Best Wrestling Move                     

Award Description:

To be given to the move that is just the damn best thing you've seen this
past year. This should probably be a "finishing" move or something really
spectacular.

Previous Winners:

  1990: Scott Steiner's Frankensteiner
  1991: Scott Steiner's Frankensteiner
  1992: Jushin Liger's moonsault off the second ropes to floor
  1993: Big Van Vader's moonsault
  1994: Vader's moonsault
  1995: Hakushi's Space Flying Tiger Drop
  1996: Wildman Marc Mero's Wild Thing shooting star press
  1997: Bret Hart's figure four leglock around the ringpost
  1998: Rock's People's Elbow elbowdrop
  1999: Jeff Hardy's senton bomb

**2000**: Jeff Hardy's Swantonbomb senton

555 first place votes
546 second place votes
539 third place votes

 68 55 45  595   Jeff Hardy's Swantonbomb
 54 59 29  505   Chris Benoit's Crippler crossface
 41 27 33  352   Dudley Boyz' Dudley Death Drop
 40 30 23  336   Triple H's Pedigree double underhook piledriver
 22 26 14  216   Chris Benoit's locomotion German suplex
 19 22 19  199   Rob Van Dam's Van Terminator springboard dropkick
 15 15 15  150   Yoshihiro Tajiri's Tarantula rope-assisted crab
 15 12 18  147   Steve Austin's Stone Cold Stunner
 18 11 11  145   Rikishi's splash from the top of the cage
 12 14 21  144   Yoshihiro Tajiri's kicks
 14 10 12  124   Dean Malenko's super implant DDT
 11  8 16  111   Undertaker's Last Ride powerbomb
 12 10  9  108   Chris Benoit's dragon suplex
 14  9  4  105   Kid Kash's mid-air huracanrana
 11 10  5   95   Dragon Kid's 450 huracanrana
  8 12  9   94   Kurt Angle's Olympic Slam
  9  6  6   75   Essa Rios' over the turnbuckle somersault plancha
  5 10 10   75   Chris Benoit's diving headbutt
  5 10  6   67   Christian's Tomokaze
 10  4  2   66   Christopher Daniels' Angel's Wings spinning double
                 underhook facebuster 
  6  8  6   66   Kenta Kobashi's Burning Hammer
  4  8  9   62   Hardcore Holly's dropkick
  6  7  5   61   Edge's spear
  5  8  6   61   Lita's huracanrana
  5  5  7   54   Reno's Roll of the Dice
  5  5  7   54   Matt Hardy's Twist of Fate neckbreaker
  7  0  6   47   Bokujin Ken's Swinging Branch Punch
  2  6  9   46   Lita's moonsault
  4  3  7   43   Lo Down's superplex/frog splash combo
  3  6  5   43   Hardy Boyz' Poetry in Motion
  3  3  7   38   Jeff Hardy's flying clothesline from a barricade run
  4  2  5   36   Christopher Daniels' Last Rites
  5  2  2   35   Jody Fleisch's springboard shooting star plancha
  1  4  9   35   Jerry Lynn's cradle piledriver
  3  2  6   33   Rock's Rock Bottom uranage
  1  4  8   33   Mike Awesome's Awesomebomb powerbomb
  3  4  2   31   Ricky Marvin's springboard corkscrew plancha
  2  3  5   29   Lance Storm's Canadian Maple Leaf half crab
  2  4  3   28   Chris Jericho's Walls of Jericho
  3  2  3   27   Rey Mysterio Jr.'s 180 degree twirl between the middle
                 and top rope 
  2  0  8   26   Chris Jericho's top rope huracanrana
  5  0  0   25   Mariko Yoshida's Air Raid Crush/Crash
  3  2  2   25   Kid Kash's Moneymaker
  1  4  3   23   Perry Saturn & Dean Malenko's Total Elimination
