Exciting wrestling moves are what give us the feeling of the intensity of the action in the ring and the moves need to be perfectly maneuvered in order to keep the viewer’s eyes glued to the match. Although WWE is not really that into technical wrestling as other places like New Japan Pro Wrestling or crazy stuff like Lucha Underground, it has its share of wrestlers who have imprinted their moves into our memories and have gained incredible success because of some iconic moves. Be it high-flying stunts or just raw display of power to enthrall the audience into the action, a wrestler’s moveset and maneuvers are vital for him to "get over" with the crowd.

But sometimes a wrestling move gets stale and when one such move gets really over with the crowd, the wrestling promotions tend to make other wrestlers use it in order to gain attention. This doesn’t work at all as specific personalities make iconic moves their own and it doesn’t seem to suit others trying to imitate it. Though one can argue that some moves are necessary to lighten up the aura of the match, the repetitive use of certain moves makes it dull after a point of time and just takes the taste out of it. Be it certain wrestling holds or flying moves or high-octane slams, these moves suit only particular wrestlers and these promotions' overbooking of its usage makes us sick of it.

Also, the usage of the same moves which were invented some 30 years ago takes away from the originality of the product and gives an impression of a lack of innovation in the creative team and also hampers one’s perception of the wrestler himself. Because the times are changing, the bookers need to scrap some "iconic" moves in order to introduce more exciting ones which would give us a feeling of a "new era".

15 15. Swinging Neckbreaker

via youtube.com
via youtube.com

The Swinging Neckbreaker is a modified version of the neckbreaker in which the wrestler runs onto an opponent to deliver it, giving a vicious whiplash effect to it. Used by the Honky Tonk Man as his finisher in the 80s, it was then known as Shake, Rattle and Roll as the legendary Intercontinental Champion delivered some vicious ones to put down opponents. But with the advent of a new era and new moves, this dropped down the charts as it is now used as a counter-move and rarely does anyone put people down with it. The Vaudvillain’s finisher is a version of the Swinging Neckbreaker, but we just can’t buy into the move anymore.

14 14. Samoan Drop

via youtube.com
via youtube.com

The Samoan Drop is the invention of legendary Samoan wrestlers made famous by the likes of Rikishi and Umaga, who because of their heavyweight personality, could drop almost anyone with this move. It basically drops the opponent under the pressure of the other wrestler’s upper body and can be said to be a modified version of the Angle Slam. Recently the current offsprings of the Anoa’i family in WWE in the Usos and Roman Reigns have been using it and it has become boring because of the persistent use of it to make these guys look strong. It should be scrapped from the movesets of these wrestlers now and something more dynamic should be added, as this move is always seen in our eyes as Rikishi and Umaga’s move.

13 13. Diving Elbow Drop

via youtube.com
via youtube.com

Popularized by the ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage with it being his iconic finisher, the Diving Elbow Drop is something which was seen as a legitimate finisher as Savage finished off many with it. But soon it got degraded to lower status as Shawn Michaels used it as a his signature and soon it got degraded to a top rope move many a superstar would perform to try to get a pin. But we rarely see anyone getting pinned after an Elbow Drop as it only seems to be still relevant because of the legacy of the ‘Macho Man’, but he would hate to watch his move be discarded as it is nowadays.

12 12. Bearhug

via wwe.fr
via wwe.fr

The Bearhug actually looks brutal when applied perfectly, like it was during the old days of inventor Terrible Ted - an actual 600 pound, 7 feet tall Bear who was a ‘professional’ wrestler in the Canadian Scene. You bet it looks scary when applied by a bear, and can literally break bones in one’s body if applied realistically but as wrestling mellowed down so did this move, as the ‘big, strong guys use it as a submission move (the only one they can do) to tap the smaller opponent out. It just feels like the holder is just holding onto his opponent and applying no pressure and the victim always manages to fight back, which has degraded the legitimacy of the move and something no-one wants to see anymore.

11 11. Hurricanrana

via explosivegifs.blogspot.com
via explosivegifs.blogspot.com

Used mostly by the Luchadores in the wrestling circuit, the Hurricanrana was invented by Mexican Luchador Hurican Ramirez in the 1950s. It caught a lot of buzz because of its exciting nature and became an iconic one for Luchadores to come. But nowadays it seems to be overused and doesn’t have much relevance to it as not many can sell it that well, and thus the move seems to have dulled down despite being such an athletic one which instantly catches the eye. Wrestlers are combining the ropes to make it more entertaining as the classic one was only iconic in Ramirez’s era.

10 10. Russian Leg Sweep

via explosivegifs.blogspot.com
via explosivegifs.blogspot.com

The Russian Leg Sweep is like a staple move in the wrestling circuit right now used mostly in the middle of the matches to keep things moving on. Though it doesn’t have the impact like many other moves, it was quite powerful when Bret Hart used it in the early 90s and Brad Armstrong being know for delivering the best ones as his signature move. Nowadays it's mostly used as a counter-move by the wrestlers to gain an upper hand in the match, as it has mellowed down from an impressive technical move to an ordinary, over-used one.

9 9. Irish Whip into Steel Steps/Ring Posts

via youtube.com
via youtube.com

Let’s admit it, this move does no damage whatsoever to someone nowadays and is only used as an ‘extreme’ stunt in a normal match. Before, some vicious Irish Whips were delivered to the posts or steel steps and backed with believable selling and compelling shot-calling; nowadays one doesn’t even get an inkling that this move can legit injure someone as everyone seems to get back up after being thrown into the steps and ring posts. Mostly used on the faces by the heels as the faces then beat the 10 count to heroically get back into the ring, this is just getting annoying now and the outcome also becomes predictable because of this stunt.

