The World's Most Devastating Pro Wrestling Moves: Diving Elbow Drop

Dec 13 2018 Kimberly Schueler

Move type: Diving drop

Notable users: “Macho Man” Randy Savage, Shane McMahon, CM Punk, Kairi Sane

This week’s Devastating Pro Wrestling Move is the Diving Elbow Drop, which has been used by a variety of wrestlers to win championships and stun audiences over the decades.

Many wrestling fans associate this move primarily with “Macho Man” Randy Savage, who used it to win the WWF Championship for the first time at WrestleMania IV and as an iconic finisher throughout his career. In the clip above, you can see Savage’s perfect execution of the classic version of this move. He climbs to the top rope and dives from there to his opponent, who is already lying face-up in the ring, with his elbow cocked. As he lands, he drives that elbow into his opponent’s sternum and goes for a pin.

He climbs to the top rope and dives from there to his opponent—who is already lying face-up in the ring—with his elbow cocked. As he lands, he drives that elbow into his opponent’s sternum and goes for a pin.

In WWE currently, Kairi Sane is an undisputed master of this move, which she calls the “InSane Elbow,” and used it against Shayna Baszler in their NXT Women’s Championship match at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn IV. Sane was also known for her elbow drop when she wrestled for joshi promotions in Japan, so much so that it was a key part of the hype video that introduced her to the WWE Universe before the inaugural Mae Young Classic.

While Sane and Savage’s versions of this maneuver are memorable in part for their clean form, other wrestlers have created legendary moments by using the elbow drop in high-risk situations.

One of Shane McMahon‘s craziest leaps ever was his elbow drop to the Big Show off the top of the Titantron in their Last Man Standing match at Backlash 2001. He’s also been known to do this move through the announce table to wrestlers including The Undertaker and AJ Styles during the builds to their WrestleMania matches in 2016 and 2017 respectively, as well as to Shawn Michaels, a notable elbow-dropper in his own right, on a 2006 episode of RAW.

CM Punk‘s elbow drop wasn’t a finishing move, but he used it to heighten the drama in many big matches including against The Undertaker at WrestleMania 29 and at Extreme Rules 2012 against Chris Jericho.

Dean Ambrose also hasn’t chosen this move as a finisher, but he is one of the most versatile elbow-droppers in the game. He’s used it to put opponents through tables (like Bray Wyatt at TLC 2014) and even jumped off of a ladder to hit AJ Styles on the announce table at TLC 2016.

Whether it’s executed as a beautiful leap off the turnbuckle to win a championship or with the help of foreign objects to brutalize an opponent, the diving elbow drop is one of pro wrestling’s most exciting and devastating moves.