WWE wrestlers are constantly honing their craft, constantly training. They’re constantly learning and innovating new moves to keep their repertoire fresh. Sometimes those moves become essential to their movesets as either finishes or part of the moves of doom comeback pushes during matches.
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But there are those occasions where moves fall by the wayside over the course of time. The fun starts when and if they ever get broken out again during huge matches in their career as fun Easter Eggs for long time fans to have an OMG moment over.
10 Triple H’s Diamond Cutter
Thanks to the legacy Triple H created over the years, the Pedigree has become an iconic move, duplicated by several superstars in tribute over the years, Seth Rollins especially. But in an alternate universe, the Pedigree would be a variation of the Ace Crusher, the move that would become the RKO. Triple H’s loyalty to his friends is what stopped that from happening. Triple H had used the Diamond Cutter for a finish. But after DDP gave him a call and asked him to lay off since he was going to use it, Triple H was happy to help a brother out.
9 Scott Steiner's 450
During the early days in his career, the future Big Poppa Pump was slightly smaller and had a little more acrobatic move set, including the innovative Frankensteiner. But while that move had existed in Mexican Lucha Libre prior, there was one more move that Steiner would actually be one of, if not the first, to pull off.
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He tried to explain it to his nephew during their Table For 3 episode, but Bron wasn’t having it. However, there is footage that exists of a young Scott Steiner doing the 450 Splash.
8 Hulk Hogan’s Axe Bomber And Enzuigiri
For nearly forty years now, the big boot / legdrop has been one of the most iconic finish combinations in all of wrestling. Once Hulk Hogan "hulked up", it was all over for his opponents. But in Japan, Hulk Hogan used the devastating Axe Bomber to put his foes down. The move was nothing more than a huge clothesline, but when a huge clothesline comes from a huge man like Hulk Hogan, it’s more akin to a Clothesline From Hell. If you think using a clothesline isn't impressive, how about another of Hulk's Japanese-Only moves - a step-up Enzuigiri.
7 Big Show's Missile Dropkick
As one of the last legitimate giants to debut in the nineties, The Big Show / The Giant carved out a huge (no pun intended) legacy for himself. But during his early days in WWE, he was instructed to “work like a giant.” Instead of relying on all sorts of athletic moves that he could do easily (like a nip-up), he was advised and booked to be a lumbering big man. But during those early days, The Giant had no trouble climbing to the top rope to deliver a missile dropkick like a cruiserweight would do.
6 Undertaker’s Triangle Choke
For the first five or six years of The Undertaker’s mythical run, not only was he instructed to work like a giant, but work like a zombie - he is The Deadman after all. But thanks to programs with Mick Foley, Bret Hart, and Shawn Michaels, The Phenom started showing off he had a lot more to offer in the ring.
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Several years later, the MMA fan adopted a new move - the Gogoplata, which he called The Hell’s Gate. Very few people were able to survive the hold when The Deadman applied it.
5 Shawn Michaels’ Teardrop Suplex
Shawn Michaels' heel turn is one of the greatest turns of all time. The newly christened Heartbreak Kid needed a better finisher than just any variation of one of his old Rocker combinations. He found it in the form of the teardrop suplex, which was a side suplex. The setup for it was actually the Superkick. Eventually HBK realized if his opponents are knocked out by the Superkick, later called the Sweet Chin Music, anything else would just be overkill.
4 Stone Cold’s Stun Gun
When The Ringmaster debuted as a shrewd tactician worthy of being The Million Dollar Champion, plenty of what made him Stunning Steve Austin was gone. Once he became Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rattlesnake had adopted a big time brawling style to protect his neck injury. However, every so often he’d pull out some of the moves he regularly used as Stunning Steve in WCW. Most notably his old finisher, the Stun Gun, where he’d basically hurl an opponent's throat into the top rope.
3 Batista’s Spear
While Goldberg wasn’t the first guy to pull off a spear over the years, he certainly was the first one to make it look so horrifying. Batista would actually follow suit and mow through all kinds of opponents over the years. But The Animal had a far bigger moveset, which is why he was able to deliver the Batista Bomb as a finisher and only break out the Spear from time to time.
2 Sami Zayn’s Suicide Dive DDT
For the uninitiated, babyfaces and heels have different kinds of moves to excite or agitate the fans. The good guys slew towards the more electrifying and dynamic moves. Meanwhile, the black hats tend to deliver more power type moves or smarmy underhanded cheating tactics.
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For veterans like Sami Zayn, he’s smart enough to change it up. But that also means that The Honorary Uce no longer does one of his coolest looking moves, a Suicide Dive through the bottom and middle rope into a Tornado DDT on the outside of the ring.
1 Seth Rollins’ Phoenix Splash
Veterans of the ring are so great at what they do, that sometimes they often hold back some big moves to only execute it on the biggest of shows. Seth Rollins is one of the best and can put on any and all types of matches. He can also take to the skies when hard-pressed to. One move he will dig into his bag of tricks for one the big matches is the Phoenix Splash. Rollins will fly, using a 180 spin and then pull off a 450 splash - it’s a degree of difficulty some divers would be too timid to attempt, yet Rollins does it with a human being to land on, or the canvas (when it misses).
