Hi everyone. Today, we are looking at 10 of the most annoying wrestling moves of this era. The list differs from my previous because our EWN Facebook followers chose all the entries. I wouldn’t say it’s an exact “Top 10”, but the top three were definitely the most common. There were no criteria, so it was interesting to see what our followers gravitated toward.
Please respect the fact this is completely subjective, and I encourage you to share what you agree/disagree with, along with adding your own in the comments section. Because I don’t agree, doesn’t mean I didn’t include them, so please realize that most of these opinions are not my own. All I’m doing is explaining how and why they could annoy fans, but I’m not telling you what to like or dislike.
After making this, I realized how I’d already made a similar list with my own entries eight months ago. If you’re interested you can read that here: Wrestling Pet Peeves: Moves, Spots & Illogical Working Explained
10. Top Rope Double Axe Handle
While I think it’s sweet to have different top rope moves which are accessible to all, it could be a letdown to anyone looking forward to something spectacular. Growing up, I always felt that the double axe handle was one of the lamest moves in wrestling, because 1) it looks crap, and 2) there’s so many other options. I feel like heels should only use it to get heat at this point.
The only guy I can remember doing it well in modern times was Austin Aries, but he usually flew from the top rope to the outside, so the impact was large enough to mask how dull it is. Kind of like what Sting is doing in the video game below, ironically on another legend who did it the best.
9. One Count
Again, I am all for one counts, but it’s a matter of context. Is it early in the match? Or is the fallen wrestler going through an adrenaline rush (hulking up)? If either of these is true, I’m all for it. Yet, when it happens randomly without reason, it makes my eye twitch. Even more so when they kick out so quickly after a power move. I think two counts in wrestling are overused, but it feels like the one count is hardly ever used the right way. It’s a missed opportunity.
8. Weak Punches
Compare The Undertaker’s punches to anyone today, and you’ll see what I mean. One thing the current era lacks is mean strikers who look as if they are legitimately punching their opponents. If they do, they get labelled “stiff”, which is perhaps why some don’t go down this road, because they don’t want to gain a reputation of someone who injures others.
It’s all in the technique though, you never heard anyone call The Undertaker “stiff”. You never heard of him injuring anyone either. With the correct technique, you can throw out punches which look like they hurt without doing so, but it feels like the technique has been lost and replaced by kickers, of which there are very few.
7. Count Outs
I agree with the old trope of a wrestler being on the outside getting back in the ring at the count of 9, to be so overused to the point of annoyance. It’s so predictable it’s hardly worth doing, because it shocks no one. Anyone who watches wrestling over a decent period of time will soon figure it out. It’s so rare anyone doesn’t make it by the count of 10, and what makes it worse is that when they are to be counted out, they make it so damn obvious. The referee counts louder, faster, and the wrestler is nowhere near returning.
When was the last time a referee counted out a wrestler just as they were about to get back in? Hardly ever, and I bet that’s because they think it’s embarrassing for the loser. I don’t see it that way, it’s just the way the rules are, and it would be way more shocking than predictably springing up from the floor and scrambling in the millisecond before losing the match. It’s so unrealistic because it happens so often.
6. Gymnastics
I love athleticism. I can’t get enough of seeing guys and girls showing how gifted they are. Yet, in wrestling, especially in this era, there are far too many wrestlers performing moves just to show off. There’s no reason for it other than to show off how athletic they are, and it rarely makes a match better. It tells us there is a lack of urgency to win, because they have the time to mess around exerting energy they could be using to beat their opponent. It takes you out of the moment, especially when the spot is repeated.
Take Ivar of The Viking Raiders, for example. He always finds a point halfway through a match to evade someone with a cartwheel. Who the hell is that for?! Is he trying to impress the Olympic Gymnastics team?! I want a guy like Ivar to turn around and smash his opponent square in the jaw. I certainly don’t want to see a Viking doing cartwheels. Can you imagine an actual Viking doing such a thing? They would be laughed out of the tribe. And it’s not just him. There are many examples of talent doing backflips for no reason other than to show off.
5. Climbing Is Hard
This is easily the oldest trope which anyone new to wrestling will easily pick up on, and I have mentioned it many times before. If you are the first one to climb a ladder, cage, or anything which has something to retrieve, climbing becomes the most difficult thing in the world. It’s like trying to get out of bed in the morning with only an hour’s sleep, while the other person springs out like they’ve just enjoyed eight hours. It’s unrealistic, but you can’t really blame wrestlers for doing this, because it’s the only way to add suspense and keep climbing matches going.
Yes, it’s annoying, but it’s a necessary annoyance, otherwise we’d get even more so if they ended in a few minutes before the real action begins. The best climbing matches have a wrestler target an opponent’s arm or leg to make the slow climbing logical, because they sell the injuries. Another way is to show exhaustion later in the match. Either way, there are ways to make a slow climb less annoying, and the best matches make use of them.
4. Destroying The Destroyer
I’m tired of repeating this point, it’s something I’ve mentioned several times in the past two years, but I couldn’t leave it out. I’m a fan of Petey Williams, the TNA (Impact) guy who put the Canadian Destroyer on the map. It was mentioned that this move has become as common as an arm drag, so much so that literally everyone and their grandmothers are kicking out of it. Somehow, wrestlers can take this, but they can’t kick out of a simple roll up. There’s a disconnect, because it doesn’t matter how devastating something looks anymore. I find it disappointing how matches can just end in any manner, because the finishing move is never truly protected.
