LONG BLOG
Fighting Games Made Me Appreciate Professional Wrestling
[Here's something casual from Yours Truly.]
Other than fighting games, I enjoy watching a lot of professional wrestling. I watched WWF/WWE, WCW, ECW (Original and WWE Brand), and TNA (when it was good) when I was a kid. Since then, my tastes in professional wrestling has been more redefined since I'm currently watching Ring of Honor, Lucha Underground, New Japan Pro Wrestling, and WWE NXT. I need to watch PWG, since I hear it’s really good!
For WWE, I enjoy the Attitude Era, Ruthless Aggression Era, and the Reality Era (the current era). And since WWE has two events coming up this weekend with NXT Takeover Brooklyn (awesome event, highly recommend watching it) and Summerslam airing as a 4-hour event, I decided to talk about how fighting games made me appreciate watching professional wrestling as a whole.
I remember spending a lot of time on YouTube looking at Wrestling Holy Shit Moments online and I would remember cringing on certain moments such as watching Sid Vicious snapping his leg during a match, every TLC match in WWF/WWE and ECW, insane CZW, ECW, and Japanese deathmatches, and more. Here’s a video of these moments.
Don't try this at home, kids.
Seeing moves like these peaked my interests when I tried out grappling characters in fighting games. A good example of this was when I played 3D Fighters. When I was playing Virtua Fighter 5 Vanilla on the 360, I spent a lot of time on command training with Wolf, Jeffry, and El Blaze. When I noticed that Wolf had the Stone Cold Stunner (Toe Kick Stunner), my mind was blown. Then I noticed that Wolf had the F5, STF, Frankensteiner, and many other moves. Jeffry had the GTS, and El Blaze’s high-flying style resembles much of Rey Mysterio and other luchadors like him.
When it comes to wrestling moves in fighting games, the 3D fighters usually have the most authentic ones compared to the 2D fighters. Tekken, Dead or Alive, and Virtua Fighter are the ones I can think of when it comes to characters with authentic wrestling moves in total. Here are some moves that I usually see in both professional wrestling and fighting games alike. Please note that the commands that I listed are based on the numerical joypad for DOA and VF.
Also, I may not get every single move. I just wanna point that out.
GTS (Go To Sleep)
When people hear this move, the first thing that would come to their mind is CM Punk right? Yes, it’s true that CM Punk used this move as a finisher during his wrestling career, but to give credit where it’s due, Kenta Kobayashi (now in the WWE as Hideo Itami) is the innovator of that move. The GTS is where the opponent puts you into an Argentine backbreaker rack, throws the opponent forward, and hits the opponent’s back of the head with the knee. This is one of my favorite finishers because of the opponent sells the move. Since Itami is the innovator of the move, I prefer his over Punk’s because he uses the move in full force.
Characters that used this move:
- Jeffry McWild (VF5/R/FS): 63214P+G (HCF P+G)
- Tina Armstrong (DOA5/Ultimate/Last Round): H+P (at Hi Counter or Counter)
Shining Wizard
This move needs no introduction. Innovated by Kenji Mutoh (The Great Muta), the Shining Wizard is when you strike the opponent down while they are on one knee. There’s also a slight version of the move since it uses a running enzugiri, called the Shining Apprentice. The move was recently done by former WWE female wrestler AJ Lee. Shining Wizard is also one of my favorite moves because it has that ouch factor when it is used.
Characters that use this move:
- King II (Tekken 4-Tag 2): While Running, 2+4
- Tina Armstrong (DOA3-DOA5 Last Round): While Running, H+P
- Honoka (DOA5 Last Round): While Running, H+P
- Wolf Hawkfield (VF5FS): 9P+G (Standing), 2P+K, P+G(Reversal)
Superkick
Ah, the superkick. Many of you know this move by the WWE Hall of Famer, the “Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels, as the Sweet Chin Music. This move is very self-explanatory since it’s just a kick to the opponent’s chin or face. This move was innovated by the late, great “Gentleman” Chris Adams, a British wrestler who was known for training Scott Hall in 1984 and Stone Cold Steve Austin in 1989. Nowadays, every wrestler you can think of uses the super kick. Dolph Ziggler, Rusev, The Young Bucks, AJ Styles…
Don’t get me started on The Young Bucks because they use this move a lot. They will invite you to the Superkick Party. They even superkicked a nine-year old. I’m serious, look it up online!
Characters that have used that move:
- El Blaze (VF5/R/FS): 3K+G (VF5), 43K+G (as Darkness Sword)
Giant Swing
No way in Hell I was going to forget the Giant Swing. On top of that, that should have been the first thing I should have mentioned. Anyway, the Giant Swing is when you swing your opponent around and either toss them or slow down until the opponent gets back on the ground. Cesaro, current WWE wrestler, uses this move as his signature move.
Literally almost every wrestling character I know in 3D fighters use that move. And it does major damage.
Characters that use this move:
- Wolf Hawkfield (VF1-VF5FS): 41236P (VF1-VF2), 41236P+G (VF3-present), 41236P+G (Fastest Input, VF5/R/FS)
- King I (Tekken, Tekken 2): F,HCF+1
- King II (Tekken 3-present): F,HCF+1, Can be used in Reverse Arts Slam or Reverse Stretch Bomb(ending in 2,1,3,4)/HCF+P (Street Fighter x Tekken).
- Armor King I (Tekken-TTT): F,HCF+1
- Tina Armstrong (DOA1-present): 632H,41236H (DOA1), 46H+P, 41236H+P (DOA2-present)
F5
Known as the Fireman’s Carry Facebuster, the person carries the opponent in a fireman carry position, and then spins the opponent down to the mat. This move was popularized by Brock Lesnar.
