A finishing move in the world of wrestling is crucial. Something that can make or break a pro wrestler, often the coolest looking moves don't click, while something as goofy as "The People's Elbow" becomes iconic. Each wrestler has a different method to their madness when landing on their signature, match ending match up. In this series, "Making A Finisher," Fightful.com will go in depth with wrestlers as they explain their moves, discuss how they were developed, who took it the best, the worst, why they stopped doing some of them, and the psychology behind them.
This is Making A Finisher, Shorts
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If you've kept your eye on Fightful, you heard Justin Credible talk about asking for his release from WWF, and moving on to ECW. It was a move that paid dividends for our career, as when I spoke with him, he was a part of a convention panel of ECW veterans.
One of the things that helped him establish that career rebirth was a new twist on a familiar trick, the Tombstone Piledriver. Playing off of his own name, he called it "That's Incredible," and that new twist? It was literally a twist. He performed a spinning version of it that he tells Fightful was actually not intentional.
"It was a complete accident," Credible said. "This was my first match at the ECW Arena. I was wrestling Jerry Lynn, who’s one of the greatest of all time and I literally, it was his idea to do a spot where we would do the tombstone, but do a bunch of reversals. And, then he was so light I just happened to have gotten him up and then I said, “Well, just throw some spin on it.” It was totally happenstance, by accident. Then he was like, “That looked really cool. That should be your deal.” I didn’t plan it ‘cause I’m not that smart. But, it ended up being just incredible."
That's Incredible! on @THETOMMYDREAMER from @PJPOLACO. #ECW #WWENetwork pic.twitter.com/EKwUShkcY0
— gWo-4-Life! (@gifworldorder) January 21, 2020
Over time, Credible would do a cradled version that mocked that of Lynn's own Cradle Piledriver. Sometimes he'd head up to the second rope. Sometimes he wouldn't do the spin at all. The former Aldo Montoya had experienced some creative stifling in years past, and seemed thrilled that he just had the opportunity to go create.
"It was just a wonderful time. We were experimenting," Credible said. "We were really trying to raise the bar. We were trying to do what WWE and WCW wasn’t doing. It was, quite frankly, a lot of the spirit that AEW is today. It was a fun time. It was a great time as a performer."
Previous editions of Making A Finisher include:
Adam "Hangman" Page's Rite Of Passage
Damien Priest's South Of Heaven Chokeslam
Stevie Ray's Slapjack, Harlem Heat's Harlem Hangover
"Switchblade" Jay White's Blade Runner
Christopher Daniels' Angel's Wings
Magnum TA's Belly-to-Belly Suplex
Darren Young's Crossface Chickenwing
