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.
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Bad Luck Fale loves tossing fools all over the place. The modified Razor's Edge that he's used for years allows him to do just that. His size necessitated an impressive move, and a tried and true crucifix powerbomb was a solid option.
Bad Luck Fale told Fightful how it came to be.
"Well, the first time I ever tried it was I did it was when I was a young lion, and I had just come back from my excursion. I needed to develop a new move, a new finisher. I came up with the Grenade, which is what I took from Umaga and just renamed it Grenade, which was a good finisher, but it didn’t feel like it had good impact, the impact that I wanted. So, I needed to come up with something new. I was trying out the Razor’s Edge. I was just practicing that, but I asked [Tomaoki] Honma to help me out. So, I picked up him, but then there was a mat in front of me and I thought, “You know what? Why don’t I just chuck him?” I chucked him and once I did, he got up and said, “Oh, man, that was so good. You should use that.”
Others have used the move, namely TNA/IMPACT's Hernandez as the "Border Toss." People as massive as Fale and Hernandez have no problem chucking bodies across the ring, but one opponent stood out as the most impressive to Fale himself
"Rocky Romero. He holds the records for the highest and the furthest of them. Angles and stuff. Yeah, actually every time I have a match and I always tell them, “I want to try to beat Rocky Romero’s record.”
You always hear the old piece of advice 'pick a finish you can do on everyone.' Fale almost didn't heed that advice. He's not typically had much trouble in hoisting opponents up for the Bad Luck Fall, but a current AEW star was an exception. Fale admits that he got a little creative in setting that up.
"There was one time, it was Lance Archer actually. I always wondered if I could pick him up. But, I always figured out the way to get him on the top rope and take him that way. But, it never got to the point where he took it. But, he was one of the guys that I thought, “Fuck, if I ever got to that point, how would I pick him up?” ‘Cause he’s so tall."
It's not exactly easy to take care of an opponent when the primary goal is to throw them as far as possible across the ring, but as far as Fale is concerned, that just comes with the territory.
"Everyone (hates taking it). Even if they’ve taken it before, most of them don’t like to take it. But, hey, that’s how it is."
Though the Bad Luck Fall isn't Fale's primary finish anymore, he knows that when all else fails, the trusty toss will get the job done.
"Yeah. After I did it with Honma, I said, 'This is it. This is the gonna be the most impactful move I could ever do.' My go to is the Grenade. If anything else doesn’t work, then that’s the move that’s gonna finish the whole match."
Past editions!
Adam "Hangman" Page's Dead Eye
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
