Facebuster
A facebuster, also known as a faceplant, is a takedown move in professional wrestling in which an attacking wrestler forces their opponent down to the mat face-first without involving a headlock or facelock. A standard facebuster, also known as a jumping facebuster, involves the wrestler grabbing hold of the opponent's head/hair and dropping down to their knees, forcing the opponent's face into the mat.Variants
Argentine facebuster
The attacking wrestler places an opponent in an Argentine backbreaker rack, where the opponent is held face-up across both the shoulders of the wrestler. From here the wrestler falls sideways while still holding the opponent's head with one arm and flipping the opponent's legs over with the other, driving them down to the mat face-first. WWE wrestler Bianca Belair uses this move and calls it the Kiss of Death .Belly-to-back inverted mat slam
From a position in which the opponent is bent forward against the wrestler's midsection, the wrestler grabs around the opponent's midsection and lifts so that the opponent is held upside down, facing in the same direction as the wrestler. The wrestler then hooks both arms of the opponent using their legs and falls forward, planting the opponent's body into the mat face-first. The move often sees the wrestler keep their legs hooked under the arms of the opponent after hitting the move, using the underhooking technique to turn the opponent on to their back into a Rana style pinning position. This move was innovated by Col. DeBeers and was made famous by Diamond Dallas Page and A.J. Styles, who refers to the move as the Styles Clash. Styles performs the maneuver with a variation, as seen in the photos to the right: he does not hook the opponent's arms before performing the slam but takes two steps and moves his legs in front of the opponent's arms, enabling him to use his legs to cover the shoulders for a pin. Styles has also used this move from the second rope. This variant is later utilized by former WWE wrestler Michelle McCool, who referred to the move as the Faith Breaker. Cesaro uses a variation called the Neutralizer where he grapevines the opponent's leg with his arm similar to a cradle piledriver.
A version of this move also exists which is a Moonsault Styles Clash and was innovated and used by the late indy pro wrestler Brandon Kaplan, and was better known under the names Spyral and BKNY, which he called the Panther Bomb. He used the move against his opponent against Mike Sydal in an Aerial Assault Match held at CZW Tangled Web 2 in 2009 in which one of the turnbuckle posts has a box mounted on top to allow a diving wrestler extra height for their moves. The initial setup for this move was complicated as it required Mike, while facing the ring, to be placed on top of the box in a sitting position. Brandon would then bend Mike forwards with a front facelock placing Mike's head between his legs, grabbing him around his midsection and then lifted him upside-down with them both facing in the same direction. Brandon then hooked both of Mike's arms his legs and performed a diving moonsault, planting Mike's body into the mat face-first. This move was extremely dangerous since Mike's arms were hooked with Brandon's legs and couldn't brace for the impact, he was knocked unconscious along with giving him a concussion as well as broken ribs, having one of wrist broken, and he had a seizure in the locker room post-match. All of this would put him out of action for 6–8 months. Mike could be heard yelling "No, don't do it!" when he made a last second decision that he didn't want to take the move but felt pressured throughout the process from Brandon, who many at the time felt was going into business for himself. This move was never used again afterwards.Belly-to-back facebuster
Like a belly-to-back suplex, the attacking wrestler wraps their arms around the opponent in a waistlock, lifts the opponent in the air, and falls forward into a facebuster. Brooke Tessmacher used this as her finisher and called it the Tess-Shocker.Swinging belly-to-back facebuster
The opponent is lifted in sidewinder suplex position before being swung around and driven face first into the mat by the attacker.Diving facebuster