  4  0  1   22   Undertaker's tombstone piledriver
  0  5  3   21   Mick Foley's piledriver of Triple H on the announcers table
  2  2  2   20   Cima's Iconoclasm top rope sitdown slam
  2  3  0   19   Chris Jericho's Lionsault quebrada
  2  2  1   18   Masato Tanaka's Diamond Dust
  1  3  2   18   Edge & Christian's Unprettier (Conchairto)
  2  1  2   17   D'Lo Brown's 'Lo Down frog splash
  2  0  3   16   Sean O'Haire's Seantonbomb
  2  1  1   15   Scotty 2 Hotty's Worm chop
  2  0  2   14   Mitsuharu Misawa's Emerald Fusion
  0  3  2   13   Sting's Scorpion Death Drop
  1  1  2   12   Jeff Hardy's Whisper in the Wind corkscrew
  1  1  2   12   Goldberg's jackhammer
  1  2  0   11   Toshiaki Kawada's powerbomb
  1  0  3   11   Rock's People's Elbow elbowdrop
  2  0  0   10   Dean Malenko's Texas Cloverleaf
  1  1  1   10   Jushin Liger's Ligerbomb
  1  1  1   10   Hayabusa's Stardust Press
  1  1  1   10   Eddie Guerrero's frog splash
  1  0  2    9   Tazz' Tazzmission kati hajime
  1  0  2    9   Gangrel's Impaler jumping DDT
  1  0  2    9   Ai Fujita's Firebird splash
  0  3  0    9   People's Elbow
  1  1  0    8   Mitsuharu Misawa's Tiger Driver
  1  1  0    8   Faarooq's Dominator
  1  1  0    8   Bret Hart's Sharpshooter
  1  1  0    8   Alexander Otsuka's release dragon suplex
  1  1  0    8   Albert's Albertbomb powerbomb
  0  2  1    8   Magnum Tokyo's Viagra Driver gutwrench powerbomb
  0  2  1    8   Chapparita Asari's Skytwister Press
  1  0  1    7   Kurt Angle's overhead belly-to-belly suplex
  1  0  1    7   Jun Akiyama's cradle tombstone
  0  1  2    7   Hardcore Holly's Hollycaust falcon arrow
  0  1  2    7   Essa Rios' multi-springboard armdrag
  0  1  2    7   Elix Skipper's Play of the Week (Overdrive) rolling spinning 
                 legdrop
  0  2  0    6   Rob Van Dam's Five Star frog splash
  0  2  0    6   Rikishi's Rikishi Driver
  0  2  0    6   Little Spike Dudley's Acid Drop
  0  0  3    6   Cima's Mad Splash frog splash
  1  0  0    5   Tony Nelson's Mountain Bomb from the apron to the floor
  1  0  0    5   Matt Hardy's Swantonbomb (?)
  1  0  0    5   Hayabusa's Phoenix Splash
  1  0  0    5   Great Sasuke's Sasuke Special #2
  1  0  0    5   Eddie Guerrero's huracanrana
  1  0  0    5   Dangerous Backdrop
  1  0  0    5   Crowbar's Eye of the Storm Dragon Sleeper into reverse DDT
  1  0  0    5   Cima's cross-arm Iconoclasm
  1  0  0    5   Chris Jericho's huracanrana
  1  0  0    5   Carlito Montana's finisher (XPW)
  1  0  0    5   Buh Buh Ray Dudley's Buh Buh Bomb
  1  0  0    5   Blitzkrieg's Sky Twisting Moonsault
  1  0  0    5   Billy Gunn's cobra clutch slam
  0  1  1    5   Yoshihiro Tajiri's springboard back elbow
  0  1  1    5   Rock's Sharpshooter
  0  1  1    5   Raven's Evenflow DDT
  0  1  1    5   Nova's 3rd Degree
  0  1  1    5   Mikey Whipwreck's Spinning Overhead Pedigree
  0  1  1    5   Jeff Jarrett's Stroke reverse Russian legsweep
  0  1  1    5   Goldberg's spear
  0  0  2    4   Tommy Dreamer's Tommyhawk
  0  0  2    4   Steven Richards' Stevenkick superkick
  0  0  2    4   Essa Rios' moonsault
  0  0  2    4   Dean Malenko's top rope gutbuster
