Jim Cornette on Petey Williams' Canadian Destroyer

[@knriggz]

The move itself I don't object to. My problem is that people started kicking out of it. That should always finish a match.

[@frandavis1990]

Exactly

[@Oddballbecool2015]

Agreed! it's a great finish, I only wish it was used less to show how great it is.

[@jamirimaj6880]

@@Oddballbecool2015 just like Styles did with his Styles Clash, he's just using it sparingly, and replaced it with a really great move in that Phenomenal Forearm

[@DunkanMcCokinner]

@@jamirimaj6880 because his clash is a legit finisher. It looks hard to kick out of in general and after taking the bump it should virtually be impossible to kick out of

[@hipsterdoofus1332]

If a guy is well enough to do a back flip, he can sure as hell kick out of a cover.

[@konnorrockkonnoisseur4970]

I’ll always love the Destroyer. Unfortunately these fucking Indie darlings decided to treat it like the DDT or the Superkick and turned it into some transitional move.

[@millec60]

DDT should be a finisher, too

[@3Brandon11]

Cornette said it best. "The more it's done the more people can see through it and see how it's done." That couldn't be more true with slapping the thigh during kicks

[@TheHypnoManNation]

The Professional Wrestlers of the Past would sometimes get Cauliflower Ear, these Days the Performance Artists doing Sports Entertainment are going to get Cauliflower Thighs...

[@evilstarlegacy]

For so many years I did not even spot the thigh slapping until absolutely everyone started doing it every other move. Now it's the most obvious thing.

[@grrrraffe]

The Tajiri buzzsaw kick would make me cringe each time I heard it. Was so cool. Now everyone does at least a super kick and the sound is just "meh" to me now.

[@OrphanHart]

The Canadian Destroyer is awesome, but it's only great when done by Petey.

[@Vetal83]

ZECTCustomUnit also love the macho mans version of piledriver.

[@AcornSmokes420]

Bunny Rabbit same with the piledriver...but Eric young does that the best

[@timothyfogarty5829]

How?

[@timothyfogarty5829]

Petey exposed the company with that move.

[@tnbk_andrxw4474]

@@timothyfogarty5829 the business was exposed many years ago.. this move was cool when 1 person did it. Now its lame af.

[@meethvncho]

Petey willams Canadian destroyer was a finisher, everyone just put it into they move sets

[@mrmagpiepromotions]

I love how Jim actually respects the move. It's an impressive move as a finisher.

[@bradpaton3927]

Especially when done on a super-heavyweight (see North American Champion, Keith Lee defeated NXT Champion, Adam Cole).

[@adamirishconundrum851]

I watched it repeatedly and don't understand, the person taking it does all of the work.

[@EViLGrEEn42090]

Also Petey didn’t expose the business, the Internet did. Vince did he admitted it in court it’s a work. Masked wrestler on fox exposing it like they did magician tricks. Petey was awesome.

[@MrChristopherHaas]

One of the rare, RARE moves i would rewind and watch in slo mo WHEN PETEY DID IT. Every week. I expected someone to die

[@kaind.badguy]

Everything in pro wrestling is ridiculous. It's over the top carnival entertainment. Trying to single out the Canadian destroyer as something bad whilst ignoring people bouncing off ropes in a "fight" is too snarky. We watch people jump off cages and ladders but you think a flipping piledriver is unrealistic?

[@AlexxxPerales]

Yes

[@randomlyentertaining8287]

Wrestling nowadays requires suspense of disbelief. Bouncing off the ropes can be accepted in the interest of the product but somethings like the Destroyer stretch that suspension too far.

[@ladistar]

Wrestling is a widely-respected combat sport, the WWE belt is one of the most prestigious belts in the world. you should show some respect for the business!!!

[@alexpayne5914]

The only way the move could look realistic (like there's no cooperation) would be coming off the ropes or other running start, as a counter to a backdrop. Hooks the guy on the way over. Would be harder to see through, but just ridiculously dangerous that way. I wouldn't recommend it, but some guys seem bent on killing themselves so...

