADRIVER~! (oh the humanity) Hida Yakamo - To me, this was probably the most mythical of finishers just because it had its own catchphrase. It's a running Splash Mountain (ie, sitout Razor's Edge). It seems like the kind of move that you'd see pulled out at the Tokyo Dome in minute 45 of a GHC Championship match.
The Judas Cradle Beast - I love a good submission hold, and this was really the first one that I latched onto. It's a weird, funky hold, sort of a cross between a backwards-applied figure four and an Indian deathlock.
Point of Impact Euclid - I really never got into the brainbuster as a match finisher until recently, like two or three years ago, but I always dug this variation on it. It's a brainbuster, but on the way down, E would drop his elbow across the victim's throat. Devastating all around.
Hell on Earth Liquid Snake - Another common move with a slight variation. This was a Pedigree, only at the end, Snake would turn his body slightly, jamming his knee on the back of the victim's head. I have no idea how this move could be performed safely, but it would look brutal as hell, something that the late Misawa would probably use if it were used in real life.
North of Sanity Craig Miles - I've always been a mark for Randy Savage's top rope elbow drop. People discount the elbow drop, but really, if you got an elbow, even from a stationary opponent dropping down on you on the canvas, your chest would be CAVED. The contrived part about the People's Elbow was the five minutes of set-up, not the payoff. Okay, end tangent. I think if anyone could deliver this move with as much pomp and urgency that Savage did, I'd picture it would be Miles, who in character (and some might say out of character) is legit insane.
Memphis Death Certificate Jeff Garvin - There was a time in the 90s when the piledriver became garden variety in real wrestling. Then Steve Austin got paralyzed and you never saw it again except from Jerry Lawler. Maybe that was the best thing that could have happened to its mystique stateside, because really, a piledriver should be death. It should be treated like it is in Mexico... borderline illegal. That being said, this move is on here more because of the name than because of my admiration for the move. It really gets across the seriousness of the move.
Uraken~! the School Girl - tSC was always known as "the workrate fed" of all the angle feds back in the day. Now, if you're, say, ROH and you're labeled that, it's a good thing. If you're an e-fed and you're labeled it, well... let's just say tSC in its day had match writeups that made Charles Dickens look terse. Still, the profile pages were a sight to behold, a veritable workrate mark's dream. Of these, the oddest was the School Girl, a dinky little Asian chick on a roster of big male wrestlers. However, what made her believable was her finisher, the Uraken. I'm a mark for this move in real life. It will fuck your day up something else. Looking back, this was the only finisher that really could have been credible on tSG. She couldn't believably slam, suplex or power even the lightest men, but her fleet-footedness would have put a wallop behind that spinning backfist.
NyQuil Driver D! - This was the move I used as D!'s de facto finisher throughout the initial Tournament of Champions. It really is a sick move if you think about it, and all it is is a tweak on an existing move. It's basically Edge's Edge-o-Matic only done out of a sleeper hold. Brutal, brutal stuff.
C-4 Karina Wolfenden - Imagine a vertebreaker. Okay, now imagine it being done out of a springboard backflip. This is the epitome of a "death move".
Humility Bomb Dan Ryan - I almost didn't put this on here just because I already led off with the Spoilerbomb, but in all actuality, they're different moves and are attached to different mythos. While the Spoilerbomb is correlated to the Last Ride, this bomb, to my understanding, is more like a sheer drop powerbomb on the head and neck. This move runs neck and neck with the following one as the most over finisher in the FW circuit's history.
Slackknife Troy Windham - A sharp contrast to the Humility Bomb in that it's a lightning quick strike that capitalizes on stunning an opponent for a quick win rather than a move bent on destruction of a body part after a long war of attrition, just in the same vein as Windham is a cocky character whose speciality is getting out one liners and crowing heartily about his accomplishments while Ryan will break you down cerebrally. Wow, that was an epic run-on sentence for two epic moves :p Anyway, the Slackknife is basically an inverted stunner, like a Rude Awakening, but only done a lot quicker and in the stunner style.
Mjollnir Blow Olvir Arsvinnar - I've always pictured Olvir as the sort of wrestler the smarks would loathe if he were real. Lumbering, slow but powerful and possibly stiff. He'd the Nordic Goldberg of FW, insanely over due to his animal charisma. He may not work well, but his signature moves look good because that's all he'd really concentrate on perfecting. The Mjollnir Blow is a Polish Hammer to the chest with a roar for effect done after. While it's not listed as one of his finishers, no one can deny that a huge Viking clubbing both his hands balled together in a MEGA FIST on your chest at terminal velocity would look real enough to make everyone believe that chest is now caved and the match could be finished. I'd love to see Strawsma make this Olvir's finisher, especially when done out of the Irish Whip.
Smile For Me Tony Gamble - Talk about a move that fits the character. Gamble's face is disfigured on one side to make it look like he's smiling all the time. You could say he's got half-a-Joker going on. This move is a play on that, a Texas Cloverleaf with a fishhook applied to one side of the face. It fits so well with the character's mafioso paranoia.
Bulimia Nervosa Bomb Dos Equis - Flying double stomp to the stomach... BRILLIANT! Why more people, both in real life and e-feds, don't try to use this as a finisher is beyond me, but I guess I'm glad it's so underused. It makes this application more special.
Monday, March 09, 2009
The Top Ten Moves of...
