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

341 first place votes
335 second place votes
326 third place votes

 73 42 24  539   Jeff Hardy's senton bomb
 28 16 11  210   Chris Benoit's diving headbutt
 23  9 13  168   Rock's People's Elbow elbowdrop
 18 13 12  153   Kidman's shooting star press
 10 13 16  121   Dudley Boyz' Dudley Death Drop
 10 12 14  114   Mike Awesome's Awesome Bomb powerbomb
  9 13 10  104   Chris Jericho's double powerbomb
  8 14  8   98   Chris Benoit's locomotion German suplex
  6  9 12   81   Tajiri's Tarantula rope-assisted crab
  9  6  6   75   Blitzkrieg's sky twister press
  6  6 12   72   Yoshihiro Tajiri's Tarantula rope-assisted crab
  5  6 14   71   Steve Austin's Stone Cold Stunner
  4  9 11   69   Rob Van Dam's Five Star frog splash
 11  3  0   64   Toshiaki Kawada's Ganso Bomb
  4  9  5   57   D'Lo Brown's 'Lo-Down frog splash
  6  6  3   54   Kenta Kobashi's Burning Hammer
  5  4  8   53   Edge's spear
  4  7  6   53   D'Lo Brown's Sky-Hi Rydeen Bomb
  2  9  5   47   Jerry Lynn's cradle piledriver
  3  4  9   45   Gangrel's Impaler jumping DDT
  2  5  9   43   Rock's Rock Bottom uranage
  5  4  2   41   Rob Van Dam's Van Daminator spin kick into a chair
  5  3  2   38   Chris Jericho's Walls of Jericho Boston crab (Liontamer)
  5  2  2   35   Taz' Tazmission kati hajime
  2  5  5   35   Jeff Hardy's clothesline off the barricade
  3  3  5   34   Faarooq's Dominator
  4  2  2   30   Triple H's Pedigree
  1  5  5   30   Goldberg's spear
  3  3  2   28   Kane's tope suicida
  1  6  2   27   Eddie Guerrero's Gorry Special 2000
  0  7  2   25   Test's top rope elbowdrop
  1  5  2   24   Chris Benoit's Crippler crossface
  1  5  1   22   Dragon Kid's Dragon Rana
  3  2  0   21   Bret Hart's Sharpshooter
  3  0  2   19   Yoshihiro Tajiri's Dropkick of Woe
  1  2  4   19   Chris Benoit's knife-edge chop
  1  2  4   19   Chris Benoit's dragon suplex
  2  2  1   18   Mitsuharu Misawa's Emerald Erosion
  1  1  5   18   Taka Michinoku's Michinoku Driver
  3  0  0   15   Mitsuharu Misawa's Tiger Driver
  2  1  1   15   Super Crazy's moonsault trifecta
  1  2  2   15   Super Crazy's Crazy Especial Asai moonsault
  0  1  6   15   Hardcore Holly's Falcon Arrow
  2  0  2   14   Rob Van Dam's somersault plancha
  2  0  2   14   Kaz Hayashi's springboard DDT
  2  1  0   13   Black Warrior's 90 mph tope suicida
  1  2  1   13   Diamond Dallas Page's Diamond Cutter
  0  3  2   13   Rey Mysterio's top rope Frankensteiner off partner's boost
  0  3  2   13   Juventud Guerrera's Juvi Driver
  0  2  3   12   Wrath's Meltdown
  1  2  0   11   Christian's Tomokaze
  0  1  4   11   La Parka's corkscrew moonsault
  2  0  0   10   Mitsuharu Misawa's Tiger Driver '91
  2  0  0   10   Dick Togo's Senton Splash
  2  0  0   10   Bret Hart's figure four around the ringpost
  1  1  1   10   Goldberg's Jackhammer
  1  1  1   10   Edge's Downward Spiral DDT
  0  2  2   10   Big Show's chokeslam
  1  1  0    8   Kevin Nash's Jackknife powerbomb
  1  1  0    8   Hijo del Santo's swandive senton into a corner-post tope suicida
  0  2  1    8   Chavo Guerrero Jr.'s Tornado DDT
  0  2  1    8   Al Snow's Snowplow
  1  0  1    7   Steve Corino's seated reverse chinlock
  1  0  1    7   Sabu's Triple Jump Moonsault
  1  0  1    7   Chris Jericho's Lionsault quebrada
  0  1  2    7   Taka Michinoku's Asai Moonsault
  0  1  2    7   Chapparita Asari's Skytwister Press
  0  2  0    6   Hikari Fukuoka's Moonsault double stomp
