Sister AbigailIn WWE, it seems creativity has taken control over the years. It used to be that WWE would do simplistic moves, like your old school suplexes and DDT. The DDT used to be a massively successful move that ended matches when Jake Roberts invented it. It wasn’t like he invented the wheel when he did the move, it was a simple move in reality.It was effective, however, which was a big deal. Over the years, a normal DDT won’t win a match or even keep someone down all that long. More and more moves have been invented, resulting in some looking lesser than. Some legends used a dropkick to win matches back in the day. Today, a dropkick won’t keep a person down for a second seemingly. Innovation has taken over in WWE and in all of pro-wrestling.That said, we felt it would be good to look into this. What are the true top 5 innovative moves in WWE today? We feel we found the best. Enjoy!
#1 Sister Abigail
Bray Wyatt came on the scene a couple years ago with his faction The Wyatt Family and hit hard from moment one. He has been involved in some of the most unique rivalries of the past few years with people like Dean Ambrose, John Cena, and The Undertaker.
He has put on fantastic matches. He always seemed to win his matches against some of the best to ever compete with one move, the Sister Abigail.
The move is named after a former person in Bray’s life of the same name and is virtually a converted swing over faceplant. It is quite a unique move that very few can rival in WWE when it comes to innovation.
#2 Red Arrow
Former NXT Champion Neville is known for being of the most unique and innovative wrestlers in the WWE today, He is very athletic and seems to be able to put on wonderful matches with just about anyone.
His in-ring style meshes well with almost everyone, so it makes sense to think that he will win matches off and on against some of WWE’s top stars. While Neville’s entire move set is innovative, his finisher has to be even more so in order to shock the crowd and make it believable for him to win a match. That forced Neville to come up with the crazy cool move known as the Red Arrow.
A nod to a superhero from the DC Comics world, the Red Arrow is a move done with great aerial ability. Neville has to twist his body in various forms in the air before he lands ribs first on his opponents rib area. The move is awesome to watch and absolutely beautiful. Nothing has ever been since like it in the past, and only one man can really do it.
That makes his move one of the best and move innovative moves in pro-wrestling history and especially with WWE.
#3 YES! Lock
WWE Superstar Daniel Bryan may get hurt a bit too much for our liking, but he has been highly successful in his WWE career. He is a three-time World Champion as well as a former United States and Intercontinental Champion. On top of this, he has won the WWE Tag Team Championship as well and main evented WrestleMania 30.
Known as the leader of the YES! Movement, Bryan has always been a fun personality. However, Bryan is best known throughout his career as a great technical performer. It made sense to think that he would need a move to fit with his style but also with his character, thus the Lebell Lock seemed perfect. The Lebell Lock was invented by Gene Lebell, a known martial artist and even pro-wrestler for a time.
Bryan was always related to people like Chris Benoit, so it made total sense that he would pick a move that looked very similar to the cross face but was really the father to the move with the Lebell Lock. Bryan first named it the NO! Lock before finally settling into his babyface character which allowed him to call it the YES! Lock.
The move is perfect for Bryan and is a very believable finisher for him. It is quite innovative because not only does Bryan have to get arm positioning right for himself, but also for his opponent and it can be hit out of anywhere with various ways of holding a wrestler in it. Bryan has only hit the move a couple of different ways, but it is quite unique in reality and very cool to dissect.
#4 Bank Statement
Former NXT Women’s Champion Sasha Banks has the very rich distinction of being in the best female wrestling matches of the past year. Sasha is known as one of the best workers in all of WWE and even in the world today. She grew up a massive wrestling fan and always wanted to work for WWE. She did everything she could to prepare for a potential WWE run but was able to get into the company at an early age. She is only 23 right now after being hired by WWE around 21.
She has a big future ahead of her and if she keeps up her amazing in-ring ability, she might go down as the best female wrestler in WWE history. One fhing that helps her stand out is her amazing finisher that might be the most unique WWE Diva finisher of all time.
She hits a move that is appropriately named the Bank Statement. She hits a backbreaker on her opponent, then flips the female over and applies a crossface to them and pulls the girl back a great deal to not only add pressure to the nose and face, but also on the back where the breaker was just hit.
The move is really cool to see in action and she hits it perfect just about every time. Most of the time, when she hits the move you can pretty much seal up the win. More often that not, a tap out comes with this move. Banks has other unique and innovative moves in her move-set, but by far the Bank Statement could be at the top of the list.
#5 Phoenix Splash
WWE Superstar Seth Rollins is known by many to have one of the most unique and innovative move-sets of anyone in the WWE today or potentially of all time. What this man can do inside a ring is almost impossibly perfect.
He is potentially this generation’s Shawn Michaels, which is high praise that he has easily lived up to. While he has been known to finish matches over the years with the Curb Stomp finisher as well as Triple H’s pedigree, another move tops his list.
On the Indy scene, Rollins was known for going to the top rope a lot more than he does today. Obviously Rollins still does go to the top, but he lives more inside the ring than above it in his WWE days. However, when the time calls for it, he can hit some amazing moves from the top rope. One of those moves is known as the Phoenix Splash. Very few wrestlers in the world can do the move.
It is a very dangerous move to miss, as you can dislocate a shoulder or even break your neck if you miss it. The move is similar to the Red Arrow, in that you have to twist your body perfectly to hit it.
You start on the top rope with your back to your opponent. You then turn mid-air, flip and hit the opponent on his ribs with your full body force landing on him from the top. You will land on your ribs as well if you hit the move correctly.
It is an amazing move to see executed. Rollins does not hit the move often or even attempt it all that much. However, when he does, S*** is about to get real.
