10 Classic Wrestling Moves That Have Been Upgraded In Modern Wrestling

Even the most legendary and spectacular wrestling moves are subject to modification on a long enough timeline. Sometimes, a certain wrestler will customize an existing move to fit his persona. Early in his career, for example, Chris Jericho took the powerbomb and doubled it in order to achieve maximum impact and distinguish himself in the process.

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These days, the current crop of stars seems to be constantly innovative when it comes to offense. Sensational variations of pre-existing moves are on display any given night that wrestling is airing or taking place, live across WWE and AEW. Here are 10 classic moves that have been upgraded to some extent in modern wrestling.

10 450 Splash Upgraded To The 630 Splash

The 450 splash might be barely considered a "classic," but it's been a staple of wrestling for decades now. It's an amazing move that has become somewhat commonplace at this point. In the hands of Ricochet, though, the 450 splash is taken to another level.

Ricochet adds an extra rotation, striking his opponent with his back, rather than his abdomen. It's an incredible sight and a move that few others than Ricochet, could likely pull off.

9 Sleeper Hold Upgraded To Rear Naked Choke

The sleeper hold is a move as old as time, and as legitimate as they come. It's a neutralizer in any real confrontation and was used by everyone from Roddy Piper to Brutus Beefcake. In modern wrestling, some have taken inspiration from MMA, and upgraded the basic sleeper hold into what is known as a rear naked choke.

They take it a step further, and wrap their legs around their opponent, adding a sort of body scissors element to the move. We've seen everyone from Samoa Joe to Shayna Baszler use this variation to great effect.

8 Hurricanrana Upgraded To Reverse 'Rana

This is one of the more literal entries on this list. The hurricanrana was first popularized by none other than Scott Steiner and ironically became a staple of high-flying styles. The reverse 'rana is simply applying the move in reverse, and flipping your opponent from the back. It looks dangerous, and that's because it is.

The most famous example of this may be when Bayley used a version of it off the top rope to help her defeat Sasha Banks, in their historic NXT TakeOver match in 2015.

7 Suplex Upgraded To Three Amigos

Eddie Guerrero is now considered one of the all-time greats to ever step in the ring, and rightfully so. The scope of his influence is still seen across the sport today, primarily with his frog splash finisher. However, it was when he took a simple standing suplex, and tripled it that he added an element to his offense that went a long way in separating himself from the pack.

The Three Amigos as Eddie called them, are still used to this day, but fans are quite selective in who they will accept to use them. Most notably, Dominik Mysterio has used the move to draw additional ire from the fans.

6 Fist Drop Upgraded To The 5-Knuckle Shuffle

Some may scoff at the idea of this one being considered an "upgrade," but if not for John Cena, this move might have gotten, well, lost in the "shuffle." The fist drop was most notably utilized by Ted DiBiase, but it was rather common during his time.

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John Cena has added panache and personality to the fist drop, making it one of his signature moves that he hits in virtually every match. Critics may deem it a bit silly, but it's gone a long way in Cena connecting with the audience. These days, most wrestlers use it as a way to mock John a bit.

5 Piledriver Upgraded To Destroyer

Back in the day, the piledriver was considered to be one of the most dangerous moves in wrestling. It was occasionally used in angles to hospitalize a wrestler in order to garner some additional heat for a feud. Canadian wrestler, Petey Williams, would find a way to make the piledriver even more dangerous when he created the Canadian Destroyer.

Surprisingly the move has become commonplace, likely because of the "pop" it generally receives. Now that almost everyone has or does use the move, it's been shortened to simply the 'destroyer."

4 Superplex Upgraded To Superplex/Falcon Arrow Combination

Seth Rollins is generally considered to be one of the best pure workers in the entire business, which is saying something, as the business is dense with talented wrestlers in the modern landscape. Part of the reason that Seth is so highly regarded, is because he pays attention to the details of his work.

Seth has taken a standard superplex, which was already considered a high spot in many ways, and amplified it by adding a falcon arrow into a pinning combination. It's become one of his signature spots, and he hits in virtually every match. This is a simple, but certainly notable upgrade.

3 Tombstone/Spike Piledriver Upgraded To Meltzer Driver

Say what you will about The Young Bucks, but they are highly creative when it comes to their tandem offense. Many of their moves, including the "More Bang For Your Back." have been well-established with the team. When they took the Tombstone Piledriver and added a spike piledriver to it, it was quite something.

In typical Young Bucks fashion though, they took things to another level, when Nick would do a flip into the move. They would christen it as The Meltzer Driver, paying homage to their friend and wrestling journalist, Dave Meltzer.

2 Lariat Upgraded To Buckshot Lariat

The lariat is a version of a standard wrestling clothesline, that was modified by Japanese legend, Riki Choshu. Since then, it's become most closely associated with wrestlers like Stan Hansen, and JBL. Hangman Page would upgrade the lariat into an entirely new stratosphere with his version, though.

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Hangman does a standing flip from the apron into the ring, to then strike his opponent with the lariat, in what is an amazing sight. This version of the lariat is most certainly a major upgrade.

1 Figure Four Upgraded To Figure Eight

Like many of the upgraded moves on this list, the figure four leglock had become one of the most ubiquitous in all of wrestling. Even during Ric Flair's heyday, several of his peers used the figure four, because it always garnered a reaction.

When Ric's daughter, Charlotte, adapted the hold, she truly made it her own. By bridging as she had the move applied, Charlotte created a visual that undeniably upgraded an already legendary finisher. The figure four to the figure eight is as natural as it gets.