Brainbuster

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A brainbuster is a professional wrestling throw in which a wrestler puts the opponent in a front facelock, hooks their pants or thigh, and lifts them up as if they were executing a vertical suplex. The wrestler then falls onto their back so that the opponent lands on their head while remaining vertical. This move is a version of the DDT. It was innovated by Killer Karl Kox. In Japanese puroresu, the term "brainbuster" refers to a regular vertical suplex, while the move elsewhere known as a brainbuster is referred to as a "sheer drop brainbuster" or a "vertical (drop) brainbuster".^[1]

The brainbuster was banned in WWE until WrestleMania XL, ^{[citation needed]} because the person receiving the move will land on the top of their head or neck without protection, as evident at the Super ShowDown of 2019 in Saudi Arabia, when Goldberg (who was concussed during the match) failed to execute his "Jackhammer" finisher on the Undertaker and performed an unprepared brainbuster instead.^[2] However it has supposedly been reintroduced as of April 06, 2024, as Sami Zayn used the move to turn the tide, and eventually win his Intercontinental Championship match against Gunther.^[3]