10 moves pulled off by WWE Superstars that surprised fans

Seth Rollins in action

The Lesnar-Show ring collapse was an epic holy shi** moment!The WWE has always been a unique world created and It operates as a story-telling event that actually has fighting sequences rather than the customised ones we see in movies. And that is what makes the WWE unique from every other such entertainment programme.And nevertheless, we do need to see the occasional twist in fate and betrayal and all sorts of changes that keep the storyline in relevance and good repute. While that has been present, there have also been excellent in-ring manoeuvres that the wrestlers perform.To take a case, analyze the RKO. There’s an inherent beauty to the RKO performed by Randy Orton. It has a wonderful set up, a smooth execution and of course, the effect of a deadly move. But in all essence, it is also perhaps the easiest finisher to execute by a WWE wrestler as of now.Despite the move seeming a deadly weapon, it provides little to no risk for either Orton or the person receiving it. However, the wrestlers haven’t always been upon such a bed of roses. There have been moments where wrestlers performed absolutely stunning moves that would seem humanly impossible for anyone else; times when all the storylines went into a blur as the WWE Universe rose to applaud the brilliance of the wrestlers.Thus, let’s take a look at 10 moves pulled off by WWE Superstars that left the fans in shock and awe:

#10 CM Punk delivers a Piledriver to John Cena

When Owen Hart botched a Piledriver back in 1997, it almost cost Stone Cold Steve Austin his career. Fortunately, he was able to recover from that and go on to become the biggest superstar there ever had been. However, that botch nearly destroyed his neck, brought down his career by a number of years and was one of the causes for him leaving the WWE in 2003.

Subsequently, the move was banned in WWE save for The Undertaker and Kane who do a much less risky version of it. But in 2013, leading up to WrestleMania, Cena and Punk faced off in a match on RAW. Much like their other encounters, this match was really good as well but reached its zenith when CM Punk pulled off a perfect Piledriver on John Cena. Not the Undertaker-version but the one done by Bret Hart. Given how strict the WWE is these days with regard to rules, this move truly was out-of-the-blue and left the crowd stunned.

#9 Seth Rollins dives from the balcony at Extreme Rules

Back in 2014, The Shield were at their best post-WrestleMania XXX. With Batista having an underwhelming return, the WWE saw set to create a feud between The Shield and The Evolution (re-formed). Following a very good build-up, the stage was set for a six-man tag match at Extreme Rules PPV. And the WWE Universe was expecting an excellent match since the Shield were always renowned for their six-man tag matches.

And the match lived up to its expectation as well. It was a mix of technical wrestling and the brawling brought in by the much more physical guys. But just before the finish, Rollins who was fighting it out in the stands against Triple H and Randy Orton performed a dive from the balcony landing on the members of Evolution. This was an amazing attempt by Rollins and had the crowd at their feet. To land from such a height and take the impact was a big feet in today’s WWE. It really emphasized on why Rollins is perhaps the most fun-to-watch wrestler in the WWE as of now.

#8 John Cena does a Monkey Flip and Drop Kick

You wouldn’t exactly associate John Cena with supreme in-ring prowess and the athletic ability to pull off the exquisite moves.

And he doesn’t feature on the list for one such. Rather, it was the shock over Cena performing a move that no one thought he could execute which makes it to the list. Back in 2011, following the return of the Rock to the WWE, they went on in a match at Survivor Series against the tag team of ‘Awesome Truth’.

Cena, over the course of the match, suddenly did a monkey flip off the rope on The Miz and followed it up with a dropkick. And suffice it to say, the reaction of the WWE Universe should have been testament to never having him perform the move again.

It was quite ridiculous seeing Cena perform such an underwhelming dropkick and bringing down the credibilty of the move. There are others in the WWE such as Dolph Ziggler and Randy Orton whose dropkicks are a thing of beauty. However, Cena’s was just not good enough and he couldn’t get the proper height required for it. Fortunately, he saw to not make it a regular feature of his matches.

#7 Brock Lesnar suplexes Big Show off the top rope to break the ring

Brock Lesnar was always given the royal treatment by the WWE. Ever since his entry into the business, he ascended to the main event quick enough and has stayed there. And in 2003, the Big Show was having a character that bullied the smaller superstars using his superior body-build. And well, there’s Brock Lesnar who had the gimmick of a ‘beast’.

And when they went on in a match on Smackdown, it was pretty smooth in the start. And it was a Championshp match as well. However, towards the end of the match, Brock Lesnar had Big Show on the top rope and suplexed him off it. The ring immediately broke and came down as both wrestlers lay on the ground after the impact of the fall. Tazz called the match and it was an excellent reaction from him as well to the move while the crowd were amazed at this.