I've been getting big into watching wrestling moves on YouTube. You get a lot of crazy head dropping flippy shit that you don't see on the 'E. Of course, it's also a great place to pick up finishers or other signature moves for your wrestler. I've come across a few users that are really good at putting the material out there on the web to look at. Look for TheSuicidalDragon, ProWrestlingProfiles and bexproxsoxbro. Those are the guys I'm subscribed to.
Of all the features they do, one of the best is when they do "The Top Ten Moves of..." It's a great way to showcase a wrestler's non-finisher signature moves as well as let you into their big finishes. Here's an example, the top ten moves of Matt Sydal, as compiled by Suicidal Dragon. You know him better as Evan Bourne in the WWE:
Cool, huh? I wonder how many people are going to lift the Cyclorama now as their finisher :p
But it got me thinking... what if we made these kinds of lists and/or videos for our guys? Lists would be okay, but I'd love to see what we could do with wrestling video games and webcams. That's my challenge to you. Post a video on YouTube of your wrestler's top 10 moves and then send the link to me, and I'll feature it.
If you don't have access to a webcam or don't have a wrestling video game that reflects your wrestler's true moves, then just post your moves list here and maybe someone will be so kind to post the list for you.
Now, without further ado (in list form because I don't have a webcam :[)...
The Top Ten Moves of Jericoholic Anonymous
Stiff-ass, chest-reddening knife-edge chops - Self explanatory
The Balltap - A light, backhanded slap to the opponent's groin
Leonard Nimoy Special - Full-nelson/Vulcan neck pinch hybrid
Guillotine Leg Drop - Duh
Tombstone Piledriver - Duh again
Lucky Seven Suplex - JA is behind the victim, grabbing the victim's left arm with his right hand across the victim's chest and the victim's right arm between the victim's legs with his left hand
Frogsplash - Duh once more
Walls of Jericoholic - Liontamer
Lionsplash - Frogsplash off a ladder
Karelin Driver - The Russian neck drop from No Mercy. For those who've never played, it's a spiraling sharp-angled neck drop out of the deadlift gutwrench position.
Of all the features they do, one of the best is when they do "The Top Ten Moves of..." It's a great way to showcase a wrestler's non-finisher signature moves as well as let you into their big finishes. Here's an example, the top ten moves of Matt Sydal, as compiled by Suicidal Dragon. You know him better as Evan Bourne in the WWE:
Cool, huh? I wonder how many people are going to lift the Cyclorama now as their finisher :p
But it got me thinking... what if we made these kinds of lists and/or videos for our guys? Lists would be okay, but I'd love to see what we could do with wrestling video games and webcams. That's my challenge to you. Post a video on YouTube of your wrestler's top 10 moves and then send the link to me, and I'll feature it.
If you don't have access to a webcam or don't have a wrestling video game that reflects your wrestler's true moves, then just post your moves list here and maybe someone will be so kind to post the list for you.
Now, without further ado (in list form because I don't have a webcam :[)...
The Top Ten Moves of Jericoholic Anonymous
Stiff-ass, chest-reddening knife-edge chops - Self explanatory
The Balltap - A light, backhanded slap to the opponent's groin
Leonard Nimoy Special - Full-nelson/Vulcan neck pinch hybrid
Guillotine Leg Drop - Duh
Tombstone Piledriver - Duh again
Lucky Seven Suplex - JA is behind the victim, grabbing the victim's left arm with his right hand across the victim's chest and the victim's right arm between the victim's legs with his left hand
Frogsplash - Duh once more
Walls of Jericoholic - Liontamer
Lionsplash - Frogsplash off a ladder
Karelin Driver - The Russian neck drop from No Mercy. For those who've never played, it's a spiraling sharp-angled neck drop out of the deadlift gutwrench position.
Friday, June 15, 2007
Quick notes
- The answers post to the "Ask Your Blogger" post will go up once I get a few more questions. Thanks to Dove and Sam for providing some good ones thus far, but I know you guys have things you want to ask. Don't be shy, you can ask just about anything eW related. Like about my answers to the big-ass survey.
- Here's something I'd like some feedback on. How many of you out there would be interested in doing a monthly Power Poll for TEAM? It's basically like the AP college football/basketball poll, only in the interest of time and because of the numbers involved, it'll be a top ten rather than a top 25. If that's something you're interested in, lemme know.
- Remember this? Yep, it's a post on how much I thought death angles in eW were such a bad idea. Well, in a case of real life ripping off fantasy, Vince McMahon thought it'd be a swell idea to fake his own death for an angle. Brilliant, and the worst case scenario, a wrestler or former wrestler actually dying during this asinine angle, happened. Sensational Sherri passed today at the age of 49. Guess whose death got top billing on WWE.com? Yep, Vince's "passing." Ludicrous. Just goes to show that bad ideas in eW also are bad ideas in the real thing. There's no question in my mind that even the most mediocre of minds in the eW realm could book circles around the WWE at this point. That's not a good thing, since this stagnance is a huge reason why eW is perceived to be dying itself.
- Just one more quick note on the survey... I agree with more than a few of the people who answered. I really think that for as cool a move as it is and with as much a wow factor as it has, the C-4 (Burchill's version, not K-Wolf's) is totally underused in eW. You'd think that people would have latched onto this move since I've seen a total markage for flippy moves like the Destroyer and the base move off this variant, the Rock Bottom. Oh well, maybe it's a good thing it's not being overdone, because then I'd end up throwing something at the monitor every time I saw fifty characters with it in their arsenal ;)
- Here's something I'd like some feedback on. How many of you out there would be interested in doing a monthly Power Poll for TEAM? It's basically like the AP college football/basketball poll, only in the interest of time and because of the numbers involved, it'll be a top ten rather than a top 25. If that's something you're interested in, lemme know.