8 8. Powerbomb

via wrestlinggamer.com
via wrestlinggamer.com

Invented by Lou Thesz because of a botched piledriver attempt, The Powerbomb was quite a devastating maneuver during the 90s or even the early 2000s as it was regarded as one of the most powerful finishers and moves in the wrestling circuit. Used by Diesel to put people down in a matter of minutes, it rose to stardom in the early parts of the 90s and many others imitated it and invented their own variations of it. But because it became so popular amongst the wrestling talent, it lost its charm and soon bookers didn’t book it strongly either which transformed it from a brutal finisher to a move which we see in every other match. The variations, like Kevin Owens’ Pop-Up Powerbomb or Bubba Ray Dudley’s Bubba Bomb from the top rope are still relevant enough, but most of the variations are becoming stale.

7 7. Clothesline

via youtube.com
via youtube.com

Gone are the days where a clothesline could literally knock one out and turn them inside out. The clothesline move was invented many a year ago, but JBL’s Clothesline from Hell literally looked to knock one’s senses out and it was one of the most devastating finishers of the time. But later on the clothesline just became an ordinary move in almost every heavyweight/ strong wrestler’s moveset which is used to show the power that wrestler possesses. Dean Ambrose’s version of the clothesline needs proper selling to look good and the lack of selling on the move’s viciousness has turned it soft and one just grows tired of it after a while.

6 6. Superplex

via youtube.com
via youtube.com

Although this move might be super cool to watch, the Superplex can actually hurt if gone wrong because of the impact of the landing. But the wrestling promotions never seem to take the move seriously, as it’s only one which will make for a ‘cool spot’ which will catch the audience’s eye and even the most brutal and "OMG" of Superplexes cannot seem to finish off opponents. The selling on the part of the wrestlers performing it are mostly great, but isn’t backed up with anything more as it only seems brutal for the spot itself and the wrestlers easily shake it off afterwards. The move might be really awesome to watch, but the wrestling promotions should invent more relevant moves off the top rope and let this one go already.

5 5. Suicide Dive

via youtube.com
via youtube.com

It does seem like a crazy move to perform and does get the audience excited, but the Suicide Dive isn’t exactly that easy to pull off. The Suicide Dive is used like crazy around the wrestling world right now by wrestlers of all heights and weights and everyone isn’t exactly convincing as well as it needs the right amount of skill and technique to perfect. You can see every other wrestler using it, but many of them are actually discreetly botched which makes one grow tired of this move, in spite of it being so entertaining. The Suicide Dive needs to be seriously limited before everyone grows tired of a move which is actually very impressive in its nature.

4 4. Knife Edge Chop

via youtube.com
via youtube.com

Here is a move which can put even the weakest of competitors over with the crowd for sometime because of the legacy it has. Known more popularly as ‘The Flair Chop’ used by Ric Flair followed by a ‘WOOOOOO!’ from the crowd, everyone loves it when this chop is performed by a wrestler. But this is now being used as a cheap tactic to get attention from the crowd by many promotions, and the overuse of it along with the ‘WOOOO!’ from the crowd everytime such a strike is committed gets on one’s nerves after a point of time. The wrestling promotions should just stop making their talent use this strike, as it is always something which will be remembered as a ‘Ric Flair’ move and doesn’t give any individuality to the person actually hitting the strike.

3 3. DDT

via todaysknockout.com
via todaysknockout.com

Nowadays used more like a ‘reversal’ maneuver than a legit signature/finisher, The DDT was one of the most vicious finishers in Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts’ time when he used to dispose of opponents with it. The DDT actually looks pretty brutal if maneuvered properly, as Roberts did as he almost pounded the opponent’s head onto the mat with massive whiplash. But now the DDT is just another ordinary which is a stepping stone for a comeback for a wrestler into the match and rarely even gets pins nowadays. Many variations of the move have been developed over the years, like Tornado DDT or even Dean Ambrose’s ‘Dirty Deeds’, but the original move has a feeling of nostalgia to it which is fading off because of how badly booked it is nowadays and wrestling promotions need to stop using it like that.

2 2. Spear

via hdwallpaperseek.com
via hdwallpaperseek.com

The Spear used to almost break one in half a decade or so ago when wrestlers like Goldberg, Rhino and Edge used it as their finishers and finished off their opponents. Goldberg and Rhino’s in particular felt to be devastating because of their physique, as the move now is used every now and then and for all the wrong reasons. It’s more popularly known as the move which makes Roman Reigns ‘look strong’ and which is supposedly meant to put him over, but failing. There has been a lot of backlash from fans who blame Reigns of not pulling off the move properly, but the man has pulled of some brilliant one. But the move in general is getting stale now as the above mentioned icons made it their own and it just feels weird watching someone else do it. Plus making guys like Big Show do it at times doesn’t help either.

1 1. Superkick

via youtube.com
via youtube.com

To think that this was one of the most iconic finishers of all time, with The Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels tuning up the band for his ‘Sweet Chin Music’ which won him so many matches and championships. After he left wrestling, the move seemed to pick up massively around the wrestling world as wrestlers all around the world and in different promotions made this move their own, but the relevance of it fell drastically. Instead of a legitimate match winner, it’s now used as an ordinary move to try to get a pin-fall. From the Young Bucks to the Usos to Dolph Ziggler, everyone of these are responsible for ruining the magic of this move and it’s now something which has become so predictable, apparent that one can’t even seem to enjoy it and the legacy HBK created through this move seems to have hindered away.