[@DarkNorthEmperor]

Adam Cole's Panama City Sunrise is a Canadian Destroyer executed after a jump from the middle rope. He executes it really well!

[@MisfitMikey]

@@DarkNorthEmperor He just copied the exact one Petey did to AJ Styles, Victory Road 2004

[@guardian08527]

Canadian Destroyer is a move that should only be used maybe 3 times a year at most. When you have guys like Virgil using it......it's dead!

[@TheeKingRayzor]

As a kid I absolutely loved it! Even now I still love the move! 😁

[@Power_Press711]

It was a great finish because the crowd loved it, and it was a FINISH!!!

[@abealih92]

Ddt, superkick and now this moves is not finishers anymore, it just a "Cool Moves" now.

[@DarrenNoFun]

There's no more "Exposing The Business" the fans are in on "the business" and half the time it's why they watch wrestling. It was exposed back when they had to public state it was fake, or staged or scripted or whatever you'd want to call it, back in the first half of the 1900's. And, to me, there's a lot of moves where it looks like the recipient is doing the work. Like a typical power bomb, or when anyone other than Brock Lesnar does a German suplex. There are moves like the Canadian destroyer ( and more so, the Spanish fly) that are arguably worse, so I'll say, it's all about execution. The first Canadian destroyer I saw for an ad for TNA (what got me watching TNA when it first started on spike) looked brutal. He jumped and it looked like Williams weight resulted the guy to be pulled back and had the back of his head driven. It had a realistic looking motion to it. But there are other times where Williams looks like he's just along for a ride while someone tries to do a big backflip. So my opinion is, of you don't like it, don't watch it.

[@timothyfogarty5829]

Petey exposed it.

[@relativ6192]

Thank you very much! This.

[@ladistar]

That's exactly what is killing the business! Smarks who expose the business on the internet and social media!

[@jamirimaj6880]

@@ladistar just like 99% of AEW's roster

[@relativ6192]

Fucking love the move to bits. I just wish they don't kick out to that as much (maybe rarely). That shit should be super protected. It doesn't look stupid and looks like it could kill.

[@Z_hri]

the problem with the move is that someone kicked out of it

[@YAHAWAHINCONTROL247]

It should finish a match period

[@EViLGrEEn42090]

I think intensity is the key. Even if it’s not great. Sometimes accident look real. Fight are rarely perfect.

[@travisw3131]

first time i seen it i remember clear as day, early or mid 2006 and i didn't know the move had been hit. i thought like it was a setup for a powerbomb, and the other guy backdropped Petey. i was always indifferent on it, then now they got guys that do 3 on a show in 3 different matches.

[@EGarrett01]

Speaking of moves that the victim does to themselves, the Widow's Peak and Gory Special are both ridiculous. The victim hooks THEIR OWN FEET around the waist of the attacker without the attacker moving them there in any way.

[@PtolemyJones]

I love the move, jumped out of my seat when I first watched it, but I think as a part time fan of wrestling it took me a long time to see the motion and grasp just how much the victim had to help. If I were inside the biz like Jim, I think I would have seen it right away.

[@chainsawcharlie965]

I never had a problem with the move. Matter of fact I never knew how many people disliked it until I started watching the matches on KZbin and saw the comment section. Now I feel like the ONLY bastard that doesn't have a problem with it.

[@malkomalkavian]

It's a move. Hating it seems odd but people are people. Sometimes it looks like magic

[@iamdb1990]

it's the perfect example of why "evolving" wrestling makes no real sense, because it opened the gates for all of the current flippy shit that means nothing and nobody bothers to sell anyway, impressive the one first time you see it (assuming you saw Petey do it to AJ Styles, if you saw anything else, sucks to be you) but loses its impressiveness each time afterwards and now, like 12 years after the first one, it's as good as irrelevant

[@LostOneOmega]

The Spanish Fly or C4 is on the same level.

