Most Important Move In Wrestling History

[TUFFY54]

Anyone who has watched wrestling from the 80's and before knows that the matches were very different from what we see today. You had huge, colorful, stars, but they just seem very slow. What changed? A lot of people might say it was the Cruiserweight division in WCW, but wrestling had already changed before that. Also, the vast majority of heavyweights have still never used a single cruiserweight move. I was still trying to figure out what had changed when I remembered a shoot interview I saw with the Honky Tonk Man. Here's what he said:

"I remember when that crazy powerbomb move came out. Their is no way in hell I would let somebody do that to me".

The powerbomb changed wrestling forever.

Watch any match before the powerbomb started being used. Once a move was started, they never broke contact. They were always still holding the other wrestler throughout the entire move. Standard piledriver, DDT, sleeper, any submission, all these moves were considered "big moves" back then. Now they are nothing more than wear down holds. A body slam, leg drop, drop kick, or suplex was considered high risk. Sure, some people like Savage would come off the top rope, but any move like that had the other guy laying still on the ground not moving.

The powerbomb was like nothing anyone had ever seen before. We all know how it works. A guy is flipped upside down and thrown across the ring. Compared to a leg drop or DDT, that is amazing. It should also be noted that it is one of the most dangerous moves. The receiver totally loses control of his body when it is performed. It was the first high impact move in wrestling history that looked like it could kill a guy. When done properly, I'd say it is still the most impress move in all of wrestling. Spun upside down and dropped on your back from high in the air. Amazing. It led the way to nearly every high impact finishing move in wrestling today. You could really say that it inspired most of the great high impact finishers.

The Powerbomb is the most important move in wrestling history.

 

[THE AWESOME MIZFIT]

I'm going to go with as stupid as it sound but the lock up or the headlock. The lock up isn't necessarily a wrestling maneuver but it signals that start of every match. In my opinion the most important move in wrestling history is the headlock. It allow for someone to maneuver into a different move. It allows for chain wrestling. The headlock is also a move that is the beginning of another move. Such as the bulldog or its a move even meant for the opponent so he can throw you into the ropes for a new series of moves. It also allows the superstars to relax and catch their breaths for a few seconds. There are a lot of reasons for the headlock to be used. It has many different reasons to be used. With that being said the headlock is one of the most transitional moves in all of wrestling.

 

[waylonmercy]

I am guessing you mean created movie that changed wrestling?

Created move for me that changed wrestling was the Stone Cold Stunner as that move brought millions of fans to their feet in excitement.

Another move that changed wrestling was the Hulk Hogan legdrop as that move was the most "dangerous" move for WWF since no one was allowed to kick out of it except Warrior I think did.

 

[HorsemenNo4]

For me, Sweet Chin Music. It could either happen out of nowhere, teased or built up before Shawn hit it.

It was a pretty simple move but Shawn made it look great. It worked really well when Shawn turned on someone (Hogan, HHH, etc) because it was unexpected.

My favourite of all time is when he hit Shelton Benjamin who jumped from across the ring straight into the kick. Epic.

 

[trinerigelado]

The pin is and always will be the most important move. Now let me begin the flaming. The powerbomb used in pro wrestling before the HTM was born OK. Most variations you never let go of the guy you're doing it to, and when done in a fight (yes it is a legimate move in mma) you never let go because its more impactful if you don't throw the guy in real life but slam him. Also why is the powerbomb more dangerous than the gorilla press slam which involves being thrown and having to flip to land on your back at least when you're thrown from a powerbomb you're already back down for the bump. And you say people almost never let go fo their opponents for moves before the powerbomb, unless you're doing some variation of a power slam the body slam is executed by picking someone up and throwing them to the ground.

 

[Scorpion Eye]

The most important move in wrestling history is... since Chirs Jericho named it more than a few times in his list of "1,000 + Moves", THE ARMBAR...LOL

Seriously though the most important move has to be without a doubt, the reverse neck breaker aka "The Rude Awakening". Rick Rude was not only ahead of his time with his pre-match speeches but also with this move. Don't believe me? In a "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" type of way lets just look at the impact this move as had.


