Which Wrestling Move Should Never Be Used Again? Tombstone vs. Crippler Crossface vs. Punches

There are a lot of moves that get “banned” in pro-wrestling over the years. Sometimes it’s storyline related, however these days it seems to be more about safety. The Piledriver, DDT, and Curb Stomp are a few of the moves that we rarely ever see now, alongside the more dangerous moves like the Burning Hammer or Vertebreaker that were basically never used in the WWE. Certain strikes even seem to be banned now, like the chest chop, the headbutt, and Orton’s punt. Eventually we’re just gonna be watching guys thumb-wrestling, but okay, whatever, I’m talking about outlawing a move for a different reason.

Today I want to think about the idea of never using a move again for some kind of respect, either for a wrestler, for human beings, or the rules of a fictional universe. A wrestling move could be taken out of rotation for these principles, and it would make things better (arguably) not worse.

The 411mania Wrestling 3-Way Dance matches up three opponents in an intellectual battle every week. The biggest advantages and disadvantages of each contender will be highlighted before a final ranking will declare the ultimate winner. This week’s 3-Way Dance:

Which Wrestling Move Should Never Be Used Again?

Tombstone vs. Crippler Crossface vs. Punches

Why this move should be gone from wrestling…

Tombstone = The Undertaker is a legend.

When the Undertaker (and, hell, let’s throw Kane in there too) eventually retires, the pro-wrestling world should retire the Tombstone piledriver out of respect.

Even though the move was in rotation prior to the Undertaker using it as his finisher, the man made it damn famous while creating one of the most legendary careers in pro-wrestling history. You know who the Undertaker is, what he’s done, and therefore don’t you agree that the best tribute we can give him moving forward is to raise the banner on his finisher the way they retire numbers in pro-sports? Who could argue with that?

Crippler Crossface = Murder.

Chris Benoit, as we all know, murdered his family. I’m sure we’ll probably never forget this, even though we’d all like to. Certainly being reminded of it every single time someone uses the “Crossface”, as it’s been so sensitively re-branded, is not fun.

It’s always looked particuarly jarring when Triple H or Shawn Micheals try to use it, since they were famously in a Triple Threat Match with Benoit at Wrestlemania XX that was once considered one of the best matches of all time. We get the idea that they’re trying to reclaim the move from the horrendous memory of what Benoit did, however, I think it would be better to just ignore the move forever. The WWE has stated that you will never hear the name “Chris Benoit” on their programming again, and this should go for his signature move as well, since whenever it’s used we all think of him anyways.

Punches = They’re supposed to be illegal.

If punches are illegal strikes in wrestling, how come they’re allowed in pretty much every match? Wouldn’t the one thing you’d want them to enforce in the “show” of pro-wrestling be the rule against punching? If there’s no punching, then it really is professional wrestling, not MMA or boxing. But with all the allowable punching it’s like shouting out “the rules here don’t matter!”

And the constant warnings by the referees are so ineffectual, because there is never any consequence for using a punch after a warning, and in fact, someone like The Big Show can actually win a match with this illegal move, which makes even less sense.

Of course, we know that this is all part of a scripted show, and they can do whatever they want with the rules, but think about how effective a Street Fight would be if that was the only time you could use punches? Or how much more interesting the roster might be too, if the WWE had to use wrestlers that actually need to know how to “wrestle” rather than just punch and sell? Just make a rule and stick to it, that’s all I’m saying.

Why this move should could stay in wrestling…

Tombstone = Tribute.

One might argue that the MORE wrestlers start using the Tombstone after the retirement of the Undertaker, it might keep his memory and impact alive longer. When Jake “the Snake” Roberts slowed down his career, the move he “created” – the DDT – all of a sudden started popping up more often in shows, and usually got Roberts a mention each time.

After the retirement of Shawn Michaels, his patented Superkick is now more prevalent than ever. Every time you see the name of the move, whether it’s a promotion, indy event, or Young Bucks merchandise, you think of HBK.

So maybe the proliferation of the Tombstone will keep the memory of the Undertaker on our lips long after his in-ring time is over.