[@likintrubb]

I remember wrestlers trying this move unsuccessfully so they would turn it into a sunset flip

[@TheSteelStallion]

The only thing I dislike about the move is how unbelievable it is at the start of it. The momentum needed to do the actual flip with another person's weight just isn't there from a partially bent over/standing position, so, maybe the momentum from a sunset flip would take the silly edge off of it, at least a little bit. Let's face it, though, it is a fancy looking piledriver.

[@jeffreyriley8742]

It's a great move for a counter to a backdrop but it's not a finisher you can call for because the guy taking it has to cooperate with the guy giving it.

[@richardwilliams5387]

Williams himself has said it was meant as a finisher. Not used as every other move.

[@jimbo-fk4dq]

The first time I saw it, I thought it was actually a reversal of a backdrop. While it would have been a little more realistic as a reversal, it still go over in wrestling.

[@316CactusJack]

little petey pump

[@chewy2804]

The real mick Foley L&G

[@johnnytelemundo]

mr. make-believe muscle

[@coachp651]

I seen Adam Cole do it to AJ Styles at a ROH house show here in MN a couple years ago shit was epic!

[@coachp651]

@@thatdude-xj4qe yep 123 his ass the crowd was in shock

[@thatdude-xj4qe]

@@coachp651 but I'm biased I think Adam Cole is the shit.

[@coachp651]

@@thatdude-xj4qe not biased at all...He is!

[@julezjohn5785]

Believe it or not, Trevor Murdock did it one time. It was sloppy but amazing still.

[@TheeKingRayzor]

Lol 😂 I must look it up now!

[@henrikschmidt3964]

For a moment I thought it was Dick Murdock - I would've paid to see that one.

[@TheeKingRayzor]

@@henrikschmidt3964 Me too! 😁

[@Markworth]

Trevor Murdock did the Code Red, not the Canadian Destroyer. A slightly more believable move, but definitely sloppier.

[@Walkbi]

Julez John I saw a video of Virgil (of all people) do the slowest Destroyer ever!

[@Sammo212]

There is nothing wrong with the move...just like there is nothing wrong with diving over the top rope, high impact moves, etc. The problem is its overdone AND someone kicking out of it shouldn't happen unless its the random, monster encounter.

[@DarranKern]

Only Petey Williams can do it right, and only on some wrestlers who can take it right

[@TheeKingRayzor]

Couldn't have been explained better.

[@jmhproductions7335]

Scarlet Bardoux

[@lmaoitsmee1812]

It’s a fucking flip piledriver. Why are you kicking out of it?

[@wolfhurricane897]

The problem with the move isn't the move itself. It's just the fact It's overused.

[@johnnymason2460]

I agree with that. A lot of so-called finishing moves are absolutely being overused.

[@sweetpetergeda]

I love that move

[@travelreview5962]

The Canadian Destroyer should be called "watch me piledrive myself."

[@czw321]

I show this casual fans. Impresses them everytime

[@rdu239]

Did the Canadians trademarked the Canadian destroyer and the code breaker? Because when WWE used this they call it the "destroyer" and "double knee"

[@NintendoPsycho]

I know One Piece got ruined.

[@johnnymason2460]

WWE still uses the name "Code Breaker". Canadians do not have a trademark on the Canadian Destroyer or the Code Breaker.

[@allforgreatness9883]

Petey protected that move now its meaningless

[@TubbyJ420]

it's a move that needs to be done fast and it looks damn impressive. if its done slow, it looks like garbage (theres video of virgil doing that a few years ago). While it is true that the recipient does a lot of the work, it only looks that way to smarks who have seen it a a hundred times and know how it works. show that move to any one not familiar with wrestling and it will blow their minds. you want a real garbage move that takes away the illusion? that ridiculous DDT that mickie james does is criminally ugly and should be banned.

[@OrphanHart]

Tubby J Yeah. Cena tried something similar years ago and it was so freaking awful.