- Remember this? Yep, it's a post on how much I thought death angles in eW were such a bad idea. Well, in a case of real life ripping off fantasy, Vince McMahon thought it'd be a swell idea to fake his own death for an angle. Brilliant, and the worst case scenario, a wrestler or former wrestler actually dying during this asinine angle, happened. Sensational Sherri passed today at the age of 49. Guess whose death got top billing on WWE.com? Yep, Vince's "passing." Ludicrous. Just goes to show that bad ideas in eW also are bad ideas in the real thing. There's no question in my mind that even the most mediocre of minds in the eW realm could book circles around the WWE at this point. That's not a good thing, since this stagnance is a huge reason why eW is perceived to be dying itself.
- Just one more quick note on the survey... I agree with more than a few of the people who answered. I really think that for as cool a move as it is and with as much a wow factor as it has, the C-4 (Burchill's version, not K-Wolf's) is totally underused in eW. You'd think that people would have latched onto this move since I've seen a total markage for flippy moves like the Destroyer and the base move off this variant, the Rock Bottom. Oh well, maybe it's a good thing it's not being overdone, because then I'd end up throwing something at the monitor every time I saw fifty characters with it in their arsenal ;)
Friday, March 02, 2007
Rating the Submissions, part 1: A1E/MBE
Texas Cloverleaf, Liontamer, Crippler Crossface, Anaconda Vice, Dragon Sleeper, Cobra Clutch, Cattle Mutilation, Sharpshooter (with or without bridge)... it seems like repetition is the norm for finisher-grade submission holds. It's a shame too, because I feel you can do so much with submission holds, a lot more than you can with regular impact finishers; you can be so much more creative. Then again, there seems to be a whole lot more in the way of impact finishers though.
Still though, to create your own, semi-unique submission doesn't take nearly as much creativity as it does to do an impact finisher in my humble opinion, so more people really should have unique submissions. To be fair, there are more than a few people out there who try to experiment with the tap-out game. In this entry, I'm going to list some of the moves I feel are standouts and rate them categorically. My six categories...
Effectiveness - How much damage does the move appear to do? In wrestling, a move's only as effective at how well it's sold, but to the ear untainted by announcer's call, some moves don't look like they'd hurt at all. This category measures how much the move "hurts."
Innovation - Is this move something that we've never seen before, be it on TV or in the e-feds? This category measures how creative the finisher is.
Mark-Out Factor - This is probably the most subjective category I have, because it's basically all about me :p Or moreover, it's the sort of "Holy shit" factor, the move's crowd-popping ability.
Ease of Application - Does the move take thirty years to apply? Or can you slap it on and have your opponent tapping in it in the time it takes to get a beer out of the fridge?
Character Fit - Does the move fit your character? Obviously, a move like Mandible Claw is going to work for Mankind better than it would blue-blood era Triple H. Stuff like that is a huge factor in how good a move is going to be for a certain wrestler.
Name - Does your move have a cool name or a highly pretentious one? Another big factor in how over a move is is the name.
All categories are ranked on a scale of 1 (worst) to 5 (best). I'll start with primarily A1E/MBE characters.
Now that that's all out of the way... the moves!
The Judas Cradle - Beast (A1E, UCW, EPW)
Move Description - "With his opponent face down on the mat, Beast steps over his opponent, facing their feet. He then sets up like a reverse figure four, but then bridges over backwards - over top of the opponent to prevent escape. The move puts unbearable pressure on the shins, knees, and quadriceps." -- From Beast's profile at The A1E site
The original mark-out submission finisher from A1E, the Cradle has been a staple in Beast's moveset for as long as Jarret's handled Beast.
Effectiveness - 4: I can definitely see this move legit ripping both ACLs. It looks a bit awkward, especially for someone of Beast's size, but I don't think this move would have a problem getting over.
Innovation - 4: It's a modification on moves like the inverted figure four or the Texas Cloverleaf, but it's still a modification that I haven't seen often if at all.
Mark-out Factor - 5: Beast has been using this since the beginning, and to me, it's the original of the crazy submissions (along with Nemesys' Wheel). It's longevity plus the relative rarity of it in terms of the rest of wrestling would make this a prime move to pop a crowd (and a regular A1E reader!).
Ease of Application - 3: For a larger wrestler such as Beast, this move may be harder to pull off. Although he specifies amazing dexterity and knowledge of submissions, any bridging move is going to take a good effort to do.
Character Fit: - 4: Beast is a self-professed submissions expert, and to be an expert, you have to know moves that the gen-pop doesn't. The only thing I don't like about this move for Beast though is his size makes it awkward looking and perhaps awkward to apply.
Name: - 5: It was a great name then because it fit Beast's dark heel nature. It's a great name now because of unmitigated nostalgia.
The Smiley Face - Chip Friendly (A1E)
Move Description - "A submission hold that works on the same theory as the Mandible Claw; while sitting on opponents back, Chip places two fingers from each hand into opponents mouth and - digging into the soft flesh behind the upper molars - pulls back, giving the mouth a weird grimace to it as he painfully pressurizes the nerves back there." -- From Chip's profile at The A1E site
It's a combination of two classic submissions: the camel clutch and the fishhook!