  0  1  0    3   X-Pac's spinning heel kick
  0  1  0    3   Tomoko Watanabe's Hell Smasher
  0  1  0    3   Test & Albert's whip into a big boot
  0  1  0    3   Simon Diamond's Problem Solver
  0  1  0    3   Scott Steiner's Top Rope Samoan Drop
  0  1  0    3   Rock's Butterfly DDT
  0  1  0    3   Rikishi's stinkface
  0  1  0    3   Rikishi's splash from the stage to the floor
  0  1  0    3   Prince Albert's Albertbomb powerbomb
  0  1  0    3   Mike Sanders' 3.0
  0  1  0    3   Lioness Asuka's Towerhacker Bomb
  0  1  0    3   Kane's chokeslam
  0  1  0    3   Jody Fleisch's Phoenix 720 DDT
  0  1  0    3   Jeff Hardy's springboard over the corner split legged moonsault
  0  1  0    3   Jeff Hardy's 450 splash
  0  1  0    3   Goldberg's gorilla press
  0  1  0    3   Genki Horiguchi's Genki Driver
  0  1  0    3   Faarooq's one-armed spinebuster slam
  0  1  0    3   Emerald Frosion(?)
  0  1  0    3   Edge's Edge-o-matic
  0  1  0    3   Edge & Christian's ECRI (Edge and Christian Run In)
  0  1  0    3   Eddie Guerrero's Gorry Special 2000
  0  1  0    3   EZ Money's Pay Window back to back tombstone
  0  1  0    3   Dudley Boyz' "Wazzzup" headbutt
  0  1  0    3   D'Lo Brown's springboard moonsault
  0  1  0    3   Chavo Guerrero Jr.'s tornado DDT
  0  1  0    3   Cactus Jacks's fall through the Hell in the Cell roof
  0  1  0    3   Bob Holly's groin kick
  0  1  0    3   Bloody's top rope dragon suplex
  0  1  0    3   Big Show's chokeslam
  0  1  0    3   Bauxite Medium's Can Hand Attack
  0  1  0    3   Asian Cougar's slingshot tope con hilo atomico onto the 
                 opponent buried in chairs
  0  1  0    3   Albert's Big Spin
  0  0  1    2   William Regal's Regal Stretch
  0  0  1    2   Undertaker's top rope tightwalk axehandle
  0  0  1    2   Triple H's hangman's neckbreaker
  0  0  1    2   Tazz' head and arm Tazzplex
  0  0  1    2   Super Crazy's escalating triple moonsault
  0  0  1    2   Steve Blackman's Lethal kick
  0  0  1    2   Shawn Michaels' Sweet Chin Music superkick
  0  0  1    2   Rock's spinebuster
  0  0  1    2   Rob Van Dam's Van Daminator spin kick
  0  0  1    2   Roadkill's springboard double clothesline
  0  0  1    2   Rhino's Gore spear
  0  0  1    2   Nova's One-Armed Bandit
  0  0  1    2   Minoru Tanaka's Minoru Special
  0  0  1    2   Mick Foley's Double Arm DDT
  0  0  1    2   Meng's Tongan Death Grip
  0  0  1    2   Logan Caine's Split Legged uranage
  0  0  1    2   Kyoko Inoue's Niagara Driver
  0  0  1    2   Kwee-wee's tilt-a-round faceslam
  0  0  1    2   Kuishinbo Kamen's Skytwister Press
  0  0  1    2   Jushin Liger's Shotay
  0  0  1    2   Jun Akiyama's Exploder wrist-suplex
  0  0  1    2   Jerry Lynn's Ligerbomb
  0  0  1    2   Goldberg's pumphandle throw
  0  0  1    2   Edge's Downward Spiral
  0  0  1    2   Chuck Palumbo's "double underhook sitdown Pedigree thing" (?)
  0  0  1    2   Chris Jerichos' Lionsault quebrada
  0  0  1    2   Cat's Feliner kick
  0  0  1    2   Buff Bagwell's Buff Blockbuster
  0  0  1    2   Bradshaw's Clothesline from Hell lariat
  0  0  1    2   Ape Virgon's Top Rope Attack

