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What’s the story?
It’s something of a sin to rip-off someone’s finisher in the world of professional wrestling—unless, apparently, that finisher is Steve Austin’s Stone Cold Stunner.
In a recent interview with TheWrap, Austin revealed that he’s “down with anybody using the Stunner,” as long as they use it in the right way.
In case you didn’t know…
In recent years, we’ve seen the Stunner slowly start to creep back into WWE programming. John Cena was the first to revive it when he busted out a springboard Stunner at WrestleMania 31 before Kevin Owens got in on the act at the 2017 Royal Rumble.
However, neither of them used it as a finishing move, which seems a little silly given its history.
The heart of the matter
After seemingly giving his blessing for anyone to add his Stunner to their move set, Austin elaborated on the one proviso: that the move is used as a finisher.
He also spoke about how he wanted the Stunner to avoid suffering a similar fate to the DDT—a move that Jake Roberts used for an instant 1-2-3, but has since be devalued into what Austin describes as “one of the lamest false-finishes in the business.”
What's next?
For anyone currently in the market for a new finish, it looks as though their search might be over. Then again, taking on a move that once was the trademark of one of the biggest names in the history of pro wrestling can be quite a lot to live up to.
Maybe we won’t be seeing anyone adopting the Stunner after all…
Author’s take
Though Austin may sound like he’s simply playing the grizzled old vet, his point is bang on the money. For the sake of continuity, not to mention Austin’s legacy, you can’t go throwing around Stunners willy-nilly, because before long it’ll be as commonplace as—well, the DDT.
Still, as gracious as Austin’s been in greenlighting the use of his finishing move, it’s probably best that newer guys try to make up something of their own. Or failing that, just go to Michael Hayes for a piece of advice like Austin did himself…