Effectiveness - 2: Mouth pain can be a bitch, but comparatively speaking, there's not a whole lot you can do to set this move up for its major kayfabed target area. Sure it also works like a camel clutch, but the mouth stuff is more for visual than physical effect. Plus, it can effectively be countered with a chomp.
Innovation - 2: I've had this done to me in the schoolyard, actually. I know it's not a fair way of judging the innovation, but I've seen it before. I probably should bump it up seeing no one else has it in eW, but I'm a stickler :p
Mark-out Factor - 5: This move is so old school that it's not even funny, and that's a good thing. This is the kind of move where you scream at the TV screen and say "HOLY SHITBALLS! I DO THAT TO MY FRIENDS IN THE SCHOOLYARD!"
Ease of Application - 4: The camel clutch is a pretty easy move to lock in. The fishhook part brings the easy part down, since it takes some finagling to get inside someone's mouth.
Character Fit: - 5: Your best friend makes you smile... if that's not a perfect fit of a move for a wrestler, I don't know what is.
Name: - 5: Once again, simple name, gets the effectiveness of the move across and it has a certain level of irony to it.
Double Trouble - IrishRed (A1E, UCW, EPW, MBE)
Move Description - "Knee off of the top rope to the opponent's kidney area into an ankle lock with knee still driving into the kidney area." -- From IrishRed's profile at A1Dub's Efed Smarts and Marks forum.
A high risk submission move from the original Midwestern Mafioso.
Effectiveness - 4: It's the best of two worlds, pressure on the ankle and attack on an internal organ. Anyone who's been punched in the kidneys can tell you that hurts like a mofo. Plus any move that gives an announcer the excuse to say the phrase "pissing blood" will always strike awe into any viewer who might have been questioning the move's efficacy in the past.
Innovation - 2: Both innovation points come from the actual knee drop part, which to my knowledge isn't used by anyone in e-fed or real fed. The ankle lock is garden variety. I'm gathering at least three people in any fed will have it listed in their movesets. Still, kudos for jazzing it up a bit.
Mark-out Factor - 3: It has the initial "HOLY SHIT" factor, but after that, the ankle lock has become sort of commonplace to viewers. Plus, it's not even his primary submission.
Ease of Application - 2: Each of the bookends of the move are easy to pull off, but it requires a very awkwardly contrived set up between the halves. Plus anything top-rope isn't going to be easy to apply.
Character Fit: - 4: Red is a rough and tumble road warrior, so the knee drop fights right in his "hurt you in any way possible" mentality. You'd think an ankle lock is too technical for him, but let's remember it's a fairly simple looking move and doesn't take a Kurt Angle to apply it correctly.
Name: - 3: It's part of a motif of naming signature moves after classic rock songs. The name signifies its two pronged nature, but there's something flat about it.
I'll be back with more later!
Still though, to create your own, semi-unique submission doesn't take nearly as much creativity as it does to do an impact finisher in my humble opinion, so more people really should have unique submissions. To be fair, there are more than a few people out there who try to experiment with the tap-out game. In this entry, I'm going to list some of the moves I feel are standouts and rate them categorically. My six categories...
Effectiveness - How much damage does the move appear to do? In wrestling, a move's only as effective at how well it's sold, but to the ear untainted by announcer's call, some moves don't look like they'd hurt at all. This category measures how much the move "hurts."
Innovation - Is this move something that we've never seen before, be it on TV or in the e-feds? This category measures how creative the finisher is.
Mark-Out Factor - This is probably the most subjective category I have, because it's basically all about me :p Or moreover, it's the sort of "Holy shit" factor, the move's crowd-popping ability.
Ease of Application - Does the move take thirty years to apply? Or can you slap it on and have your opponent tapping in it in the time it takes to get a beer out of the fridge?
Character Fit - Does the move fit your character? Obviously, a move like Mandible Claw is going to work for Mankind better than it would blue-blood era Triple H. Stuff like that is a huge factor in how good a move is going to be for a certain wrestler.
Name - Does your move have a cool name or a highly pretentious one? Another big factor in how over a move is is the name.
All categories are ranked on a scale of 1 (worst) to 5 (best). I'll start with primarily A1E/MBE characters.
Now that that's all out of the way... the moves!
The Judas Cradle - Beast (A1E, UCW, EPW)
Move Description - "With his opponent face down on the mat, Beast steps over his opponent, facing their feet. He then sets up like a reverse figure four, but then bridges over backwards - over top of the opponent to prevent escape. The move puts unbearable pressure on the shins, knees, and quadriceps." -- From Beast's profile at The A1E site
The original mark-out submission finisher from A1E, the Cradle has been a staple in Beast's moveset for as long as Jarret's handled Beast.
Effectiveness - 4: I can definitely see this move legit ripping both ACLs. It looks a bit awkward, especially for someone of Beast's size, but I don't think this move would have a problem getting over.
Innovation - 4: It's a modification on moves like the inverted figure four or the Texas Cloverleaf, but it's still a modification that I haven't seen often if at all.
Mark-out Factor - 5: Beast has been using this since the beginning, and to me, it's the original of the crazy submissions (along with Nemesys' Wheel). It's longevity plus the relative rarity of it in terms of the rest of wrestling would make this a prime move to pop a crowd (and a regular A1E reader!).
Ease of Application - 3: For a larger wrestler such as Beast, this move may be harder to pull off. Although he specifies amazing dexterity and knowledge of submissions, any bridging move is going to take a good effort to do.