  0  2  0    6   Blitzkrieg's firebird splash
  1  0  0    5   X-Pac's X Factor facebuster
  1  0  0    5   Takaiwa's Triple powerbomb into a Death Valley Driver
  1  0  0    5   Scott Hall's Outsider's Edge crucifix powerbomb
  1  0  0    5   Ric Flair's knife-edge chop
  1  0  0    5   Paolo Silva's Thrown crucifix powerbomb
  1  0  0    5   Nova's Spin Doctor
  1  0  0    5   Kyoko Inoue's Niagara Driver
  1  0  0    5   Kenta Kobashi's Emerald Driver
  1  0  0    5   Kaoru Ito's foot stomp off the top rope
  1  0  0    5   Juventud Guerrera's Juvi Juicer running cradle neckbreaker
  1  0  0    5   Jody Fleisch/Doc Chan's springboard shooting star press to the outside
  1  0  0    5   Jeff Hardy's ladder catapult splash
  1  0  0    5   Hayabusa's stardust press
  1  0  0    5   Hardcore Holly's dropkick
  1  0  0    5   Edge & Christian's superplex off the shoulders
  1  0  0    5   Chi Chi Cruz's suplex into Michinoku driver
  1  0  0    5   Blitzkrieg's stardust press
  1  0  0    5   Akira Hokuto's Northern Lights suplex
  0  1  1    5   Mankind's Mandible Claw
  0  1  1    5   Jeff Hardy's ladder guillotine legdrop
  0  0  2    4   Matt Hardy's sentonbomb
  0  0  2    4   Juventud Guerrera's Air Juvi
  0  1  0    3   Yumiko Hotta's Pyramid Driver
  0  1  0    3   Val Venis' testicular claw
  0  1  0    3   Super Nova's Kryptonite Krunch
  0  1  0    3   Spike Dudley's Acid Drop
  0  1  0    3   Perry Saturn's Death Valley Driver
  0  1  0    3   New Jack's dive off of the basketball hoop
  0  1  0    3   New Jack's balcony dive
  0  1  0    3   Mitsuhara Misawa's Emerald Dream
  0  1  0    3   Ken Shamrock's ankle lock submission
  0  1  0    3   Juventud Guerrera's firebird splash
  0  1  0    3   Hulk Hogan's legdrop
  0  1  0    3   Hardy Boyz' double sentonbomb
  0  1  0    3   Great Sasuke's tope con hilo
  0  1  0    3   Godfather's Ho Train avalanche
  0  1  0    3   Disco Inferno's swinging neckbreaker
  0  1  0    3   Chris Chetti's Amityville Horror
  0  1  0    3   Buff Bagwell's Buff Blockbuster somersault neckbreaker
  0  1  0    3   Booker T's axe kick
  0  1  0    3   Balls Mahoney's Nutcracker Suite
  0  1  0    3   Al Snow's missed moonsault from the barricade
  0  0  1    2   Viscera's splash
  0  0  1    2   Vader's powerbomb
  0  0  1    2   Total Package's Torture Rack
  0  0  1    2   Taz' T-Bone Tazplex
  0  0  1    2   Super Crazy's top rope moonsault into crowd
  0  0  1    2   Steve Williams' fallaway German suplex
  0  0  1    2   Shane McMahon's plancha
  0  0  1    2   Scott Taylor's forearm drop
  0  0  1    2   Rock's floatover DDT
  0  0  1    2   Rob Van Dam's split-legged moonsault
  0  0  1    2   Ricky Marvin's no hands running corkscrew plancha
  0  0  1    2   Perry Saturn's top rope elbow drop
  0  0  1    2   Minoru Tanaka's Northen Lights suplex into a cross armbar
  0  0  1    2   Mike Awesome's no hands tope
  0  0  1    2   Mike Awesome's Awesome Splash
  0  0  1    2   Meng's Tongan Death Grip
  0  0  1    2   Manami Toyota's Japanese Ocean Cyclone suplex
  0  0  1    2   Kyoko Inoue's Spidernest STF
  0  0  1    2   Kanyon's Flatliner
  0  0  1    2   Jody Flash's Wall-walk moonsault
  0  0  1    2   Hardy's tandem top-rope splash and top-rope legdrop
  0  0  1    2   Gillberg's spear
  0  0  1    2   Edge & Christian's Double Superplex
  0  0  1    2   Diamond Dallas Page's tunraround uranage
  0  0  1    2   David Young's Spinebuster Slam

