Dead or Alive (e)

Date: Tue, 9 Feb 1999 13:50:23 -0500 (EST)
From: David Smith 

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Dead Or Alive Move Name Comments.
by Reverend Doktor David Francis Smith.
Age 19.

Last Updated When First Written, on February 9, 1999.

In other words, I've never updated this on account of I just finished
writing it a couple of minutes ago.  Send suggestions and comments to me
at smitd@ils.unc.edu.  This piece is copyright 1999 David Francis Smith.

I. WHY?

  Well, one of the things I find interesting about DOA is that it includes
a number of real, and real obscure, pro-wrestling maneuvers.  I thought it
might benefit mankind if I were to put together some notes and commentary
on the moves in question in order to make them a bit less obscure to
other players of the game, particularly since some of the names are nick-
names, misspelled, or both.  Also, I figured it would just be kind of fun.

II.  COMMENTS.

  Character by character.

KASUMI:

Flying Swallow: This would be called an inverted rana/Frankensteiner in
pro-wrestling parlance.  I don't think it's ever been done in the real
world, unless this is what Manami Toyota's Victory Star Drop is.  Looks
like it would fubar your opponent's neck if you could even execute it in
the first place.  The Falling Swallow (back and hold while you're on their
shoulders) is just a Frankensteiner with a bit of a twist to it.

HAYABUSA:

Cross-Arm Suplex: Doesn't look like any suplex I've ever seen or heard of.

Swing DDT: Also called a Tornado DDT.  Chavo Guerrero Jr.'s finisher in
WCW.

Reverse DDT: AKA the Slop Drop as used by the Godwinns in the WWF, or the
Scorpion Deathdrop as used by Sting in WCW.

Ura-nage: I don't know what this name means.  Something Japanese, I
guess.  The move is a throat slam with a 180 twist by the person doing
the slamming.  You can see it performed in American pro-wrestling feds
on occasion; by Taz in ECW (he calls it the "T-Bone Tazplex"; go fig),
by Saturn and occasionally Wrath in WCW, and by Rocky Maivia (sort of)
in the WWF.  I say "sort of" because the Rock Bottom (Rocky's finisher)
isn't quite an uranage; he's got the throat slam part down, but not the
twisting part.

TINA:

Flying Major: This is a misspelling.  It should be Flying Mare.

Rolling Sobat: Another misspelling.  It should be Rolling Savate.  The
same error appears in Bayman's move list.

Death Valley Bomb: Although this is the name usually used in Japan and
approved by the RSPW Workrate Cult, the move is also called the Death
Valley Driver (especially in WCW, where Saturn uses it as his finisher)
and the Spicolli Driver, after the late Louie Spicolli.  The latter name
is most often used in ECW.

Bass Bomb: Just a MERC Standard Issue jumping powerbomb.  Named after the
character in the game, I guess.

Fishermanbuster: WHIP ASS~!  Sorry, I'm fond of the move :).  This move
gets its funny name because a fishermanbuster is to a brainbuster
as a fisherman's suplex (AKA the Hennigplex or the Perfectplex) is to a
vertical suplex; you hook your opponent's leg as you're bringing them up.
You almost never see this move in the US, although I recall Sho Funaki 
doing it on RAW during the brief KDX push.

J-O-S: Short for Japanese Ocean Suplex, one of AJW star Manami Toyota's
finishers.  Similar to the more common Tiger (belly-to-back double
underhook) Suplex, except you cross your arms while underhooking your
opponent's.

J-O-B: Short for Japanese Ocean Bomb, another one of Manami Toyota's
finishers.  Same variation as the JOS, except apply it to a Tiger Driver
(double-underhook jumping powerbomb, AKA Ahmed Johnson's Pearl River
Plunge).

J-O-C: Short for Japanese Ocean Cyclone, yet another one of Manami
Toyota's finishers.  I sense a pattern forming here; I guess she has some
big fans at Tecmo.  An electric chair with a bridge while holding your
opponent's arms.  I think the last bit is so they stay upright and take
the bump on their back, rather than falling further backwards and possibly
damaging their neck.  I'm told that this has been performed in WCW on
occasion by Norman Smiley.

Hammer Throw to J-O-S: I'm not sure, but the suplex here may be misnamed.
The polygon clipping makes it hard to tell, and I'm not able to closely
study the move because I can almost never pull it off (the timing of the
combo is very odd), but I think this might be a straitjacket suplex
instead of a JOS.  The straitjacket suplex is one of (you guessed it)
Manami Toyota's signature moves.  To do it, you cross your opponent's arms
in front of him (as they would be if they were in a straitjacket, hence
the name), hold their wrists, and suplex them back. If somebody else knows
for sure which one Tina's doing, I'd appreciate clarification/correction.