Character Fit: - 4: Beast is a self-professed submissions expert, and to be an expert, you have to know moves that the gen-pop doesn't. The only thing I don't like about this move for Beast though is his size makes it awkward looking and perhaps awkward to apply.
Name: - 5: It was a great name then because it fit Beast's dark heel nature. It's a great name now because of unmitigated nostalgia.
The Smiley Face - Chip Friendly (A1E)
Move Description - "A submission hold that works on the same theory as the Mandible Claw; while sitting on opponents back, Chip places two fingers from each hand into opponents mouth and - digging into the soft flesh behind the upper molars - pulls back, giving the mouth a weird grimace to it as he painfully pressurizes the nerves back there." -- From Chip's profile at The A1E site
It's a combination of two classic submissions: the camel clutch and the fishhook!
Effectiveness - 2: Mouth pain can be a bitch, but comparatively speaking, there's not a whole lot you can do to set this move up for its major kayfabed target area. Sure it also works like a camel clutch, but the mouth stuff is more for visual than physical effect. Plus, it can effectively be countered with a chomp.
Innovation - 2: I've had this done to me in the schoolyard, actually. I know it's not a fair way of judging the innovation, but I've seen it before. I probably should bump it up seeing no one else has it in eW, but I'm a stickler :p
Mark-out Factor - 5: This move is so old school that it's not even funny, and that's a good thing. This is the kind of move where you scream at the TV screen and say "HOLY SHITBALLS! I DO THAT TO MY FRIENDS IN THE SCHOOLYARD!"
Ease of Application - 4: The camel clutch is a pretty easy move to lock in. The fishhook part brings the easy part down, since it takes some finagling to get inside someone's mouth.
Character Fit: - 5: Your best friend makes you smile... if that's not a perfect fit of a move for a wrestler, I don't know what is.
Name: - 5: Once again, simple name, gets the effectiveness of the move across and it has a certain level of irony to it.
Double Trouble - IrishRed (A1E, UCW, EPW, MBE)
Move Description - "Knee off of the top rope to the opponent's kidney area into an ankle lock with knee still driving into the kidney area." -- From IrishRed's profile at A1Dub's Efed Smarts and Marks forum.
A high risk submission move from the original Midwestern Mafioso.
Effectiveness - 4: It's the best of two worlds, pressure on the ankle and attack on an internal organ. Anyone who's been punched in the kidneys can tell you that hurts like a mofo. Plus any move that gives an announcer the excuse to say the phrase "pissing blood" will always strike awe into any viewer who might have been questioning the move's efficacy in the past.
Innovation - 2: Both innovation points come from the actual knee drop part, which to my knowledge isn't used by anyone in e-fed or real fed. The ankle lock is garden variety. I'm gathering at least three people in any fed will have it listed in their movesets. Still, kudos for jazzing it up a bit.
Mark-out Factor - 3: It has the initial "HOLY SHIT" factor, but after that, the ankle lock has become sort of commonplace to viewers. Plus, it's not even his primary submission.
Ease of Application - 2: Each of the bookends of the move are easy to pull off, but it requires a very awkwardly contrived set up between the halves. Plus anything top-rope isn't going to be easy to apply.
Character Fit: - 4: Red is a rough and tumble road warrior, so the knee drop fights right in his "hurt you in any way possible" mentality. You'd think an ankle lock is too technical for him, but let's remember it's a fairly simple looking move and doesn't take a Kurt Angle to apply it correctly.
Name: - 3: It's part of a motif of naming signature moves after classic rock songs. The name signifies its two pronged nature, but there's something flat about it.
I'll be back with more later!
Monday, July 31, 2006
Movesets
If I see another moveset that contains the Canadian Destroyer as one of their finishers, I'm going to throw a brick at my computer monitor. It's not that I don't like the move. I think it's neat in its own way. I mean, sure it's contrived, but the simplest moves, the vertical suplex, the Irish whip, half of Rob Van Dam's offense, they're all contrived.
It's the fact that everyone and their mother is beginning to latch onto this move as a finisher. Of course, this is nothing new. E-fedders and real wrestlers too have all tried to gobble up moves that an innovator brings to the table. It was no surprise that Edge and Rhino both took on MURDERDEATHKILL level spears after Goldberg (who himself was a rip-off of Steve Austin, who in turn was a polished up, fit for mainstream cable TV version of the Sandman) made the move more over than Jesus multiplying loaves and fishes. It even happens within the same fed. Kurt Angle was not the first person stateside to link three German suplexes in a row, and he curiously didn't start doing that until Chris Benoit got to the WWF/E with that in his arsenal.
It's normal to imitate the simple moves, and really, with the number of wrestlers in the e-fed circuits, there's definitely going to be some overlappage. However, the Destroyer is not a simple move. It's Petey Williams' signature hold, and to my knowledge, he's the only guy who does it. The same thing happened with Tiger Driver '91 back in the day. Hell, Misawa didn't even break it out for any occasion other than really, really special matches, and you saw people who list it in their regular movesets, not even as finishers.
In a hobby where we try to pride ourselves on being original, there's so much overlappage of really special moves. Burning Hammer, TD '91, Last Ride Powerbomb, Screwdriver... now I know most of this happens unknowingly, and I shouldn't expect wrestler X from ABCW to know what wrestler Y from ZXYW is going to have in his arsenal. In a way, I'm a victim of my own broadness in scope. I see so many feds that I see a lot of the same things from people who may not even know each other.