REJECTED - no performer named (or no move named)

  2  0  1        huracanrana
  2  0  0        spear
  1  0  2        Anything involving... 
  1  0  1        Exploder
  1  0  0        hammerlock
  1  0  0        Steve Austin's twenty foot drop from crane (ineligible time)
  1  0  0        springboard shooting star press
  1  0  0        snapmare
  1  0  0        senton 
  1  0  0        SVT (?)
  1  0  0        STF 
  1  0  0        handspring elbow
  1  0  0        German suplex
  1  0  0        Chris Benoit
  0  1  1        Molly Holly's somersault Thesz press (ineligible time)
  0  1  0        snap spinebuster
  0  1  0        single arm DDT
  0  1  0        powerbomb
  0  1  0        frog splash
  0  1  0        Frankensteiner
  0  1  0        Death Valley Driver
  0  0  1        T-Bone suplex
  0  0  1        moonsault
  0  0  1        Japanese Powerbomb
  0  0  1        Caliente's Mexican Surfboard (ineligible time)

C. JOSEPH HOFFMAN: Undertaker possesses the ultimate wedgie
experience.....just ask Kurt Angle.  Angle liked it so much he asked for
seconds.

HIRO: Like category 12, this one was a tough choice. Rikishi's splash from
the top of the cage was a classic (why wasn't he nominated for Best
Flyer?). Either one of Benoit's move could have taken the top spot, I just
picked the Dragon Suplex 'cos it's the hardest to execute properly and the
fact that no one in the WWF has yet to steal it. Jericho's tope rope rana
is another good one. Honorable mentions includes the locomotion German
suplex into Crippler crossface that Benoit did on Rock which sadly wasn't
in a match, Jeff Hardy's top ladder swanton onto Buh Buh laid out on a
table and Lo Down's superplex/frog splash combo which is creative in a way
but too hard to setup.

OTTO HEUER: Best Wrestling Move--Though it's always tyempting to give all
three to various Benoit moves, he has held my interest a bit less since
being "diluted" by the WWF.  He's still one of my four faves to watch
(along with Tajiri, Kid Kash, and Kaz), but he uses the top rope headbutt
*too* often now, making it less "special".  Both Kaz and Kash have matches
where I'm shaking my head wondering how they're still alive, but no
*particular* move stands out in my mind.  On the other hanb, each of the
following three have signature moves that I anticipate and then mark out
for:  1st: Yoshihiro Tajiri's Tarantula rope-assisted crab (as well as his
whip into the ropes with a handspring in the middle, and also his stiff
kicks (even if he IS slapping his tights))  2nd: Essa Rios' over the
turnbuckles somersault plancha 3rd: Chris Benoit's diving headbutt

DEAN RASMUSSEN: Mariko Yoshida's Air Raid Crash- sultry, sexy spider
outfit; vulnerable yet intense look in her eye- like a little girl with a
gun in her hand; Yoshida pulls the trigger and her opponents neck gets
compressed into a tiny block of bone and cartilage. What could be better
than that in this world of worlds?

JUSTIN McGROTTY: While not the most exciting move of the year, in the past
year, the places that Jeff Hardy has done the Swanton Bomb from earns him
the top vote in this category.

MARK POLISHUK: I know kicks aren't technically "moves," but when Tajiri
does them....my god.  Stiffness rules.

J3R CR0WE: The Crossface is a deadly move when done correctly, and how
many other wrestlers have stolen the move? 3 or 4, if I'm correct.
Everyone wants to be like the Crippler! The Swanton is always something to
behold, and Lo Down's finisher is really good too.

ROBERT STRUPP: The best damn dropkick in wrestling! Benoit's dragon suplex
just looks so scary looking. Tajiri's Tarantula is just really cool
looking also.

MICHAEL STAKELY: I would have voted for one of the Hardy boy's moves but I
never can remember what is what due to dumbass names like a Lilting Breeze
of Literary Merit.