REJECTED - for most, no wrestler named

  3  2  1        shooting star press
  2  0  2        DDT
  1  2  1        "Anything by..." votes
  1  1  0        moonsault
  1  1  0        piledriver
  1  0  1        Asai moonsault
  1  0  0        inverted surfboard
  1  0  0        Tombstone Piledriver
  1  0  0        Swandive Headbutt
  1  0  0        Super Space Flying Tiger Drop
  1  0  0        Split Legged Moonsault
  1  0  0        Russo and Ferrara going to WCW
  1  0  0        Frog Splash
  1  0  0        Fisherman Buster
  1  0  0        Death Valley Driver
  0  0  2        "Tie" votes
  0  1  0        spear
  0  1  0        Tiger Bomb
  0  1  0        Pumphandle Slam
  0  1  0        Crucifix
  0  1  0        450 splash 
  0  0  1        guillotine legdrop
  0  0  1        Tornado DDT
  0  0  1        Spicolli Driver
  0  0  1        Running Ligerbomb
  0  0  1        Powerbomb
  0  0  1        Figure Four Leglock
  0  0  1        Corkscrew Plancha

CHRIS BIRD: Tajiri's Tarantula is cool, and unlike anything else performed
in the ring today. Jerry Lynn's cradle piledriver is an old classic with a
brutal-looking modern twist. Jeff Hardy looks like he's going to break his
fucking neck every time he does that senton, yet somehow he never does.

ALEX BECKERS:  I really meant to nominate the Pedigree and the Fame-Asser.  
When those hit right, they look REALLY PAINFUL.

EDC: Juvy's neckbreaker always gets me jumping everytime I see it. He
should do it more often. Mike Awesome's Powerbomb is great because he'll
do it to anybody, anywhere. From the Top rope, off the Apron, thru tables,
etc. The Gory 2000 is an awesome variation on the old Gory Driver.

CYBERAL33: The Ganso Bomb fit so well into the tapistray of the match and
feud between Misawa and Kawada that it has to be number 1. Hopefully, we
won't see it again, unless it's neccessary. This is the last year to vote
for the moonsault footstomp of Hikari's so I'm putting it at number 2.
I've never seen anyone else perform this move and it is completly
ribshattering. I bet Amano, Kansai, Devil, and the rest are happy to see
Hikari go! Third is Jeff Hardy's run up the barricade and clothesline. I
marked like a maniac the first time I saw this, unbelievably creative! Way
to go Jeff...and you didn't even have to kill yourself for this one!

RFLAGG13: I don't mark out for much these days, but my jaw always hits the
floor when Mike Awesome powerbombs his victim through a table to the
outside of the ring. The same goes for Jeff Hardy's breathtaking
somersault sentonbomb, and I really hope he doesn't end up breaking his
neck doing it one day. 3rd goes to Rob Van Dam's Five Star Frog Splash,
since he gets an amazing amount of hangtime out of it. I've never really
seen anything like it.

MR. JF: Only seen it once, but DAMN!

PAUL ZOROVICH: It's important to differentiate the "ordinary" Benoit
swandive from his swandive FROM THE TOP OF THE CAGE~!.  The "ordinary"
swandive is OK, but theSWANDIVE FROM THE TOP OF THE CAGE~! is such a
crazy, insane, yea, STUPID move that it stands alone in this category.

SCOTT GRIFFITH: I don't feel that I can accurately judge this category.  
I've not seen most of the moves listed because of their Japanese nature,
but I'm sure that many of them are more worthy than my choices.  In fact,
I'd like to see a tape of them all!  Most of them sound pretty
spectacular.