So I remember that whenever I see the Canadian Destroyer in a moveset... I know it's not a blatant ripoff of another e-fedder, it's just something we all do; borrow moves we like from other wrestlers. That helps me not throw a brick through my monitor.
Yet that brings up another question... how do you choose your moveset? How should you choose your moveset? Well, I'm a wrestling video game geek, so I have my own method. I like to choose 15-20 regular moves and about 3-4 finishers/specialities. I like to vary my moves up, use combos, try to use moves that aren't seen or that may even be creations of mine. But there are always standbys that I plug in. German suplexes, bear hugs for the bigger wrestlers, chin and jaw breakers. It's always fun to be unique, and in the hands of a skilled matchwriter, it's great to see your moveset come to life.
Some people like fewer moves. Some like to list every move they can think of and have 8 page long movesets. I kinda disapprove of both methods. I think having a moveset no smaller than 10 moves but no larger than 25 (and this is normal moves) is the way to go. I also think you should have a good amount of submissions, and not just finisher grade submissions either. I mean, you need to have restholds.
I know the geeks in us don't ever want to have restholds, but facts are facts. They're necessary for the pace of a realistic match, plus they're a brilliant way to shift your PBP (if you so happen to write in that style) away from what can be dry move-for-move and JR/King shock moment treatments and into having them describe storylines and angles in in-character terms. Realistically, your wrestler would gas if there were no restholds in a match, especially in a PPV setting where the matches run longer.
So yeah, there's my treatise on movesets. Keep it simple for the most part, but be sure to add your own flairs and signatures.
And for God's sake, don't use the Canadian Destroyer unless you know no one else in your fed is using it.
It's the fact that everyone and their mother is beginning to latch onto this move as a finisher. Of course, this is nothing new. E-fedders and real wrestlers too have all tried to gobble up moves that an innovator brings to the table. It was no surprise that Edge and Rhino both took on MURDERDEATHKILL level spears after Goldberg (who himself was a rip-off of Steve Austin, who in turn was a polished up, fit for mainstream cable TV version of the Sandman) made the move more over than Jesus multiplying loaves and fishes. It even happens within the same fed. Kurt Angle was not the first person stateside to link three German suplexes in a row, and he curiously didn't start doing that until Chris Benoit got to the WWF/E with that in his arsenal.
It's normal to imitate the simple moves, and really, with the number of wrestlers in the e-fed circuits, there's definitely going to be some overlappage. However, the Destroyer is not a simple move. It's Petey Williams' signature hold, and to my knowledge, he's the only guy who does it. The same thing happened with Tiger Driver '91 back in the day. Hell, Misawa didn't even break it out for any occasion other than really, really special matches, and you saw people who list it in their regular movesets, not even as finishers.
In a hobby where we try to pride ourselves on being original, there's so much overlappage of really special moves. Burning Hammer, TD '91, Last Ride Powerbomb, Screwdriver... now I know most of this happens unknowingly, and I shouldn't expect wrestler X from ABCW to know what wrestler Y from ZXYW is going to have in his arsenal. In a way, I'm a victim of my own broadness in scope. I see so many feds that I see a lot of the same things from people who may not even know each other.
So I remember that whenever I see the Canadian Destroyer in a moveset... I know it's not a blatant ripoff of another e-fedder, it's just something we all do; borrow moves we like from other wrestlers. That helps me not throw a brick through my monitor.
Yet that brings up another question... how do you choose your moveset? How should you choose your moveset? Well, I'm a wrestling video game geek, so I have my own method. I like to choose 15-20 regular moves and about 3-4 finishers/specialities. I like to vary my moves up, use combos, try to use moves that aren't seen or that may even be creations of mine. But there are always standbys that I plug in. German suplexes, bear hugs for the bigger wrestlers, chin and jaw breakers. It's always fun to be unique, and in the hands of a skilled matchwriter, it's great to see your moveset come to life.
Some people like fewer moves. Some like to list every move they can think of and have 8 page long movesets. I kinda disapprove of both methods. I think having a moveset no smaller than 10 moves but no larger than 25 (and this is normal moves) is the way to go. I also think you should have a good amount of submissions, and not just finisher grade submissions either. I mean, you need to have restholds.
I know the geeks in us don't ever want to have restholds, but facts are facts. They're necessary for the pace of a realistic match, plus they're a brilliant way to shift your PBP (if you so happen to write in that style) away from what can be dry move-for-move and JR/King shock moment treatments and into having them describe storylines and angles in in-character terms. Realistically, your wrestler would gas if there were no restholds in a match, especially in a PPV setting where the matches run longer.
So yeah, there's my treatise on movesets. Keep it simple for the most part, but be sure to add your own flairs and signatures.
And for God's sake, don't use the Canadian Destroyer unless you know no one else in your fed is using it.
Sunday, April 16, 2006
Tapping Out, pt. 2
No, this is not a continuation of a previous post. It's actually about submissions in e-fedding, or mainly how no one likes to see their guy tap out.
But why does no one want to see their characters submit in matches? If I was going to guess any reason, it'd be pride, perhaps the deadliest of e-fedding sins. A lot of people don't like their characters to show ass; they want their characters to be presented in such a specific matter where if they have to show any kind of weakness, it has to be on their terms. Tapping out is usually never on their terms. And even guys who do know how to build a good program through showing ass don't like to have their guys tapping out. Either way, tapping out is usually equated to giving up or surrendering, and no one really wants their character portrayed as a quitter. They want to be portrayed as someone who keeps fighting to the end, and if they have to lose, they'd rather it be because the other guy did so much damage that he couldn't kick out of a pin rather than tapping out.