Every time I see this move, I have to yell “HERE COMES THE PAIN!” in reference to how Taz says it on commentary during his time in the WWE. The F5 is a devastating move in fighters.
Characters that use this move:
- Wolf Hawkfield (VF5/R/FS): 2684 or 8624P+G
- Bass Armstrong (DOA5/Ultimate/Last Round): 63214H+P, 3698712H+P, 36987412H+P
Shooting Star Press
Innovated by Jushin Thunder Liger, the Shooting Star Press is when you jump forward in an elevated position, does a backflip in midair, and lands on the opponent in a splash/press position. Sometimes, this move can be used as a senton or a corkscrew.
While this move is one of my favorite aerials, this was originally banned in the WWE back in 2005 because of two cases:
- Brock Lesnar botched the move against Kurt Angle in Wrestlemania XIX
- Billy Kidman injured Chavo Guerrero during an episode of Smackdown!
The move is no longer banned since Matt Sydal (Evan Bourne) and Tyler Black (Seth Rollins) used it from time-to-time. Most recently, PAC (known as Adrian Neville or Neville in the WWE) uses the Corkscrew Shooting Star Press known as Red Arrow.
Characters that used this move:
- Lisa Hamilton/La Mariposa (DOA4-present): 214H+P, 6H+P, 8H+P
Déjà vu
Known as the double spinning headscissors takedown, this move is done by having your legs scissored onto the opponent’s head, resulting in dragging them down into a forced somersault onto the mat. Aero Star has used this move before in his career.
Characters that used this move:
- Lisa Hamilton/La Mariposa (DOA4-present): 41236H+P,46H+P, 36987412H+P
- El Blaze (VF5-present): During Rocket Discharge (6P+K+G), P+G
- Jaycee (Julia Chang) (TTT2): QCB, F+2
Diamond Cutter
This move was invented by John Laurinaitis (Johnny Ace) when he called it the Ace Cutter, popularized by Diamond Dallas Page and the Hardy Boyz (they call it the Twist of Fate), and now currently used by Randy Orton as the RKO. This move applies the three-quarter facelock, falling backwards to force the opponent to fall forward on the mat. When Randy Orton use this move, he use it as a jumping cutter. Cue the “RKO Outta Nowhere” memes.
Characters that use this move:
- Tina Armstrong (DOA3-present): 33K, H+P (DOA3)/236H+P (DOA4 and DOAD)/6KP+H (DOA5-present)
- Wolf Hawkfield (VF5FS): 66P+G
German Suplex
Eddie Guerrero has used it. Chris Benoit has used it. Brock Lesnar has used it. Kurt Angle has used it. Adrian Neville has used it. Literally every wrestler at one point has used this move. Known as the belly-to-back waist lock suplex or the back arch throw, the wrestler grabs the opponent behind them around their waist, and then falls backwards onto the mat. Sometimes, it can be used to pin your opponents.
The german suplex is one of my favorite variations of the suplex ever used because of the positioning of the bridge. Grappling characters from 2D and 3D fighters have used this move several times.
SUPLEX CITY, BITCH!
Characters that used this move:
- Wolf Hawkfield (VF1-present): BT P+G (VF1-present)/From Catch P+G or BT Crouching P+K+G (VF4-VF5)/BT Crouching P+G (VF5FS)
- Michelle Chang (T1, T2, TTT, TTT2): BT 1+2 (T1,T2)/BT 1+3 (TTT2)
- Julia Chang/Jaycee (Tekken 3-present): BT 1+3 or 2+4 (T3, T5, T6, TTT2)/BT 2+4 or BT F+2+4 (T4)
- Tina Armstrong (DOA1-present): BT H+P+K (DOA1)/BT 6H+P(DOA2-present)
- King II (Tekken 3-present): During Reverse Arm Clutch, 3+4, 1+2
- Rainbow Mika (SFA3/SFZ3): Back+PP
Honorable Mentions
There are other moves that were worth mentioning such as the Tombstone Piledriver (used by Armor King I and II in Tekken), Asian Mist (used by El Blaze in VF5FS and Armor King in Tekken 5: DR-present), STF (used by Wolf in VF, Bayman and Leon in DOA, King in Tekken, etc.), and more. Like I said, there are a lot of wrestling moves out there. Hell, I’ve seen Wolf and Armor King do the Stone Cold Stunner (Toe Kick Stunner).
After reading this blog, I want you guys to watch some wrestling promotion videos on YouTube (not just WWE, but others as well). Then after that, go on training mode (or command training), and try out every move from each grappler or pro-wrestling character. You will be surprised on which moves they used. Okay, maybe not surprised, but you know what I mean.
Before I close, I have to say that after trying out these pro-wrestling characters and grapplers, I started to appreciate professional wrestling as a whole. My tastes in this sport has expanded from just watching WWE and TNA to watching independent and international wrestling promotions. K-Brad doing the Stone Cold Stunner on Dayasha back at CEO 2015 made me appreciate it even more as a wrestling fan and a member of the FGC. It's the fire, the thrill, the passion that I enjoy from these competitors, and how it influence me in the FGC.
Professional Wrestling can mean many things in different countries. In Japan and the UK, it's a sport. In Canada, it's a religion. In Mexico, it's a tradition. In the USA, it's entertainment.
Summerslam is on, guys. Let’s see if it can outdo NXT Takeover Brooklyn (I don’t think it can).
LOOK WHO CAME:
