Who had/has your favortie move set?

[Sammo~!]

I'm gonna second Scott Hall, Vader, and Bret. None of those guys are wrestlers that I love because of strictly their moves (Well, maybe Vader killing guys with powerbombs and dangerous looking punches in the corner has a lot to do with why I like him) but they had good characters and used moves that really fit those characters.

Maybe  it's just me, but tiny indy dudes who do wild powerbomb or suplex variations on top of all the flippy stuff just feels too "CAW" for my tastes. Like make sure every one of your circle moves from back grapple is either a tiger or dragon suplex because those are totally awesome. 

But Vader did a moonsault. And that was rad.

[J.H.]

Ricky Steamboat. From the deep armdrag, to his amazing chops and damn was cinched in headlock a thing of beauty. Plus just a gorgeous diving bodypress!

Add Koji Kanemoto to the lsit as well. He took his initial Tiger Mask moveset and took it a little deper, especially when he was beig na surly dick. It was like everytime he busted out a tiger supelx it was to say "Let me ruin your memories of Sayama by being a dick to your babyface hero!"

James

[Zakk_Sabbath]

2 hours ago, cwoy2j said:

I feel like Lynn was hurt a lot by the piledriver ban in the WWF. Without that, there really wasn't much to him that would appeal to the average WWF fan at the time.

That may very well be. I guess for me, because I loved the RVD matches from 99 so much at the time, I was hoping Lynn's WWF trajectory would be somewhat similar.

[cwoy2j]

17 minutes ago, Zakk_Sabbath said:

That may very well be. I guess for me, because I loved the RVD matches from 99 so much at the time, I was hoping Lynn's WWF trajectory would be somewhat similar.

I liked Lynn as well but he just seemed out of place in the WWF at that point. I think if he'd have had a killer finisher, he might've been able to stick around long enough to find a character that worked. Kind of like how The Dudleys seemed out of place in the WWF when they first got there but the 3D was over enough for them to hang around long enough to work out the kinks in their characters on the main stage (like getting rid of the stupid stuttering thing) and freshen up their looks (switching out the tie dye for cammo).

[cwoy2j]

11 hours ago, The Natural said:

Bret Hart gets my vote. Bret's Sharpshooter forever will be the best version of the hold. There's the jumping piledriver, the quick drive into the mat with the Russian legsweep, inverted atomic drop, his punches, the clotheslines,...the middle rope elbow and his vertical suplex/top rope superplex. I like when Bret did the vertical suplex, he'd shout out the effort into doing the move.

Honourable mentions to Kenta Kobashi and Bryan Danielson in ROH/Daniel Bryan in WWE.

The thing I always liked about Bret was that he always looked like he was actually trying to win the match. Like he had a strategy and a gameplan for each match and each move he did was according to that plan.

[The Natural]

7 minutes ago, cwoy2j said:

The thing I always liked about Bret was that he always looked like he was actually trying to win the match. Like he had a strategy and a gameplan for each match and each move he did was according to that plan.

You mentioning this reminds me of the following...Bret's use of pins: the WrestleMania VIII win against Roddy Piper used on Steve Austin at Survivor Series 1996, the victory roll against Bam Bam Bigelow at King of the Ring 1993 and Owen Hart at WrestleMania X. The La magistral on Davey Boy Smith at In Your House 5: Seasons Beatings.

[Spritenaut 32]

5 hours ago, Cyanide said:

I feel bad invoking Super Dragon (as arguably a prototypical MOVEZ~ guy), but his moveset certainly made an impression on me as a fledgling indie fan.  Most of the head drop finishers would probably make me queasy today (special shout-out to the Barry White Driver), but the Curb Stomp, Badonkadonk senton, stomps, Violence Party, lariat, UFO, koppo kick, tope con hilo, that leg butterfly hold with the kicks to the back of the head, and his really great phoenix splash when he busted it out all worked as a great blend of his relative power, striking, technical capability, and high flying acumen.

I have different feelings about Super Dragon now, but, yeah, Super Dragon's moveset made an impression on me back in the early 00's when I first got into indy wrestling.  By the time, I first started seeing Super Dragon, i had seen a lot of indy guys doing flippy stuff, so watching someone the size of Taro or Paul London do a SSP or 450 splash didn't make a huge impression on me.  There were a lot of guys doing that (and then some), and while the moves looked athletic, they didn't look all that painful.