I used to be of that school of thought, actually, but recently, I did some soul-searching, some thinking, and I wondered... what the hell is the difference? Really, it's no big deal if your character taps out.
For one, in most instances, it's smarter for your character to tap out in some instances. Since all submission moves target some part of the body, in-character, your character could suffer some major damage to a vital joint, limb or organ if he can't escape and doesn't tap out. It's all about the realism.
Two, it's really not fair to folks who have submissions as their finishers, and if someone who is trying to build a submission as a finisher is the one balking at tapping out, it's highly hypocritical. Everyone wants to have their finishers be feared, be deadly. But if you have it so that your character refuses to tap, then you're sabotaging anyone who wants to build a submission hold as a finisher. Everyone deserves to have a strong finisher. Of course, someone playing Devil's Advocate could say that having more than one finisher is the solution, but we know not everyone is going to do that, and that's okay. Therefore, they need to be accomodated.
Now, there are some instances where having a character not tap is the logical thing to do. Like if your character is a giant freak of nature or a pain sponge or something like that. But then again, even they need to be able to tap out in some instances.
I mean, it's not that hard to swallow your pride, especially in e-fedding, where we're all friends for the most part, and where your heat is more elastic than what it would be if your character was a real wrestler.
But then again... real wrestlers tap otu all the time. And guys like Triple H, who find ways to keep their stroke in legit or underhanded ways, still tap out in the ring.
(And as an aside here... the method of having someone pass out in a submission hold rather than tap is old, tired and way overused, and it should only be saved for special occasions.)
But why does no one want to see their characters submit in matches? If I was going to guess any reason, it'd be pride, perhaps the deadliest of e-fedding sins. A lot of people don't like their characters to show ass; they want their characters to be presented in such a specific matter where if they have to show any kind of weakness, it has to be on their terms. Tapping out is usually never on their terms. And even guys who do know how to build a good program through showing ass don't like to have their guys tapping out. Either way, tapping out is usually equated to giving up or surrendering, and no one really wants their character portrayed as a quitter. They want to be portrayed as someone who keeps fighting to the end, and if they have to lose, they'd rather it be because the other guy did so much damage that he couldn't kick out of a pin rather than tapping out.
I used to be of that school of thought, actually, but recently, I did some soul-searching, some thinking, and I wondered... what the hell is the difference? Really, it's no big deal if your character taps out.
For one, in most instances, it's smarter for your character to tap out in some instances. Since all submission moves target some part of the body, in-character, your character could suffer some major damage to a vital joint, limb or organ if he can't escape and doesn't tap out. It's all about the realism.
Two, it's really not fair to folks who have submissions as their finishers, and if someone who is trying to build a submission as a finisher is the one balking at tapping out, it's highly hypocritical. Everyone wants to have their finishers be feared, be deadly. But if you have it so that your character refuses to tap, then you're sabotaging anyone who wants to build a submission hold as a finisher. Everyone deserves to have a strong finisher. Of course, someone playing Devil's Advocate could say that having more than one finisher is the solution, but we know not everyone is going to do that, and that's okay. Therefore, they need to be accomodated.
Now, there are some instances where having a character not tap is the logical thing to do. Like if your character is a giant freak of nature or a pain sponge or something like that. But then again, even they need to be able to tap out in some instances.
I mean, it's not that hard to swallow your pride, especially in e-fedding, where we're all friends for the most part, and where your heat is more elastic than what it would be if your character was a real wrestler.
But then again... real wrestlers tap otu all the time. And guys like Triple H, who find ways to keep their stroke in legit or underhanded ways, still tap out in the ring.
(And as an aside here... the method of having someone pass out in a submission hold rather than tap is old, tired and way overused, and it should only be saved for special occasions.)
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Another entry about finishers
Back in the day, I used to razz Lindz about her having five finishers. A lot of us did, actually. I guess we all grew up in the world of the WWF, where everyone only had one move that could finish a match. That was realism to us.
But thinking about it more logically... is it realism just to have one finisher?
It would if we assume that all wrestlers are stupid. But really, most characters have a sort of mental acumen to their gimmicks. They're "cerebral assassins" or sometimes bookworms or geeks.
AT the very least, most wrestlers are cognizant, and they will scout ways to counter finishers if there's only one way that a wrestler finishes a match.
However, if a wrestler has more than one way to finish a match, then you can't single in on one way to finish a match. Therefore, multiple finishes are in order.
But how many is too much?
I've read some characters who have like ten or twelve different signature moves and spots that could end matches. That's too many, IMO. I mean, you need to have some kind of heterogeneity for movesets. If everyone has movesets that are longer than War and Peace, then everyone's movesets start to run together. This is part of the problem when it comes to people choosing the same finisher as I noted in my last entry.
There are literally hundreds upon hundreds of moves out there though. So if everyone kept their movesets around say, 15-20 moves and number of finishers down to say, 3-5, then I think we'd be set.
But thinking about it more logically... is it realism just to have one finisher?
It would if we assume that all wrestlers are stupid. But really, most characters have a sort of mental acumen to their gimmicks. They're "cerebral assassins" or sometimes bookworms or geeks.
AT the very least, most wrestlers are cognizant, and they will scout ways to counter finishers if there's only one way that a wrestler finishes a match.
However, if a wrestler has more than one way to finish a match, then you can't single in on one way to finish a match. Therefore, multiple finishes are in order.
