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The Brainbuster is one of the most awesome wrestling moves ever created. It’s a move that’s both simple to execute but extremely dangerous at the same time. After all, the whole premise of the move is to lift your opponent up and then drop them (presumably) head-first into the mat from a vertical suplex position.
However, before we look at which wrestler did the best Brainbuster, we need to get one technical matter out of the way. Many wrestling moves are either created or popularized in Japan, before being used in North American promotions. Even in Japan, commentators use English names for wrestling moves because wrestling is predominantly an English-speaking market. Yet in Japan the word ‘brainbuster’ is used differently.
Any vertical suplex, even ones that end with the victim landing on their back, is called a ‘Brainbuster’. We’re talking about the Vertical suplex lift drop into a head-first, DDT-style spike, which in Japan is called a ‘sheerdrop’. So technically the move we’re talking about here is the ‘sheerdrop Brainbuster’.
The Brainbuster is an expert’s wrestling move; only the most skilled and experienced wrestlers can be trusted to use this move without injuring or killing their opponents. Only a select elite could use this move on a regular basis, and when they did, they made the move look amazing.
So which one of them hit the best Brainbuster ever?
#7 Tomohiro Ishii
Tomohiro Ishii is New Japan’s resident brawling machine. Since about 2013, Ishii has made an explosive impact on NJPW’s roster, having all these outstanding matches with anyone and everyone. While most people know Ishii for his brawls and stiff strikes, his main finisher is a Brainbuster that he hits with devastating force.
Ishii is incredibly strong for such a short man, and he has shown this by lifting wrestlers bigger than himself up for the Brainbuster with ease. Of course, this applies to almost everyone in New Japan as Ishii is one of the shortest wrestlers on their roster.
Perhaps his most impressive Brainbuster was on Bad Luck Fale, who is billed as weight almost 350 pounds. Yet Ishii was able to land his signature Brainbuster without any effort.
It takes an exceptionally strong and skilled wrestler to lift someone that heavy into a vertical suplex and drop them in a way that only makes it look like they land on their head and neck without actually doing so.
#6 Finn Balor
Some people will debate that Finn Balor/Prince Devitt’s secret second finisher isn’t a true Brainbuster because of a tiny variation. However, we’re including it in this list because the actual position and ‘bump’ the receiving wrestler takes is more or less the same as a regular Brainbuster.
Balor’s move, which was called ‘Bloody Sunday’ in Japan, is technically a single-underhook Brainbuster as opposed to a vertical suplex Brainbuster. The difference here is that Balor would hook one of his opponent’s arm like a double-arm DDT instead of wrapping it around his neck as you would for a vertical suplex. However, Balor still lifts his opponent until they’re vertical and drops them onto their head and neck all the same.
As you can imagine, head spikes like this are all but banned in WWE except for very special circumstances. WWE force most ‘outsider’ wrestler to water down their wrestling style before hitting the main roster, which means that some of their best moves rarely, if ever, get introduced to a wider audience.
#5 Toshiaki Kawada
Toshiaki Kawada is world-famous for three reasons: putting on outstanding wrestling matches, kicking people as hard as possible, and dropping his opponents on their heads and necks. Kawada was so famous for that third reason that he eventually earned the nickname ‘Dangerous K’.
While most people remember his version of Steve Williams’ ‘Dangerous Backdrop’, Kawada also used a sheerdrop Brainbuster as one of his finishers, which he (appropriately) called the ‘Dangerous DDT’.
Like others, Kawada would lift his opponent up quickly, and then drop them down almost in a DDT-like drop. This was the perfect move for him to use as a finisher, especially since he had a tendency to soften up his opponents’ necks in his matches by dropping them on it and kicking it countless times.
It’s wrestling psychology at its simplest: target a body part with as many moves as possible, and then hit your biggest move at the end to destroy what’s left of that same body part. It’s a lost art that isn’t seen that much, particularly in WWE.