Then I started watching SD and he combined the junior style with some stiff, painful looking offense.Granted, a lot of it involved unsafe head drops, so i'm less enamored of his moveset now, but at the time, Super Dragon was a memorable combination of strikes, big moves, and some flips.  I guess that contributed to SD's aura as a bad ass.  Paul London would flip you around with some armdrags and huracanranas then finish you off with something from the top turnbuckle that looked like it could hurt him as much as his opponent. Super Dragon would drop you on your head with a couple big moves, then kick you in the head a few times.  At the time, his offense looked a lot more violent.

The appeal of that has worn off over the years and, while I don't mind indyriffic offense (hello, Young Bucks), I currently prefer technicians who do less with more.

If I had to pick a couple current favorites, I'd probably go with William Regal or Doug Williams.  I dig Regal any time, and I don't know that I've never not enjoyed a FMA-era Doug Williams match. 

 

[Wyld Samurai]

Bret's offense made sense, looked realistic and was perfectly snug without him hurting anyone  (which he has always claimed as his proudest achievement). He also showed evolution of his character's offense when he introduced the ringpost figure four during the Anti-American Values angle. 

Vader was absolutely perfect for a big man. There wasn't a thing he did that didn't seem like it wouldn't mess you up or have it look business exposing.

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned The Dynamite Kid. For a Jr Heavyweight his offense was just so... violent.

I approve the mention of Scott Hall... though I always thought SOS stood for Side-Over-Slam.

[Sammo~!]

 

6 minutes ago, Wyld Samurai said:

I approve the mention of Scott Hall... though I always thought SOS stood for Side-Over-Slam.

Sack of Shit apparently came from Carlos Colon. Hall was wrestling Colon in Puerto Rico and did the fall away slam to him and Colon remarked after the match "You threw me like a sack of shit"

[cwoy2j]

6 minutes ago, Wyld Samurai said:

Bret's offense made sense, looked realistic and was perfectly snug without him hurting anyone  (which he has always claimed as his proudest achievement). He also showed evolution of his character's offense when he introduced the ringpost figure four during the Anti-American Values angle. 

Vader was absolutely perfect for a big man. There wasn't a thing he did that didn't seem like it wouldn't mess you up or have it look business exposing.

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned The Dynamite Kid. For a Jr Heavyweight his offense was just so... violent.

I approve the mention of Scott Hall... though I always thought SOS stood for Side-Over-Slam.

Haha, I actually always thought it meant SOS like the international distress call signal. Like once you hit it on your opponent, he would need to send out an SOS. I prefer the Sack Of Shit name though.

[Cyanide]

8 minutes ago, Vader does my taxes! said:

I have different feelings about Super Dragon now, but, yeah, Super Dragon's moveset made an impression on me back in the early 00's when I first got into indy wrestling.  By the time, I first started seeing Super Dragon, i had seen a lot of indy guys doing flippy stuff, so watching someone the size of Taro or Paul London do a SSP or 450 splash didn't make a huge impression on me.  There were a lot of guys doing that (and then some), and while the moves looked athletic, they didn't look all that painful.

Then I started watching SD and he combined the junior style with some stiff, painful looking offense.Granted, a lot of it involved unsafe head drops, so i'm less enamored of his moveset now, but at the time, Super Dragon was a memorable combination of strikes, big moves, and some flips.  I guess that contributed to SD's aura as a bad ass.  Paul London would flip you around with some armdrags and huracanranas then finish you off with something from the top turnbuckle that looked like it could hurt him as much as his opponent. Super Dragon would drop you on your head with a couple big moves, then kick you in the head a few times.  At the time, his offense looked a lot more violent.

Yeah, the high-flying offense was definitely a bit more memorable when being doled out by a legit 6' and 200+ lb ass kicker in a mask and pajamas ninja suit, while not looking too far out of the realm of what he "should" be doing given his overall style.

And certainly agree on having different feelings now; his work is obviously still memorable to me, but more so now as what I'm glad the indies don't seem to be inundated with anymore (though I'm sure there's still some guys out there keeping the dream alive).  I was on a nostalgia trip a few years back and got the Destruction DVD, and a lot of that stuff is just brutal to watch - especially Dragon and the likes of Steen and Excalibur braining each other over and over in Guerrilla Warfare matches, and of course the public execution of TARO.