[@MattWarb2]

Ziggler does it aswell. I hate it

[@raywilliams5711]

Tubby J Christian's Spear and Santinos Cobra says hello

[@trailerparkchief]

So a ddt should be banned, yet anyone can clearly see the opponent pops his hips and uses his legs to flip himself for a bump?

[@TheObvious1890]

Jim's being way too nice here. This a move that is not only clearly impossible to pull off without the other guy helping you, but can cripple him if you do it wrong. Sad that TNA used Petey so poorly he had no other way to get over than to do this move.

[@TemetitoElGoldo28]

And petey had an awesome charisma and attitude man, sad that they didnt give him a good push.

[@adamirishconundrum851]

@@TemetitoElGoldo28 Blame Shitstain once again

[@matthewp.3392]

This happened in UFC recently. This guy who sent in email I agreed with for a long time but someone just got knocked out by it so I dunno...

[@matthewp.3392]

twitter.com/ufc_ca/status/1002691404173176832?lang=en

[@Hugh_Morris]

Not exactly a Canadian Destroyer

[@Mr.JayJayGaming24]

Oh crap!!! That might have brought some legitimacy to the move.

[@Bignastynate12345]

I love the Canadian destroyer but fucking everyone does it now and its way to over now.

[@cheeto4789]

I don't see how it is much different from a sunset flip. But yeah, I think only two or three people should be using the move at a time, and if they are, use it as a god damn finisher. You can't turn something that good into another DDT.

[@DEADMEMORIES187]

Rey did it better last week

[@DeathMetalRob]

It only looked good when petey did it. Almost everyone who does it now makes it look like shit.

[@edhitchins5521]

I thought it was a bad ass fucking move.

[@BizzyIzzy87]

I mean so is a damn choke slam.

[@PatricksCrazyPlace]

When Petey was the only one doing it and beating people with it, it was great. But when everyone started doing it AND kicking out of it, it killed it.

[@oliverl.5834]

Didn't Chavo Guerrero (sr.) do the Moonsault before Muta?

[@r3d3y3si]

Oliver L. Tiger mask did it in '82 against dynamite kid I think.

[@oliverl.5834]

Yeah, but it looked a bit different when Tiger Mask did it. He used to jump … kinda sideways is a good way to describe it, I think.

[@rdfox76]

Like how Bam Bam Bigelow did it and didn't actually flip?

[@oliverl.5834]

Yeah, I guess that's a good comparison. That Bliss-Girl is doing something similar. She's just standing the other way around on the ropes. And Chavo might have done it even before 82. He debuted in 68, after all. I can't say though. I know him from the 80s. ;)

[@DLKnightstick1989]

So... I don't get it. Every move ever, then? Jim's saying he dislikes a move more over time because other people try to imitate an original move. That's literally EVERY SINGLE FUCKING MOVE EVER. It isn't Petey's fault that people started doing the move that he created poorly or in ridiculous circumstances. How does that make Petey's Destroyer worse than it was before all these people started doing that? If you don't like a move, you don't like a move, but the value of it shouldn't deteriorate because numerous other people failed at doing it. That's ridiculous. And how can you possibly talk shit about an overly choreographed move that takes real skill to pull off and not talk shit about the most basic ass, mundane moves that is just filler and no one gives a fuck about? To preserve the fantasy that wrestling is real? That makes no sense, because everyone knows that it's choreographed now. It always has been; that didn't change. So why trash moves in that category that look spectacular when they just require a little more skill to pull off?

[@ddsjgvk]

It's just as bad as a chokeslame...

[@ShortArmStrongArm]

Donald Trump bumps better than Corny James.

[@nostalgiagaming8955]

It's soooo overused, EVERY INDY GUY AND GAL USES IT

[@jessemccnoodles3687]

It looks dangerous

[@jonathancarlson6127]

I like the Canadian Destroyer… in video games.

