Steven Diggs Jr.

     Every wrestler has stolen a maneuver or two from another wrestler. Stone Cold wasn’t the first to do the Stunner. It was Johnny Ace. Imagine who did the first suplex. You think he’s upset everyone uses his move? It’s funny. Maneuvers have to have been invented by someone. I once was at an independent show and saw a guy do a spinning flapjack. We talked to a wrestler friend afterwards and he heard another wrestler say in the back when the move happened that he was going to steal it.

     Another common thing that happens is that wrestlers will make variations of a move. Wikipedia right now lists fifty-four variations of a suplex. However, the variations are becoming more and more frequent. Wrestlers are one upping each other rather constantly. It wasn’t that long ago that watching Billy Kidman or Jushin Liger unleashing a shooting star press was astonishing. Now, more and more people are doing them. Even Brock Lesnar has done them.

     But now, a shooting star press is beginning to look tame when compared to the new moves. Pac, who wrestles in Japan and in the U.S. for Pro Wrestling Guerilla does a shooting star senton. That means he did a full shooting star press and managed to get another ninety degrees or so around. That was unheard of a few years ago. However, it is becoming more common.

     Hayabusa created the phoenix splash, a backwards turn into a 450 spin. Now, Jack Evans can do that standing on the ground just a few inches in front of his opponent. I could go on and on with this list. Moves that were once would only be possible in arcade video games are now becoming reality. Everyone wants to be unique. Tweaking new moves is just a new way of doing so. It’s happened in other sports too. Who would have thought a person could backflip a motorcycle or a jet ski?