#4 Austin Aries
Austin Aries is smaller than most world-champion-level wrestlers of the past decade, but that hasn’t stopped him from hitting a truly savage Brainbuster. Aries showed impressive strength for a man of his size, as he was capable on lifting wrestlers as big as Samoa Joe up into a vertical suplex before dropping them head-first with his Brainbuster.
Not only did Aries hit this move almost perfectly inside the ring, but he also did some special Brainbusters as well. On a few occasions, he hit the Brainbuster on an opponent through a steel chair, with that person going head-first into an open folding chair. In other cases, he hit a vicious Brainbuster on the apron, which is the hardest part of the ring.
Unfortunately, fans never got to see Aries hit this move on WWE programming, because it is likely still considered a banned move on the main roster. Despite Aries having proven his ability to hit this move without injuring his opponent, WWE will likely always be leery of any move which targets the head and neck.
#3 Jushin 'Thunder' Liger
Jushin Liger was – and still is – one of the most exciting wrestlers of all time. He has been wrestling for over thirty years, and has managed to stay fresh and change things up without getting stale.
A big reason for his success and the respect fans and peers have for him is his ability to have dramatic and unpredictable matches. And a big part of this is the ability to end a match with a wide variety of believable finishing moves.
Although most people associate Liger with his Shooting Star Press and Powerbomb, Liger also used the Brainbuster as a finisher many times over the years. Liger would mostly use the Fisherman-style version, i.e. a Fisherman Buster whereby he hooks one leg before dropping them head-first.
But he also used the traditional ‘sheerdrop’ version which is a vertical suplex straight down into a DDT-style head spike. Liger used this on opponents either his size or smaller, and used it a lot more after his brain surgery since he couldn’t do as much flying as before.
Oh, and he also like to hit both Brainbuster variations from the top rope, because Liger was just that good at hitting wrestling moves without injuring his opponents.
#2 Kenta Kobashi
Kenta Kobashi has used the Brainbuster a finishing move many times over the years. This was an easy move for him to use as he was legitimately one of the strongest wrestlers in Japan in his prime.
Despite having notoriously-damaged knees for most of his career, Kobashi was still able to his big power moves and lift his opponents up for the (sheerdrop) Brainbuster with little difficulty. Not only was Kobashi one of the best users of the Brainbuster, but this move was also one of the many ‘head-drop’ moves that was part of Kobashi’s neck-targeting psychology.
In most of Kobashi’s big matches, he’s target the head and neck of his opponents, wearing them down with high-angle suplexes and strikes. By the time the match was near its conclusion, Kobashi would hoist his opponent up for the Brainbuster and fans watching would believe the match was over before the referee even started counting.
This was because Kobashi would target those body parts with savage force and laser precision, so viewers would think it impossible for anyone to survive such an onslaught of moves. If his opponents did kick out of Kobashi’s Brainbuster, they’d definitely look much stronger and they’d be respected for their toughness as a result.
#1 Shinya Hashimoto
Shinya Hashimoto’s Brainbuster was always one of the best. He had a knack for giving his Brainbuster extra impact by adding a ‘snap’ to it that made it look like he was dropping them straight down as soon as they were fully vertical (and sometimes before that).
However, Hashimoto was such a consummate pro that he could make even the most dangerous move look awful while still being as safe as can be. When he hit the move, Hashimoto would hold his opponent in such a way that the top of their head would almost touch the mat upon landing.
Yet Hashimoto himself would take virtually all the impact on his arm, which would be wrapped around his opponent’s neck, protecting it. Then, to make the move sound like an actual head-drop, Hashimoto would stomp one leg on the mat to create the sound of the move’s impact.
Few wrestlers actually did this, as they usually needed both legs for the strength needed to hold their opponent upwards. Yet Hashimoto knew how to not only make the move look great, but also sound realistic. That is why his is the best Brainbuster of them all.
