We've all discussed this topic at length, maybe not in such a narrow timeline though. Before the Moonsault, the Arabian Face-Buster, The Shooting Star Press or the Whippersnapper there were two holds that made me stand up and point at the screen and say "ohhhhhhhhh". With the influx of moves over the last fifteen years (and there have been tons) these two still manage to stay a staple. They can be performed in different styles but retain the brutality and pop of the original quite nicely, and they can finish an opponent off to this day. During their prime they sent columns or electricity through an arena. The first time I saw them performed live it actually sent chills up my spine. So the question I ask is this, in it's time which move was the best finisher around" I propose to you the match of the 80's, The Pile Driver vs. the DDT.

Around longer than the DDT was the Pile Driver. I won't pretend that I know who performed it first or when that date was. It's a tested and true hold. And the move had one very important thing going for it, believability. When I saw it I had no doubt in my mind that it hurt. It looked absolutely great. And I saw a friend first hand get hurt when his older brother executed it. Even better still, when I was young certain promotions had outlawed it. The wheels started to churn in my pre-teen mind. Heck, if they outlawed it then it has to be the real deal. Nothing "fake" would be outlawed, right" Just thinking back makes me shiver. Lawler's opponent is bent over, he grabs his trunks and pulls his head in between his legs. Wrapping his arms around his stomach he straightens up. His foe is upside-down. A slight jump upwards he flings his legs out and all his enemies weight comes crashing down upon his head and shoulders. His body shoots out and crashes to the mat twitching. It's all over but the shouting.

I picked Jerry only because he was famous for it, but many people used it to great effectiveness over the years, even as a tombstone. The plus to the Pile Driver was it wasn't hard to get your opponent into position and you didn't need to be a power house to execute it. And though I will be repeating myself, it just looked great. Some drawbacks could be in the implementation. It needed to be good to make sure you and your opponent were safe and the responsibility of the success or failure fell mostly on the one applying the hold. Once you are upside-down your control is pretty much gone. That being said, if it was a great worker who knew how to perform you felt pretty safe in his hands. Though one could say that Owen Hart was a tremendous performer and we all know what happened in the match with himself and Stone Cold. Nothing is 100%.

Next up is the DDT. And no one, and I mean NO ONE to this day does with that maneuver what was done by one man. I think you know who he is. Picture it, Jake the Snake attempts to throw his opponent across the ring. No wait, he holds onto his arm and brings him back into a short arm clothesline. He looks around and then brings his right arm into the air and only holding his index finger up he does a circle motion with his hand. The crowd screams and comes to their feet. He pulls his enemy up on wobbly legs (he must be on rubber-leg street). Bent over he pulls him close hooking his arm around the side of his head and in one quick fluid motion falls backwards driving his challenger's head into the mat. Three seconds later his arm is raised in victory.

There are a few reasons that I tend to lean towards the DDT as the best finisher of the 80's. For one thing it can be applied quickly without effort in almost any position as long as you are on your feet. Once the crowd bought it, anyone who performed it could "steal" a victory. You didn't need to be a great talent to perform it correctly. There isn't a lot to screw up or motion to be wasted in its application. One thing I hate is running across the ring twice only to stop all your momentum before finishing a move. This is quick, deadly, decisive. Like the name implies, it's as explosive a move as there is. One of the only drawbacks I have seen to it is the opposite of the Pile Driver. While all the responsibility of the Pile Driver was on one person, in this case the responsibility it almost 50/50 and on the surface that sounds good. But the only time I have frowned at a DDT is when the person starts to drop before the person applying the hold starts to fall back. So it's believability factor can go down in that situation, where as the Pile Driver always works, just sometimes it leaves real injuries in it's wake.

My money in this match is for the DDT.

by Christopher Guido ..