Punches = Illogical rules don’t matter in a genre built around convenience.

For good or bad, the rules of the WWE are not really rules. So when the “writers” behind the scenes want someone to punch someone else, all they have to do is just instruct everyone not to follow the rules. I suppose we all know this part already.

As dumb as it is for a scripted series that wants to appear realistic to do something that so obviously screams “fake”, is it really that different than what happens in real sport? The referees and umpires in everything from baseball to tennis to football to basketball do seem to arbitrarily apply the rules related to violations and fouls. Despite the fact that we’ve reached the point with technology that you can just throw a few sensors on these athletes and we could enforce all rules 100% of the time and lose all the human error/bias, these leagues still employee “officials” on the field of play. The unspoken argument for it (aside from unions) would be that the ebbs and flows in how rules are used can create drama in these actual legitimate competitions that could be eliminated (or at least changed drastically) if the traditional rules of these games were applied perfectly. Fans passionately love/hate the NBA because a guy like LeBron James gets away with the bending of many rules, but LeBron could just be another player if rules for flopping, fouls and defence were applied to him as much as they are some D-level scrub.

So pro-wrestling probably just allows punches constantly when they’re technically against the rules because it’s an easy way to make a star out of someone who isn’t probably a great wrestler. After Owen Hart broke Stone Cold’s neck, what kind of career would he have had if he was never allowed to throw a punch? Dude would have just retired back in ’97, the WWE would have been bought out by WCW, which would have then gone out of business like 2 years later from general incompetency, and the only pro-wrestling we’d be watching in 2017 would be like CHIKARA, WOW and the AWF legends tour.

Okay, so these are all reasonable options, but which move should REALLY no longer be allowed in pro-wrestling?

#3 = Crippler Crossface

I’d say, more than the other two options, continuing to use the Crippler Crossface has the least effect. This is because of the WWE’s (admirable) policy of never again acknowledging who Chris Benoit was, and therefore eventually the next generation will just not even remember this was his move. Unlike the Undertaker, who the WWE will probably never shut up about even long after we’re all gone, Benoit will eventually be erased.

#2 = Punches

Using the Crippler Crossface is still a wrestling move, one that if I did it on my friend she’d still probably pretty easily be able to escape without getting hurt in anyway, but if kids on the playground imitate punches then they’re gonna be knocking each other out.

So yeah, it’s dangerous and it’s not really supposed to be used in matches. Watching 200+ pound, muscular guys punching each other repeatedly with their full power without protecting themselves, also makes wrestling look pretty silly. And, at a time when there is so much wrestling on TV and so little creativity, having punches banned from matches might be an interesting way to force some kind of in-match strategy changes.

So if it was up to me, I’d stop allowing punches. Respect the fake rules of your own scripted universe!. However, the #1 option deserves our full respect and should really be removed from pro-wrestling forever…

#1 = Tombstone

When we look at the history of pro-wrestling, how many careers have there been like the Undertaker’s? How many will there ever be?

I think you can make whatever objective argument you want about Hogan, Sammartino, Cena, Austin, El Santo, Rikidozan, or Inoki, being the biggest wrestlers in history, but the Undertaker is the fucking Undertaker. You can’t quantify what this guy did: what he turned a zombie gimmick into, how he maintained relevance and credibility, and how he was actually the most pro-wrestling of wrestlers out there.

All these other legends, their gimmicks were always just kind of “bad ass fighter”, which really at the end of the day isn’t why we got into wrestling. We want to see the crazy characters, the goofy gimmicks, and something like the brother vs. brother drama of the Undertaker/Kane feud. And ontop of all that, the Tombstone is the most pro-wrestling of “over” finishers. You pick a guy up and drill his head into the ground, without the guy struggling out of this unbelievable position or becoming paralyzed as a result.

This man deserves to have his signature move retired – forever! And so the next time we should see a Tombstone is on the Undertaker’s tombstone, where is should say “Finisher: Tombstone Piledriver”… assuming he can ever really die, or that he’ll ever actually retire. Until then, the Tombstone is 411mania’s 3-Way Dance official Move that Should No Longer be Used in Wrestling.