[@oddmaddox]

I always thought it was pretty cool, especially when it was rare and was the finish to a match. Now everybody does it and everybody kicks out of it. At this point, if I never saw it again it would be too soon. The lariat is my favorite wrestling maneuver, but every-goddamn-body uses it, and it's sold pretty much the exact same flippy way by everybody. I wouldn't mind if it went away for a while, or at least was used much more sparingly.

[@CavemanJesus4Life]

When Willie Mac did that move off the top rope it looked Devastating. And Willie is a big fucking guy doing a Cruiserweight move off the top. Nothing was more fake than DJ Lethal's Slice Bread.

[@doeyjiaz4798]

Id rather watch The Spanish Fly, no homo

[@wastelandwarriorz665fanacc8]

How u forget x division

[@MoochoSawesomeo]

Standing still Canadian destroyer is dumb and makes no sense. Running or top/middle rope Canadian destroyer works as far as logic for me

[@themondoshow]

ID LIKE IT IF PEOPLE DIDNT KICK OUT EVER

[@roadwarr1434]

The Canadian destroyer killed wrestlers in th past hint why it's a banned move

[@tadhg82]

That’s what I was thinking. It looks incredibly and ridiculously dangerous.

[@roadwarr1434]

Its not a bad move it's actually one of best moves to be see done but when done wrong it could take a life

[@tadhg82]

Road Warr yeah, I guess it’s just that you see it so often now it feels like impending doom.

[@MReginaldGoldstein77]

Kota Ibushi demonstrated that the move is entirely done by the person taking it, to the point that the move can literally be executed by an inanimate object. That said, the Canadian Destroyer was already dead as a finish and already completely lost its credibility before that happened anyway.

[@mcwhorter141mcwhorter8]

He's right on about Austin kicking a guy in the corner. I thought it might be because of his bad knees.

[@patrickbooth5091]

Anybody think these people take wrestling too seriously?

[@marcellowheeler88]

Not a fan of it at all. A finisher that requires 80% of the work from the person taking it ruins it. Looks rediculous.

[@jinraigami3349]

I think it is cool. This gives me another reason to hate Jim Cornette. lol

[@brianaguila6925]

That rant intro of the question really hates kota ibushi and his blow-up doll.

[@robertporter6641]

Part of doing the job, even if you’re a top guy who has been determined to lose to put someone over, is to make the other guy look good. The Canadian Destroyer looks devastating even if the recipient is doing all the work. The trouble is, as Jim pointed out, when it stops being a finish or worse, when you see it getting amped up to going off the ropes or through tables and that’s not enough to finish matches, it kills it. Remember when a leg drop or flying elbow could finish a match? Now no one even pays homage to Hogan’s leg drop because it was lame and whenever someone does a flying elbow, commentary pays respect to Savage but you know they’re going to kick out at 2.

[@kylito23]

I would like it if someone in the e did the move

[@gray007nl]

Fat chance, only Kane and Taker are even allowed to do any kind of piledriver anymore, so there's no way in hell anyone would get to do the destroyer except maybe Petey Williams himself.

[@thejjfrantsexperience5572]

Well Rey Mysterio did one last week

[@Dukesucks]

Adam Cole did one on Halftime Heat in NXT

[@The80sWolf_]

Cornette seems to dislike everything that is entertaining in wrestling.

[@Leviticus_Prime]

It's one of the fakest moves in wrestling. It's obvious that the person taking it is cooperating. The only way it can look halfway legit is if you have someone twice the weight of the guy taking it, so you could at least halfway believe the guy is capable of pulling it off on his own.

[@keylehlashulzer6889]

I screwed up taking one when I was like 14/15. I over did the backflip(one of those immediately knew ya fucked up moments) but since my head was tucked in the dudes legs i couldn't like flatten out and wedged myself between his nuts and my own weight and then that contact with the ground. Ahh that one sucked but good times nonetheless. Love this move when it's a finisher and finishes the match.