SCOTT W.: The Dudley Death Drop is awesome. It is the best double team
move I have seen.  Tajirir's kicks are just insane and the cradle
PileDriver is just a cool modified version of a believable finisher.  I
wonder if Jerry Lynn would go to the WWF with the insane rule that
piledrivers are illegal?

JOHN C.: Since this is the year of Triple H, I have to give credit to the
WWF for making his finisher into the most deadly move in wrestling. Who
could ever forget the Pedigree through the table that gave Kurt Angle a
concussion during Summerslam? I think the WWF did a great job in making
the crossface a credible finishing move even though Benoit never did force
a big name to tap out to it in a big PPV match. Still, they did more for
the move in eight months than WCW did in four years. I'll never forget the
Dean Malenko Super Implant DDT on Scott Taylor from Backlash earlier this
year. Even though I only saw it once, that made the list just ahead of
Jerry Lynn's cradle piledriver and Tajiri's Tarantula.

GREG NECASTRO: Lita throws her entire body into this move.  No one does it
like her.

JOSEPH MICELI: No matter how many times i see these moves, i still get
pumped

MATTHEW HUBARTT: This is for sheer pop value - nothing pops the crowd
quite like a Stunner or a People's Elbow. Benoit's triple Suplex auf
Deutsch is damn impressive.

TONY LING: Gotta love the rolling suplexes. I voted for the Last Ride
because UT really makes that sucker look like it hurts like hell.

JEB LUND: Jericho’s top-rope is the prettiest I’ve seen. Instead of
immediately flinging himself back off the top rope, he goes high up
first... leaving you wondering for just another second which wrestler will
take control. It’s dramatic; it’s solid; it’s great. I wanted to vote for
Benoit’s Dragon Suplex, too, but had to go with the acrobats.

ANDY P. GOSS: The key to a move being great is that it's a move no one
else can pull off -- and each of these moves fit the bill.  Chris Benoit
is about the only person who would dare use a dragon suplex.  Dean
Malenko's DDT from Backlash is a legit finisher, and I'm surprised he
doesn't use it more often.  Side note: Scott Taylor has cojones for
agreeing to sell that sucker.  And as for the Sky Twister, well, the only
time I saw it was 1995, and it's still an impressive move, so I figured,
why not?

STEPHEN TISZENKEL: People don't even pay attention to this anymore, but
the Pedigree is still a great, great move. That move looks like it could
seriously do some permanent damage. It's a miracle somebody hasn't been
paralyzed.

JON WALTON: The first time I saw Dragon Kid's 450 Hurricarana I had my
mouth open for a solid minute.  That alone is enough to gain him this
award.

JONAH ROSCH: This one was kindof easy for me. I saw Kid Kash's mid-air
huracanrana live in Philadelphia against EZ Money and had no idea what I
saw, cause what I thought I saw was impossible. The next week, I got to
see on television what actually happened, and what the move actually was.
I still was impressed. One of the most impressive moves I've ever seen,
not in terms of danger, but in terms of sheer timing and coordination. I
have no idea how he pulls that one off.

JAMES HOWARD: When I'm eighty years old, I won't remember my own name or
the names of those around me. But I *will* remember the look on Psicosis'
face just before Yoshihiro Tajiri caved his brains in. And that's all I
will need. :)

GEORGE JOHNSON: I really thought Malenko killed Scotty 2 Hotty with that
super DDT.

DAVE B: NOBODY AND I MEAN NOBODY GETS UP FROM THE PEDIGREE!!

JOE GAGNE: The Dudley Death Drop looks great and always gets the crowd
fired up.  Ricky Marvin?s springboard corkscrew plancha was this year?s
"holy shit" move.  I didn?t think Dragon Kid?s 450 ?Rana was feasible
until I saw him snap it off.

JEREMY SORIA: Can you tell I've gotten hard for Chris Benoit this year?