SVEN MASCARENHAS: The biggest problem every year is deciding which of
D'Lo's move I'm going to put at the top of the ballot. His Rydeen bomb,
specifically when he snaps it off after a short-arm clothesline, is
awe-inspiring. The Lo Down makes RVDs Frog splash look downright pathetic.
And Jeff Hardy's rail runner was the best new move I'd seen in a long
time.

OCTAVIAN:  I simply love the aesthetics of Tajiri's tarantula, but you
never see it actually finish a match.  It's just there to pop the crowd.
Since it involves the ropes it would be interesting to work it to the
audience that the move is absolutely excruciating but the victim needs
only to last in it for the five count before the mandatory rope break.

JOHN ROMANO:  These are the moves everyone wants to see - too bad all
these guys are busy jobbing - so all you get to see is the "symbol" that
the move is coming.

DON BECKER: Three moves that make me mark out like a madman - the Burning
Hammer, the Sky-Hi, and the Tarantula.  If I were allowed to pick five,
Kawada's Ganso Bomb would also rate, though simply because it didn't
cripple or kill Mitsuharu Misawa, as would the Awesome Bomb.

MAX CHITTISTER: Not many guys make me jump out of my seat with one move.
Jericho, Test, and Edge do it on a pretty consistent basis (with honorable
mention to Shane for is elbowdrop from SS).

JBELL55146: Jeff Hardy's Senton Bomb<1st> is a thing of beauty.  Ditto
Kidman's SSP<2nd>. And Goldberg should watch Edge do a spear once and a
while. He might learn something

CAN00K: If you've never seen the Kawada's Gansobomb, what the hell are you
waiting for?  I liked it and Kobashi's Burning Hammer because they
killified Misawa.  The Dragon Rana is also quite nifty if the Dragon Kid
actually hits it.

PAUL SHOCK:  When I saw Whipwreck get Awesome-bombed, I thought he was
dead.  Seriously.  When Awesome goes to one of the Big Two, he will get
over for the rest of his life by doing this just once.  Rey's assisted
franksteiner is second, because it just looks so damn cool.  The 3D gets
third, because I just like it.  What better reason than that?

BLOB: Blitzkrieg's Stardust Press and Super Crazy's Crazy Special was just
amazing high risk moves, and make me mark out until I could mark no more.
Tajiri's tarantula is a very unique move that really impressed me.

GEORGE CARTER: Jeff Hardy's Sentonbomb somersault swandive is a thing of
beauty.  Benoit's headbutt has impressed me ever since he did it from the
top of a cage on Thunder. And Holly's falcon arrow inverted suplex is
pretty well done.

JOHN C.:I chose Jericho's double powerbomb because it's a great feat of
strength for a guy that many people consider to be too small. I've seen
him do it many times in his early days but he gave Road Dogg the double
powerbomb through a table on Smackdown it reminded me of the move so it
became my favorite.  The best moonsault in wrestling these days (because
Ultimo Dragon is out) belongs to Taka Michinoku so that's why he's number
two. Third is Gangrel's Implant DDT cause it's the best version of the DDT
that I have ever seen.

JON RICHARDSON: The move of the year is Edge's spear, hands down.  I don't
know if the WWF told him to do it to make fun of Goldberg or if he just
added it on his own but he does it with such force it looks far more
believable as an actually painful move than a spear done by anybody else
in the business. Jeff Hardy's swandive senton bomb comes in a close second
as he does it with such flair (and that he doesn't blow the spot, no
matter where he is doing it) and panache it looks even more impressive
than Dick Togo's. Kidman's shooting star press would have been higher on
the list but he got so sloppy with it as the year went on that I certainly
couldn't consider it to be number one.

RICHARD BEAUBIEN: I just love the Tiger driver, for some reason. It's a
simple power bomb varient, but it just seems so devistating. Perhaps it's
because I saw Misawa rule with it in my (very limited) exposure to All
Japan.  I love the Super Fisherman's buster as well, a urge Kidman to pick
it up and start a feud with Liger in Japan. The Swan Dive headbutt is just
awesome, and Benoit does it better than anyone else.