[Matt D]

Jose Lothario.

[Wyld Samurai]

Are we including guys who actually knew how to do a lot matwork? Zybisco and Regal put on a damn good match that was basically swapping holds... which I absolutely dig when guys get all front chancery and float overish.

[cwoy2j]

3 minutes ago, Wyld Samurai said:

Are we including guys who actually knew how to do a lot matwork? Zybisco and Regal put on a damn good match that was basically swapping holds... which I absolutely dig when guys get all front chancery and float overish.

In that vein, there was nothing more fun than watching Ron Garvin squashing jobbers by putting them in torturous looking holds and then finishing with a straight right hand to the head. It'd be like if Stu Hart was a wrestler in JCP.

[Wyld Samurai]

Watching a lot of Ronnie lately on the Network and I absolutely agree. He was damn good on the mat.

The Stu Hart comparison is spot on.

[Curt McGirt]

This thread is neat as a kind of Rorschach test into what you subconsciously like in a wrestler. That said: Kawada. He was the first person that came to mind. Stretch Plum!

[twiztor]

while i agree with many of the picks already posted, i want to suggest Kanyon. he had a varied offense, and utilized a lot of variations on regular moves. one of my favorite things he did was, if he was suplexing someone from the apron into the ring, he'd stand on the bottom rope for that extra leverage. Not everything he did was crisp or perfect, but it just added a lot IMO.

[RRR]

Fuck it, I'm going with RVD. I know he wasn't snug and his "punches" sucked ass but I still love a lot of the stuff he did. Plus for all the potatoes he was dishing out he wasn't afraid to take it. Best recipient of a pile driver/ddt ever.

[Wyld Samurai]

I have to throw out love for Mr Perfect. His Rolling Necksnap is still in the top 10 of coolest moves ever in my eyes.

[Sammo~!]

The Perfect Plex is still one of my all time favorite wrestling maneuvers. 

[Ultimo Necro]

24 minutes ago, twiztor said:

while i agree with many of the picks already posted, i want to suggest Kanyon. he had a varied offense, and utilized a lot of variations on regular moves. one of my favorite things he did was, if he was suplexing someone from the apron into the ring, he'd stand on the bottom rope for that extra leverage. Not everything he did was crisp or perfect, but it just added a lot IMO.

Came in to post Kanyon, always enjoyed his moves.

Bret is the best though, the 5 moves of doom on top of all his other greatness, I would love it when Bret would bust out some brawling or a random submission because you thought "wow, he must be in a war as he doesn't normally bust that out"

recent indy guys Super Dragon and Steen really brought me back into that world in the 2000s.

flippy guys, Jody Fleisch of UK/ROH had that Teddy Hart, but crisper, vibe about him and was probably the first guy I saw use the style that most indy dudes use nowadays, maybe stick Quack in with him.  2 guys who were using exciting new styles back in the day.

Jonny Saint is a shout for me also, nobody else can do what he does as well as he does it.

also, Nova, because he invented everything.

 

[Wyld Samurai]

3 hours ago, Zartan said:

Fuck it, I'm going with RVD. I know he wasn't snug and his "punches" sucked ass but I still love a lot of the stuff he did. Plus for all the potatoes he was dishing out he wasn't afraid to take it. Best recipient of a pile driver/ddt ever.

It's amazing how much height he would get off a piledriver. He is a real life Tigger.

[AxB]

Bobby Roode's moves have always been pretty well put together. Austin Aries too, in that he's solid, but his flashy stuff makes sense in terms of being things that that type of guy would do in that situation. His 'look how cool I am' spots make sense because he's a guy who's constantly showing off how cool he is.

Also, he punched someone in the face during a 'Mat stalemate leads to pose of mutual respect' moment once. It was awesome.

[Matt D]

2 hours ago, Wyld Samurai said:

I have to throw out love for Mr Perfect. His Rolling Necksnap is still in the top 10 of coolest moves ever in my eyes.

So he had that, the perfectplex, and as Mr. Perfect, what else?

I mean, if you said Cool Curt...

[JCM]

Bret's gotten a lot of love in this thread, but I'm going with Owen. I think Owen had the perfect combo of having the basics down, great looking suplexes, some awesome kick variations, some good high spots and dives, and the submission finish.