[@Eidenhoek]

I still say that the match with Kota Ibushi and YOSHIHIKO (the blowup doll) is THE reason why I love Ibushi. It's about as literal a match with a broomstick as you can get, and it's a perfectly fine match. In DDT, weird stuff is...well...it's a thing. So I'm fine with Ibushi being more serious elsewhere. That said, the Infinity Destroyer does look like it'd hurt him a bit.

[@db-jk8dl]

I like Hogan's leg drop better.

[@henrikschmidt3964]

The Canadian Destroyer is among the most un-believable moves in wrestling. Impossible to take serious.

[@fakename67]

@Henrik Schmidt not as unbelievable as being whipped into the ropes or turnbuckle. So many morons watch wrestling

[@matb6851]

This move is legit it happened in the ufc 2 weeks ago the dude was knocked out cold ...watch?v=I3ITYAUtaHQ

[@ABladeInTheDark]

The guy is right. It looks like the guy Williams hits the move on does most of the work. I never liked it for that reason.

[@mathieuperreault310]

Jim couldnt remember what they called the cruiserweight devision. Hope he makes phone calls to the boys who respectes Jim and worked in that devision , cause damn that would hurt .

[@LostOneOmega]

Russo buried that division for no reason...

[@MrSheckstr]

I guess my problem with the move was , the first several times I saw it, I had difficulty figuring out who was doing it and who was supposed to be hurt by it, add that to people quickly (from my perspective) start no selling the move I thought I was seeing a well coordinated fake botch more like Piper Collapsing under the weight of Andre in a failed attempt at a slam ( if you watch those old matches you really saw how Andre respected and protected Piper) The Canadian destroyer looks like a banana fucking an egg before you add the creme cheese and brown sugar for a custard pie

[@zinan2959]

It’s still the greatest finisher ever

[@smittywerbenjagermanjensen4737]

ZINAN half of people hate it it can't be the best

[@wcwwe6757]

ZINAN it looks like the fakest move ever the irish whip has more credibility

[@unclecreed2986]

It vs no Vanterminator.

[@ddsjgvk]

You can hate it all you want. But doing several in a row is pretty cool

[@honeyjm8324]

I would like it, if it’s like an super death move that was always a three, but every dipstick does it now if, peaty had a dollar he would be a millionaire

[@mathieuperreault310]

I appreciate his story telling , but the guy suffers from incredible biased. Hes not a wrestler , I hope Austin stomps him in the corner for his opinion on stone cold mud stomping.. in my opinion I never thought that spot looked soft or fake.

[@PlasticFoods__]

Change The Intro, Clap Clap ClapClapClap

[@adampalmer7387]

Tiny muscle

[@bigbob4191]

Was.one of the baddest (as in awesome) finishers ever.. I alwaysade it part of my created finisher back when you could actually make your on one week games

[@bigbob4191]

@Joe Greene LOL wow I musta been too high to type thanks for letting me know

[@Daylin821]

It ain’t shit…….yet it is banned‼️🤔🤔🤔🤔

[@Pharaoh_The_Great]

People are haters... the Canadian destroyer is an excellent masterpiece

[@blesstv8994]

What about when HBK did the Canadian Destroyer to Bret Hart at the survivor series and screwed Bret out of the belt, then celebrated with Hunter,diesel,Hall, and Waltman afterward on the wrestling with shadows dvd while Vinny Mac entered his limo that blew up and he returned the next night to explain Benoit lost his smile to Mae young and Mark Henry’s baby hand during a dirt sheet on a pole match? That’s when I finally knew wrestling was a work.

[@brucewhite360]

🤓🎾

[@BluesRiffage]

If you're gonna get anal about realism, how do you not first point to the notorious oversellers? How the fuck does anyone watch Flair fall face-first and not see that that shit's pure slapstick? The Flair flip is another one, which was also adopted by HBK. How does that not "expose the business"? Shawn skinning the cat is also ridiculous. Mr. Perfect sold like he was auditioning for Looney Toons. And yet, all three guys are considered among the greatest workers ever.

[@JagerLange]

First..?

[@Pugiron]

Jim defends crap wrestling when its his crap wrestling