Reverse Wing Lock: Again I'm not sure, but this move may be the hold
called the Dandina, used by the Mexican wrestler El Dandy.  I've never
seen the real move performed because I don't have access to real lucha
libre and he always jobs in WCW, but the description in the RSPW Finishers
List (crucifix armbar with a neck submission) sounds like what Tina's
doing.  Clarification would be appreciated.

BAYMAN:

Sambo: This isn't the name of a move, it's the fighting style Bayman uses.
I bring it up because it's more obscure than Muay Thai or JKD, which
everyone has heard of, but not quite so obscure as Lei-Fang and Gen-Fu's
styles, which I've never heard of.  Anyway, the similarity to the American
racial slur is coincidental.  "Sambo" is an acronym for something in
Russian that translates to "self defense without weapons."  It's a set of
unarmed combat techniques developed by the Russian (well, Soviet, I guess)
military.  Noted Ultimate Fighting Championship competitor Oleg Taktarov
uses this style.

Quebradora Congiro:  Another misspelling.  It should be "Quebradora Con
Hilo."  The "con hilo" part is Spanish for "on a thread," but I don't know
if the "quebradora" means "backbreaker" or something else.  It's usually
called a twisting backbreaker or tilt-a-whirl backbreaker in the US.  One
of the members of Demolition, I believe it was Crush, used it as his
finisher in singles matches for a while, and you can see Chris Benoit,
Eddie Guerrero, or most luchadores do it now and again in WCW.

BASS:

H+P Throw With No Name: Looks like a Northern Lights Bomb to me.

Super Freak: A rotating powerbomb.  I don't recall the name ever being
used in real life, though.

T-F-B-B: A misspelling.  It should be T-F-P-B, short for Thunder Fire
Power Bomb, the name given to the running-jumping crucifix powerbomb by
FMW star Atsushi Onita.

Kitchen Sink: Don't ask me how this got its name.  Anyway, it's like a
flying mare except you flip your opponent over your thigh/knee instead of
your shoulder.

Stretch Plum: An abdominal stretch combined with a chinlock.  This got its
name when it was used as a finisher by Japanese women's wrestling star
Plum Mariko.  Rest in peace.

Manhattan Driver: This move is misnamed.  The double-underhook brainbuster
is most commonly known as the Michinoku Driver I, after former Michinoku
Pro god and current WWF jobber TAKA Michinoku.  Not to be confused with
the Michinoku Driver II, which is a Northern Lights Bomb (same as Juventud
Guerrera's Juvy-driver).

Dangerous Backdrop: RSPW (and the RSPW FAQ) calls this move the backdrop
driver most of the time, but I prefer the name used by the edit mode in
Super Fire Pro Wrestling X Premium: the murder backdrop.  It was made
famous by Dr. Death Steve Williams, who used it as a finisher during his 
career in All Japan Pro Wrestling.

Oklahoma Stampede: This name was given to the running powerslam by Dr.
Death Steve Williams (him again?), who used it as his finisher in his
assorted runs in American feds.  It got a lot of use in WCW in 1992 when
Williams and Terry Gordy received their monster tag team push from Bill
Watts.  Williams became a pro wrestler just out of his amateur wrestling
days at the University of Oklahoma, hence the name of the move.

Spinbuster: The RSPW Finishers List defines a spinebuster as a belly-to- 
belly bearhug slam, and this doesn't look like one.  Looks more like Bass
is catching his opponent's legs and reversing into an ordinary powerbomb.

JANN-LEE:
 
Bulldogging Headlock: Usually just called a bulldog.

III. AFTERWORD.

  Hey, that was a fun way to spend some time slacking off on the job.
Anyway, if readers of this piece wish to make suggestions, additions, or
what-have-you, I'm open.  Drop me a line at smitd@ils.unc.edu.

IV. CREDITS.

- www.photon.co.jp/sections/6_staff/glenn/nCo/finish/finish.html

Much thanks to Scott Lacy and all contributors to the
rec.sport.pro-wrestling Finishers List, an invaluable resource.  I got
most of the move names and descriptions above from said document.  By the
way, I think it would be simpler to just call the DVD a Fireman's Carry
DDT.

- www.photon.co.jp/sections/6_staff/glenn/nCo/dvdvr/dvdvr.html

Cheers to Dean Rasmussen and the Death Valley Playboys for educating the
masses in the ways of puroresu and generally being very entertaining.

- www.geocities.com/Colosseum/4693

Also cheers to Scott Keith and the rec.sport.pro-wrestling FAQ, from which
I got a few bits of information from this document, and lots of other 
interesting trivia.

- www.tecmoinc.com

I give my regards to Tecmo for creating the best fighting game on the
Playstation.  Yes, it is better than Tekken 3.  Dead Or Alive is, of
course, copyright Tecmo, Inc. and tm and (c) Tecmo Co., Ltd.

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Sincerely yours,
Rev. Dr. David Francis Smith.
"What for?"