Stone Cold Steve Austin When "Stunning" Steve Austin first came into WWE he was known as the Ringmaster and used the Million Dollar Dream as his finisher. The Stunner, the Rude Awakening in reverse, would become Stone Cold's trademark. Austin at one time during his WCW run was apart of the Dangerous Alliance with Ravishing Rick Rude.

Diamon Dallas Page What made Page's "Diamond Cutter" unique compared to the Stunner was that he would perform it out of nowhere. Before becomming the DDP we know today, he was a manager. Wrestlers he managed include Curt Henning and Bam Bam Bigelow, two guys that Rick Rude also managed. He managed the Diamond Studd (Scott Hall) a gimmick very similar to Rick Rudes, who frequently teamed up with members of the Dangerous Alliance. Also DDP was the driver of the pink cadiallac that drove the Honey Tonk Man and Greg the Hammer Valentine aka "Rhythm and Blues" ( a name suggested by Rick Rude) to ring at Wrestlemania VI.

Randy Orton The RKO has become the modern version of the "Diamond Cutter", comming out of nowhere. While wrestling in OVW, Randy teamed with Bobby Eaton, a former member of the Dangerous Alliance.

That's right folks, "Ravishing" Rick Rude is at the center of the wrestling universe

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

The back bump. It's not really a move, more of a technique. However, before it there was a lot of spinning to the ground or not even falling, it looked like shit.

The back bump is the first thing you learn and is the most important thing you learn. from it eveything else falls.

After that I'd say "the finisher" in general was important it added much needed drama to a match.

After that I'd say "5 moves of doom" because it signifies the beginning of the climax of the match and added a lot more structure to the basic story.

If you want to go which actual singular move is the most important then that's difficult. It's difficult because so many moves originated and were developed at different places and at different times.

The powerbomb is a good choice. Because of it, guys started doing more high risk stuff, then they made rings bouncier, then more high impact stuff. The funny thing is, in 1975 the audience believed 2 guys were beating the shit out of each other when they weren't. Now a guy gets a minor concussion once a week and everyone thinks he's playing footsie with another guy on a giant matress.

 

[Mustang Sally]

I'd go with the clothesline. In the 50's and 60's, the move was used in pro football (legally!) but for some reason, the wrestlers hadn't latched onto it.

They should have, though. It looks wildly effective, as if it's doing much more damage than it actually is......it simply looks painful to see the back of the guy's head smacking the canvas. Plus, anyone can do it; even the divas can put their (scant) weight behind a decent looking clothesline.

Who did it best? In my opinion, even though the rest of his ring repertoire was kind of lame, Bradshaw of the Acolytes delivered fierce-looking clotheslines. He even named his "The Clothesline from Hell" and used it as a finishing maneuver.

But it's the widespread adoption of the move that makes it so important. Wonder what took pro wrestling so long.

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

I'd go with the DDT. In the 1980's most of the wrestling moves required a lot of time to set up and could not be hit instantaneously. The most popular wrestlers of that era were unarguably Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair. Hogan had an entire finishing sequence centered around his leg drop finisher while Ric Flair used to spend the entire mach working on the leg of his opponent to set up his figure four leg lock.

The DDT was totally different from all this. It could be executed in all of a second and required no set-up. It was the first in the line of a number of quick hit finishers that have been seen in the pro wrestling and every single one of them has been very popular. The DDT marked the first instance of a wrestler getting insanely over because of his finisher rather than the other way round. Even as a heel Jake Roberts' DDT was cheered.

The DDT may have influenced a lot of business decisions seeing the manner in which it got popular so fast. In later years, quick hit finishers like the Stunner, the Sweet Chin Music, the RKO and the Diamond Cutter have had a lot of success and we may have never seen many of these moves had it not been for the success of the DDT. It may even have been the success of the DDT that encouraged many wrestlers and wrestling promoters to use such moves.