But how many is too much?
I've read some characters who have like ten or twelve different signature moves and spots that could end matches. That's too many, IMO. I mean, you need to have some kind of heterogeneity for movesets. If everyone has movesets that are longer than War and Peace, then everyone's movesets start to run together. This is part of the problem when it comes to people choosing the same finisher as I noted in my last entry.
There are literally hundreds upon hundreds of moves out there though. So if everyone kept their movesets around say, 15-20 moves and number of finishers down to say, 3-5, then I think we'd be set.
Saturday, November 19, 2005
Finish him!
This entry inspired by this thread over at PTC.
In the vast world of e-fedding, there are going to be hundreds, maybe even thousands of different, unique characters, and all of them are going to have their own, maybe unique, maybe not so unique finishers. It's only inevitable that people are going to have duplicate finishers. The SpoilerBomb (WHAM!) and the Humility Bomb are for all intensive purposes, the same move (and basically, they're the same move as Undertaker's Last Ride... which is a cool finisher, but not for Taker... he needs to stick with the Tombstone, dammit!). It's much like Sting and Bret Hart both finishing matches with the Scorpion Death Lock/Sharpshooter. It's only natural when you only have a limited amount of finisher-caliber moves. No one really will buy moves like a normal dragon suplex being a be-all, end-all finisher (although it is a very credible match finisher in the right context). So you have to stick with heavy hitters/traditional finishers.
However, I've noticed a tendency for many handlers to gravitate towards a small enclave of moves that includes Ace Crusher, Shooting Star Press, Superkick, Crippler Crossface, Powerbomb (without any further specification), Figure Four, Burning Hammer, Emerald Fusion, STF, Sharpshooter and not much else. Talk about not broadening the selection process.
It's good for a few characters in any circuit to have moves like that as their finisher. But when you have a few characters per fed with the same finisher from that pool or from any pool of moves really, it just hurts the fed in question.
Much like a good theme song can help identify your character, a good, unique finisher can help define him/her even more, especially given that while you may change a theme song several times during your career, it's much rarer to change a finisher during your career.
The move you choose doesn't even have to be a SUPER MEGA DEATH HEAD DROPPING DESTROYER like you see in the unlockable section of moves in your PlayStation wrestling game. Although it's boss to see people use stuff like the Karelin Driver (shameless plug
), the Candadian Destroyer or the Ganso Bomb, I think it's even cooler to see old school stuff as a finisher. Take Craig Miles, whose finisher is a Randy Savage elbow drop. In the day when people try to make their aerial finishers as CAH-RAAAAAZY as possible, seeing someone use the Savage elbow drop is markout-worthy. I'd love to see someone come in and use the Heart Punch or the Iron Claw as their finisher. I'd mark out for days.
But the moral of the story here is, it doesn't matter how fancy or simple your finisher is. It's just a matter of it being unique, or not ubiquitous in your environment. If you think about it, there are probably thousands and thousands of variations on all holds, so you can probably get in the hundreds on unique finishing caliber moves. Just don't gravitate to the same ol' same ol'.
In the vast world of e-fedding, there are going to be hundreds, maybe even thousands of different, unique characters, and all of them are going to have their own, maybe unique, maybe not so unique finishers. It's only inevitable that people are going to have duplicate finishers. The SpoilerBomb (WHAM!) and the Humility Bomb are for all intensive purposes, the same move (and basically, they're the same move as Undertaker's Last Ride... which is a cool finisher, but not for Taker... he needs to stick with the Tombstone, dammit!). It's much like Sting and Bret Hart both finishing matches with the Scorpion Death Lock/Sharpshooter. It's only natural when you only have a limited amount of finisher-caliber moves. No one really will buy moves like a normal dragon suplex being a be-all, end-all finisher (although it is a very credible match finisher in the right context). So you have to stick with heavy hitters/traditional finishers.
However, I've noticed a tendency for many handlers to gravitate towards a small enclave of moves that includes Ace Crusher, Shooting Star Press, Superkick, Crippler Crossface, Powerbomb (without any further specification), Figure Four, Burning Hammer, Emerald Fusion, STF, Sharpshooter and not much else. Talk about not broadening the selection process.
It's good for a few characters in any circuit to have moves like that as their finisher. But when you have a few characters per fed with the same finisher from that pool or from any pool of moves really, it just hurts the fed in question.
Much like a good theme song can help identify your character, a good, unique finisher can help define him/her even more, especially given that while you may change a theme song several times during your career, it's much rarer to change a finisher during your career.
The move you choose doesn't even have to be a SUPER MEGA DEATH HEAD DROPPING DESTROYER like you see in the unlockable section of moves in your PlayStation wrestling game. Although it's boss to see people use stuff like the Karelin Driver (shameless plug
), the Candadian Destroyer or the Ganso Bomb, I think it's even cooler to see old school stuff as a finisher. Take Craig Miles, whose finisher is a Randy Savage elbow drop. In the day when people try to make their aerial finishers as CAH-RAAAAAZY as possible, seeing someone use the Savage elbow drop is markout-worthy. I'd love to see someone come in and use the Heart Punch or the Iron Claw as their finisher. I'd mark out for days.But the moral of the story here is, it doesn't matter how fancy or simple your finisher is. It's just a matter of it being unique, or not ubiquitous in your environment. If you think about it, there are probably thousands and thousands of variations on all holds, so you can probably get in the hundreds on unique finishing caliber moves. Just don't gravitate to the same ol' same ol'.
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