ELLIOT SPARKS: Best move is undoubtedly Toshiaki Kawada's Ganso Bomb. This
was probably the most deceptive move of the year, as it got all the
puroresu marks up in arms about the danger of an 'unprotected piledriver',
despite the fact that it was much safer and more calculated than people
think. Kawada has certainly mastered the art of making stuff look
dangerous. Spots two and three go to the year's aerial innovations:
Toryumon's Dragon Kid with his 360 degree Dragon Rana, and Brit indie
worker Jodie Flash with his wall-walk moonsault. Both look like they were
lifted from insane martial arts films, and blow away anything ever seen in
the mainstream US promotions.

JOE GAGNE: Jeff Hardy's somersault senton always makes my jaw drop.  
Sure, the People's Elbow is goofy, but you won't hear a bigger crowd
reaction.  And I'm as jaded as anyone, but when I first saw Super Crazy's
asai moonsault, I couldn't help but say "Holy Shit."

DAVID HANNA:  I looked at this award as who gets the biggest pops for
there moves. That elbow is over.  Way over.  You can laugh it, you can
wonder why people pop for it, but they do.  Stone Cold's stunner is still
one of my favorites. Still gets huge pops too.  Goldberg's spear and
jackhammer are pretty nifty too.  I would put Mr. Socko at 4, who would
have thought people would pop for a stupid sock?  I love reading about
that in his book.

MYKLL42:Jeff Hardy's sweet little senton bomb.  There are only two moves
that make me stand up while watching wrestling... that senton and Benoit
jumping off a cage.

SEAN FLYNN: These are the moves I always am amused by.  Sure I could have
said Benoit's rolling suplexes, or the Awesome Bomb from ring to outside
table, or Kidman's shooting star press, but I want to be original and
honest.  And at heart, I'm a sad little mark.

MARK SMITH:  This was a fun catagory this year.  The Burning Hammer and
Kawada's Ganso Bomb are both the God-loving ULTIMATE NECK-DEATH moves that
seem to define All Japan anymore, but I'm such a mark that I had to go
with Hardy's Senton bomb :-)

BEN MILLER:  You just gotta see Kobashi's Burning Hammer to believe it.  
The real credit here goes to Misawa for taking it.

KEVIN WONG: Can I vote for Wrestlemania 2000 moves??  The
powerbombs-to-DVD and triple powerbomb moves are sweet!!  From the moves
I've actually seen, my three are the Gory Special 2000, the Hardy Boyz'
top rope legdrop/splash combo (what's it called??  the Chet Morton??) ,
and the most electrifying (an over) move in sports entertainment, The
People's Elbow

B. SZPAKOWICZ: Jeff Hardy's Senton Bomb and Chris Jericho's Double Power
Bomb get the top two votes, on account of being too damn cool. For number
three, my protest vote goes to Shane McMahon's plancha off the cage, cause
it should at least have gotten a nomination.

THERION: I really missed not seeing Sabu's triple jump moonsault and
Arabian Facebuster in this section.

RICK SCAIA:  The moves that impress me most are the ones that make me say
either "Ouch, that really hurts," or "Wow, I could never do that."  
Tajiri's Dropkick of Woe gets me cringing every time.  Damned scary.  
Jerry Lynn's Cradle Piledriver was a really cool, really convincing
modification of an already believable move.  Rounding out the list:  Jeff
Hardy's Sentonbomb drops my jaw everytime.

JEREMY SORIA: Forget Val Venis' top-rope "Money Shot"... The Stone Cold
Stunner will always be the true money shot in the WWF. (A bit of
hyperbole, I must admit, but the crowd goes super-crazy whenever SCSA hits
him with the Stunner. Hell, they do it too with the Rock's finishers.)

OTTO "HACK-MAN" HEUER: For Best Wrestling Move people will complain, but I
had to chose the three that make me mark out the most (and isn't that the
purpose of this category?) and Benoit gets all three: Chris Benoit's
diving headbutt, Chris Benoit's locomotion German suplex, Chris Benoit's
knife-edge chop.  The only other move that really makes me mark out is
Tajiri's Tarantula.