This variation sees the wrestler grab a hold over the opponent's head/hair, then climb to the second rope or and finally jump from there dropping to their knees or in a [|sitout position] and planting the opponent face first to the mat. In another variation the wrestler could just jump from the turnbuckle grabbing the opponent's head/hair in the air and planting them to the mat.The wrestler bends their opponent forward, placing the opponent's head between the wrestler's legs, and then applies a double underhook on the opponent. The wrestler performs a kneeling or sitout facebuster. Andre the Giant is credited for inventing the move, but is perhaps better known as the Pedigree, the name Triple H gave to the kneeling version of the move as his finisher. Chyna later adopted the move from Triple H and began using it as a finisher. Another similar version of the Pedigree was used by Seth Rollins, where he would release his opponent during the fall, while a sitout version, known as the In Yo' Face, is the name Velvet Sky gave to the move as her finisher. CM Punk used an avalanche version called the Pepsi Plunge in the independent circuit before re-using the move in AEW and uses the move which can see him drop the opponent towards the mat while facing to or away from the turnbuckle. Chyna also used this version in her feud against Chris Jericho.Inverted double underhook facebuster
The wrestler stands behind and facing the same way as their opponent and hooks both their arms. The wrestler then places their head next to the opponent's back and turns 180 degrees while twisting one of the opponent's arms over both of their heads. With the wrestler now in front of the opponent and still hooking the opponent's arms, the wrestler drops onto their back, driving the opponent down face-first into the mat. Innovated by Tommy Rogers as the Tomikaze, it was popularized by Christian, who used this move as a finisher in WWE/TNA; it is perhaps better known as the Killswitch, but he has previously called it the Impaler and the Unprettier. Juice Robinson uses a jumping variation, calling it Pulp Friction. Candice Michelle used this move and called it Candywrapper. Chelsea Green uses the move as her finisher, calling it the Un-Pretty-Her. Lio Rush uses a variation where he and the opponent spin a full 360°. Tyler Breeze is also among notable wrestlers who use the move and he refers to it as the Unprettier. Grayson Waller does a variation where he performs a somersault.Lifting double underhook facebuster
Innovated by Gran Apache, this facebuster is performed when a wrestler bends an opponent forward, placing the opponent's head between the wrestler's legs, and hooks each of the opponent's arms behind their back. The wrestler then pulls back on the opponent's arms, lifting them up so that the opponent is held upside-down facing in the same direction as the wrestler, as if the wrestler was preparing for a double underhook piledriver. The wrestler then falls forward to a kneeling position, planting the opponent's body into the mat face-first. A sit-out variation of this move exists and is used by Ricky Starks as a finished called The Buster Keaton/''Arms of Orion This maneuver was popularized by Christopher Daniels, who uses a spinning sit-out version of the move and calls it the Angel's Wings and El Desperado as Pinche Locó. Awesome Kong uses a kneeling version as her finisher, known as the Implant Buster. Tommaso Ciampa uses this move, calling it Fairy Tale Ending, while Mandy Rose used a sitout version of the move, known as the Bed of Roses''.The wrestler approaches the opponent from behind, and lifts them onto their shoulders into a seated position, the electric chair. The wrestler then lifts the opponent up by their thighs and pushes them forward and down, slamming them down to the mat chest first. The wrestler may also sit down while slamming the opponent. Edge has used the sitout version in his WWF/E run. Used by Rhea Ripley as transition move.Fallaway powerbomb
Also commonly referred to as an Alley Oop, this variation sees the wrestler lift up their opponent in a powerbomb position, only to toss them off their shoulders backward, causing them to land face-first. This was used as a signature move by The Big Show.This facebuster variation sees a wrestler lift an opponent up in a fireman's carry across their shoulders, then throw the opponent's legs out in front of them to spin them out, while simultaneously falling backwards or forwards, causing the opponent to land on their face and upper body. Popularized by Brock Lesnar as the F-5, the move is also currently used by Rosemary as the Red Wedding, by Zaria as the F-6, and by Wardlow as the F-10. Kevin Steen used the move as his signature move in Ring of Honor.The wrestler grabs the opponent by the arm and goes behind him while holding the arm and hooking the opponent's leg. The wrestler then bends the opponent's back and slams their face to the mat. The forward Russian legsweep was popularized by Jeff Jarrett, who began using the maneuver as a finisher in the late 1990s and calls it The Stroke.A slight variation of the forward Russian legsweep, the wrestler approaches the opponent from behind and places them in a full nelson before hooking their leg. The wrestler then falls forward in an almost identical way, slamming the opponent face-first into the mat. The most notable practitioner of this variant is The Miz, who calls the move the Skull Crushing Finale and has used it as a finisher since August 2009.