DOMINIC SEIBERT:  Best Wrestling Move (con't.) -- Unfortunately, I haven't
seen all of these so my voting may be somewhat uninformed:  4th: Chris
Jericho's Top Rope Hurricanrana -- It's so good a move only a few
wrestlers can have it done to them. 5th: Dragon Kid's 450 hurricanrana --
Again, I've never seen this move, but I know what a hurricanrana is, and I
know what 450 is, and I can only imagine.  I shiver just thinking about
it.  Same reason as Bloody's move above. 6th: (write-in) Mike Awesome's
Awesomebomb from in the ring to the floor -- I can't even fathom being on
the other end of it and surviving. 7th: Jeff Hardy's Barricade Run -- It's
so good, the WWF changed their barricades to accommodate it. 8th:
Rikishi's splash from stage/top of cage -- Same reason as Awesome's above.
9th: Lita's hurricanrana -- Brought life back to the Women's division in
one move. 10th: Rob Van Dam's Van Daminator/Terminator -- Still looks like
he causes a concussion every time. Honorable Mentions: Undertaker's Last
Ride powerbomb/Jerry Lynn's cradle piledriver/Jun Akiyama's cradle
tombstone -- all deserve credit for new and interesting variations on old
moves.

NATHAN LONEY: Benoit's locomotion suplex is a thing of beauty.  It doesn't
end a match, but when he can sling around somebody like The Rock with a
set of rolling german suplexes, it doesn't need to be a finisher.  
Tajiri's kicks make me shudder.  Brutal and yet beautiful in one fell
swoop, his stiff kicks get a response from the crowd every time.  I've
seen Malenko's DDT from the top rope once (when he defended the LHW title
against Scotty), but goddammit, I wanna see it some more.  Wicked, wicked
move.

BILL LEHECKA: It's a shame the main eventers don't sell Benoit's finisher
as well as they should.  The Crossface should be a killer.  Fans should
fear for its usage.  I don't get that feeling with the fans on TV, but I
still like the move anyway.

BLAZEJ SZPAKOWICZ: Jeff Hardy's Swanton Bomb is the most breathtakingly
amazing sight I've ever seen. The mind just boggles at the thought that
the guy does it several hundred times a year! Chris Benoit's dragon suplex
was always one of my favourite moves, and, dammit, I've missed being able
to vote for it. The Hardyz' Poetry In Motion gets third. I've no idea why,
but I always seem to mark out for that move.

THE TALBOTS: Dean Malenko's DDT of death is still THE Holy Shit moment of
2000. It overtakes the cell bump by Cactus Jack simply because the move by
Malenko was completely unexpected. Everyone knew that Foley was going to
outdo himself in the Cell match somehow.

OCTAVIAN: Dean Malenko's super implant DDT was one of the most incredible
sights on PPV this year.

TANVIR RAQUIB: Chris Daniels makes the Pedrigee look third rate in
comparison to his Angel Wings. Dragon suplexes are things of beauty -
Benoit does those SO FUCKIN' WELL. Lo Down's appearances on low-level WWF
programming have been well worth it when they've actually won - their
finisher has to be SEEN TO BE BELIEVED.

RAVI MISRA:  The double Rock Bottom was one of the most innovative ways to
destroy an announce table I've ever seen.  It was a great spot in a great
match, and the fact that it hasn't been used since shows that certain
spots are like fine wines.  When Farooq blew his Dominator on Hardy, I
seriously thought the Jeff was dead, and for the moment the "if you see it
on TV it's a work" rule was suspended b/c of how deadly it looked.

MIKE PLYLEY: The Tarantula is really like nothing I've ever seen before.  
It's one of the only truly innovative moves to come into North American
wrestling in the last couple of years.  And I just love Christian's
tomokaze, since it's a finisher that actually looks VERY inescapable and
painful.

TOM CRUZ: I laugh like a maniac every time Benoit hooks on the Crossface.
That is just one vicious looking move. Hopefully one day the Rock will
actually sell it. The Burning Hammer is just all kinds of awesome due to
it's amazingly high hurty factor. And none can withstand the power of the
Swinging Branch Punch. KEN THE BOX FOREVER

JEFF "FRO" WAHLMAN: A great highspot, good ol' stiff kicks, and an
incredible tag team finisher.