 

[SonicReducer]

So, I posted a thoughtful post in response to this discussion a number of hours ago. When I logged back on to see where the discussion was at, I discovered that my post had been deleted ... but not before subsequent posts used some of my ideas in their posts (ie: the pin, the clothesline). Hey, thanks for agreeing with me.

When I opened my inbox, I was somewhat puzzled to learn that my post had been deleted for "spamming". SPAMMING?!? I legitimately answer a topic on this message board in a manner that doesn't agree with the mod (the post asked for one move, I gave 20, so what?) and it gets called spam? Hey sorry "Brain" ... so I didn't play the WWE mark game and make an argument in favour of the Sharpshooter, or Sweet Chin Music. Sue me.

For those interested, see original post below with idiotic message from the mod. Enjoy it while you can, since the fascist mods will likely delete the post again and probably ban me from this message board... although I've never done anything wrong here. What the hell, kiss my white ass, you idiotic moderators.

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Original Post:
http://forums.wrestlezone.com/showthread.php?p=3373466
Quote:
In no particular order:

1- The Bodyslam
2- The Hip Toss
3- The Abdominal Stretch
4- The Sunset Flip
5- The Test of Strength
6- The Headlock
7- The Piledriver
8- The Irish Whip
9- The Suplex
10- The Atomic Drop
11- The Neck Breaker
12-The Full Nelson
13- The Dropkick
14- The Clothesline
15- The Roll Up
16- The Headbutt
17- The Eye Gouge
18- The Big Boot
19- The Bear Hug
20- and let us not forget last but not least: The Pin attempt
Warnings serve as a reminder to you of the forum's rules, which you are expected to understand and follow.

All the best,
WrestleZone Forums
__________________
I've been wrong before. Once I thought I made a mistake but it turned out I hadn't.

 

[Paralyzer Z]

nice man

That was awesome. But the move that changed wrestling forever was indeed the pile driver. Before it all wrestling was just headlocks and armbars. The piledriver was high impact and brutal looking. It lead to a plethora of unique moves that we have today!

 

[Rayne]

I'm going to go way, way, way back here. This will either be silly or insightful.

The Irish Whip.

The Irish Whip changed the very nature of how professional wrestling was performed. Instead of affairs featuring grappling in the center of the ring, and the occasional use of the ropes for breaks or a truly dastardly heel could use them to choke his opponent. Can you imagine a modern match without performers running the ropes? The Irish Whip allowed for a faster product, which spread its appeal beyond that of another combat sport (at the time, boxing was experiencing its first golden age) and allowed it to be a fast, exciting product.

 

[ocekit]

For me it's the dropkick.

As best as as I can recall (and I could be wrong), before the dropkick, it was rare for wrestlers to leave their feet to do offensive moves on their opponent. This was pretty much the original high-flying move. A lot of the moves done by high-flyers today (like the hurricanrana) likely evolved from this simple maneuver.

I would also say, in a more general sense, "going off the top rope." This gave new dimensions and new possibilities to wrestling as we know it. Going off the top adds something to even the simplest of moves. For example, seeing the dropkick from the ground is one thing. Seeing it from the top rope is completely different. An elbow that looked mundane when done from the ground looked near awe-inspiring when done from the top rope (especially when done by Randy Savage). Plus there's an extra crash and burn element, allowing for more risk vs. reward psychology.

 

[Tastycles]

I'm going to suggest that it is actually the bionic elbow of Dusty Rhodes. Dusty Rhodes himself was one of the most important wrestlers of all time because he wasn't a legitimate wrestler capable of winning a match that was unscripted. The bonic elbow is a flashy finishing move that doesn't really flow logically. Clearly, it would still hurt, but it's the first time a move has existed in professional wrestling that doesn't look like it could be used in an MMA ring and therefore an early demonstration of wrestling moving away from being a scripted sport to being an entertainment spectacle.

 

[Arcade]

Damn you beat me to the Irish Whip.

Since you said that, then I say the Lock Up. The Lock Up is a great way to start a good match and many different moves can come from the lock up. Also it's easy for wrestlers to communicate to each other in the lock up. The move may seem very elementary, but it's important.