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When Sami Zayn defends his Intercontinental championship against Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania, he's working at a disadvantage, because his moveset has been pared down to a sliver.
This thread is a field guide to some of Sami Zayn's signature moves, and a chronicle of their loss.
This thread is a field guide to some of Sami Zayn's signature moves, and a chronicle of their loss.
1. Barricade Moonsault: a move made more possible by the main roster's wider barricades, it's a reckless yet defensive move, turning his opponents' attempted whip against them.
Most importantly, it throws him almost directly into the fans' laps, shattering the distance between them.
Look at the faces captured in this instant: the opened mouths, the upflung hands. It's totally visceral.
Sami did this move for the last time on Oct. 24, 2017, two weeks after turning heel. You can hear the audience gasp and cheer in spontaneous delight.
He doesn't do the move again.
He doesn't do the move again.
2. Suicide Dive Tornado DDT: Sami dives through the corner ropes to take out his opponent with a tornado DDT. Daring, strategic, and gutsy. It takes a while to set up, which gets the audience ready to pop.
Sami does the move for the last time on Feb. 6, 2018, in a #1 Contender's match between him and Kevin. The match ended up a no contest. Sami stopped doing the move from this point on.
3. Rolling Arm Drag. Sami has a beautiful arm drag that always looks just a bit out of control, a little wild.
He tends to finish off with a spinning variation behind the back of his opponent, disorienting him.
We see it for the last time on Feb. 6, 2018, that #1 Contender match again. I think this was about the only time he did it at all after his heel turn, pulling it out to use against his oldest rival one more time.
It disappears after that.
It disappears after that.
4. Tope Con Hilo: A headlong dive over the ropes, all heart and passion.
It's another move that tends to have a long setup time, a moment where Sami gathers his will and the audience gathers its energy to lend him.
He sometimes adds a taunting fakeout if his foe tries to dodge, all drama and bravado.
This move happened for the last time on April 9, 2018, the Raw after WrestleMania, as he and Kevin battled each other for a spot on Raw. (Kevin seems to take a lot of these moves for the last time). Another no contest, and another move slips away.
5. Tornado DDT: Sami does a twisting DDT from the top of the turnbuckle to take out his opponent, usually running up the ropes to set it up. One of his most graceful moves, a kinetic, curving pivot.
They did a slow-motion capture of it in NXT once which shows off how beautiful it is.
(You can also see at the end how much of his opponent's weight he must take on his own shoulder to protect their neck).
(You can also see at the end how much of his opponent's weight he must take on his own shoulder to protect their neck).
May 7, 2019: this move appears for the last time after he comes back from injury, minus the running approach. He loses this match, and the Tornado DDT is lost as well from here.
6. Blue Thunderbomb. Sami's most distinctive move, a twirling powerbomb that never fails to pop the audience with its panache and flair.
It's so gorgeous and flashy that it really feels like it should be a finishing move, but as far as I know it's only gotten him the pin one time on TV, against AJ Styles in 2018.
One of the best character touches is that, despite the fact that it never actually is a finishing move, Sami has such a beautiful and absolute faith that it will win the match for him. Every time.
When he came back from injury, I captioned this gif "Sami has lost faith in everything else, but he will never lose faith in his Blue ThunderBomb."
I failed to predict the obvious, which is that if he lost faith in the Blue Thunderbomb, he'd have no faith left at all.
I failed to predict the obvious, which is that if he lost faith in the Blue Thunderbomb, he'd have no faith left at all.
The last time we see the Blue Thunderbomb connect is June 23, 2019, as part of a superkick/powerbomb combo while teaming up with Kevin against the New Day.
The very next day, fighting for the WWE championship, Sami goes for the Thunderbomb and Kofi turns it against him into a pin.
He never tries the move again.
He never tries the move again.
From there on, Sami keeps a few moves--he's done some backbreakers, his Michinoku Driver, his Helluva Kick of course--but his most distinctive and beautiful moves are gone, replaced by wild and desperate pummeling.
Fairly soon he stops wrestling altogether and becomes a manager.
Fairly soon he stops wrestling altogether and becomes a manager.
I don't know how many of his moves have been lost to time (which we can't fight) and how many have been lost to despair (which we must fight). But he'll never beat Daniel Bryan cleanly and unaided without them, unless he innovates new ones.
Time will tell.
Time will tell.