#6 Brock Lesnar botches the Shooting Star Press

Well, Brock Lesnar is on the list once again. Despite being a 295 pound strong guy, Lesnar could perform some high-flying moves with ease. And one of them was the Shooting Star Press off the top rope, considered dangerous even for a high-flyer. During his feud with Angle in 2003, they had a match at WrestleMania XIX. Considering how big an occasion it was, Lesnar duly chose to go with one of his signature moves.

He had pulled it off perfectly so many times but then, he did make the mistake once and he did at the grandest stage of them all. Failing to rotate fully, Lesnar landed awkwardly on his head and the viewers knew in an instant that he botched it. Angle had been positioned a little too far from the rope and Lesnar failed to make it. However, Lesnar being the man he is went on to finish the match with the planned ending and showed enormous resolute and strength. And ever since, WWE has banned the move.

#5 Shawn Michaels does the Crippler Crossface

He who never existed in WWE apparently, Chris Benoit was known for his finisher ‘Crippler Crossface’. Initially introduced by Dean Malenko, Benoit perfected it over time and was the most famous exponent of the submission hold. And due to the horrific death of Benoit, the WWE had potentially tried to distance themselves from anything concerning him. And one could only come to the conclusion that this move would be banned henceforth. However, during the 2008 Survivor Series, in a match against Randy Orton, Shawn Michaels applied the Crossface on Orton for the first time since Benoit died.

The match was stipulated such that Michaels wasn’t allowed to use his Superkick. And citing that, he went on to apply various submission holds of which one was the crossface. The crowd immediately realized that and were booing him somewhat. There have been rumours that non-WWE wrestlers who used that move after the incident were heavily booed. But, we could believe that the WWE actually allowed Shawn to do this as a way to desensitize the move. Possibly they thought that banning the move wasn’t such a great idea as HBK used it more times since then. Nevertheless, there is actually one thing that the WWE has left behind that traces to Chris Benoit.

#4 The Undertaker throws Mankind off the Steel Cage

"Maybe you should let him throw you off the top of the cage to start the match”, joked Terry Funk to Mick Foley before his match against the Undertaker back in 1998. And what an idea that turned out to be. This would initiate one of the best wrestling matches ever and showed the true worth of Mick Foley in the WWE. Facing off in a Hell in a Cell match at the King of Ring PPV, Mankind was present at the top of the 16-foot tall cage at the start of the match.

The Undertaker who went up exchanged a few blows before pushing Mankind off the cage and into the Spanish Announcers table. The crowd went berserk immediately upon seeing such an unreal move while Jim Ross’ call still holds dear in the memory of fans. This was something no one expected and became famous immediately.

#3 Edge spears Jeff Hardy off the Ladder

WrestleMania X-seven still stands tall as the greatest PPV ever produced by the WWE. And that included one of the greatest tag-team matches as well. With a triple threat TLC ladder match, consisting of the Hardy Boys, Christian and Edge and the Dudleyz, Jeff Hardy lost his balance as he was trying to win the title. As he was hanging in mid air holding the title, Edge came off a nearby ladder and speared him to the ring.

The crowd was hysterical on witnessing one of the greatest WrestleMania moments. All the wrestlers of that match were high-flyers and hardcore wrestlers but despite that, no one saw this coming. Edge was always known for such extreme moments but this one was really the first in the limelight and is probably the best one as well.

#2 Jeff Hardy does a Swanton Bomb to Orton from 30 feet

Jeff Hardy was one of the foremost wrestlers when it came to performing the big spots. His high-flying wrestling played the perfect foil to that and his moves wowed the audience. And likewise, he did so again on RAW in January 2008. In a match against Randy Orton, nearing the end, both of them had fought their way to the entrance of the stage.

After crashing Orton through a table there, Jeff Hardy climbed 30 feet in a nearby set structure and performed the Swanton Bomb. It had an amazing reaction from the crowd who were wonderstruck by Hardy’s move. But in any case, it was a well-protected move that had Hardy safe. Although he came out of it with nothing dangerous, few wrestlers would have agreed to do that in the first place.

#1 Shane McMahon does an Elbow Drop on Big Show from the Titantron

Back then, the titantron at the entrance of a WWE arena was really huge and tall unlike nowadays. And at Backlash 2001, Shane McMahon faced Big Show in a match. Just like the Hardy match, they had fought their way until the entrance of the stage and had Big Show lying down on an air filter over there.

Shane-O-Mac climbed almost more than 30 feet to get to the top of the titantron.

Signalling to the crowd once, he took the big jump and did the elbow drop on his landing. The crowd went frenzy for a while as they had never seen something like that before. Shane McMahon was always willing to do moves and big spots such as this.

And if there was ever one true ‘holy sh*t’ moment, this was it. Shane left the business in 2009 but people do crave for him to come back and perform like the old days.