We see wrestlers kicking out of Destroyers, Avalanche Tombstone Piledrivers, 630’s… nothing is safe! Not even Jackhammers, Burning Hammer’s or One Winged Angel’s. No moves can stand the test of time, because at some point they will turn in to Jake Roberts’ DDT. All wrestling finishers eventually become just another move for wrestlers to pop out whenever they feel like it. And when all the biggest, scariest looking moves fall in to line, what’s left? How can you top them? The answer is you can’t. Matches will become a free for all, where you have to accept the fact they end randomly to any move because nothing is sacred. The precedent is already being set.
3. High Risk Moves No Longer High Risk
There was a time when a commentator like Jim Ross would explain why high-risk moves were called high risk, and how important it was for them not to be overused. The whole point of a high-risk move is there’s a degree of self sacrifice. By performing the move, you may hurt yourself just as, if not more so than your opponent. Therefore, high-risk moves were always called high risk, but these days, high-risk moves are used in almost every match, to the point they can’t be.
The more you put yourself at risk, the less it feels like you are actually putting yourself at risk. So there is no such thing as a high-risk move anymore, at least, til someone actually gets hurt, which at that point it’s probably because of a botch, and not because the move was actually risky. So treat high-risk moves like they are high risk (by using them less), or just stop selling them like they are, and the fans will get less annoyed by this.
2. Catch Me!
We’ve all seen it. Wrestler A climbs to the top turnbuckle. Wrestler B, all the way through to Z, are on the outside throwing weak punches at each other. They conveniently huddle together like they are having a friendly discussion, and move in the general direction of Wrestler A. Some of them might glance up at Wrestler A, but pretend they do not know what they are about to do. All these wrestlers on the outside stay for what feels like an eternity, while the camera pans away. Wrestler A is so happy to waste time by playing to the fans while wrestlers B-Z keep up this funny-looking huddle, like they just love being together.
Finally, Wrestler A flies off the turnbuckle on to the mass of humanity, as B-Z open their arms to catch their fallen brother/sister. Everyone falls down like a bowling ball hitting skittles, and what’s this I hear? The fans chanting “HOLY ****!”? That must mean it’s one of the most hardcore moves we have ever seen! How outstanding was it for Wrestler A to have been in such a position to take down that many of his teammates and opponents at the same time?! It’s amazing, but what is truly incredible is how sarcastically describing this set of events heals my frustration. The spot is absurd, but they keep doing it anyway… so I guess all we can do is live with it.
1. Superkick Party!
By far the most shared frustration from our users, and for good reason. You know, when you kick someone in the head, you could easily end up in prison. Not only that, but you could just also put the person in hospital, or if done right, you could kill them. I’m not kidding… kicking someone in the head is one of the worst things anyone can do to a human being. Yet, in wrestling, you can watch three guys Super Kick someone’s head off, and they kick out of the pin fall at 2! Hangman Page did it on this week’s Dynamite… and I was lost for words. It wasn’t the first time they have done this either.
I cannot accurately describe my frustration here. Remember when Shawn Michaels made the Super Kick tuneful? He made Sweet Chin Music a finisher to be feared, respected, and appreciated for its power and how surprising it could be. Since those times, the Super Kick has become so woefully untuneful and unsurprising that I’d pay the Young Bucks and any other wrestler to drop it from their arsenal. If I were to pay to see a match, I would give a little extra just for the privilege of not seeing this move at all.
That’s how much I hate seeing the Super Kick become the weakest, most annoying move in the entire business. I can only pray and dream that one day someone wakes up and realizes that bastardizing a move which Shawn Michaels made legendary is not helping anybody. And I say this as a fan of the Young Bucks… I don’t hate them, or their style, they don’t need to change everything about their game. I just wish they would drop the whole Super Kick Party gimmick, it’s just not fun anymore. Kicking someone in the head should mean more in the context of a match. Show it more respect, that’s all our followers want.
Conclusion
You may think we’re just whining, moaning, complaining, or whatever. I think you can’t have anything great without the terrible, and wrestling has always been about what works. Every era of wrestling is different, and what got over forty years ago may have been long past its sell by date twenty years ago. Wrestling is an art form forever growing, and the fans play a big part in that. The business claims to listen, and I can’t blame them for having selective hearing (we don’t always know what we want), but it feels like many wrestlers try too hard to earn (not so) precious star ratings. I don’t think it’s too much to ask when we say to slow things down.
Wrestling shouldn’t be a dot to dot sequence of events. It should be allowed to flow organically by listening to the fans and playing off of them, much like how a band follows the instructions from their conductor, instead of playing a piece the way they want to. Acrobatics and dangerous wrestling mean nothing without characters we care for, so do more to make us feel. Do less to impress the critics getting paid to write reviews, because they always find things to chip away at because it’s their job.
I’ve always said that characters come first in wrestling. Steve Austin, The Rock and The Undertaker were three of the biggest legends in the game. Why? Because people love to remember their characters and appreciated whatever they gave us in the ring. It certainly wasn’t because of how highly rated their matches were. With that said, big thanks to everyone for giving me your entries, and I hope we’ve done enough to share how we feel about some of the most annoying moves in this era of wrestling. Thank you for reading.
