Welcome to another episode of #FinisherFriday! This is Wreddit_Regal bringing you an analysis of the last finisher that I'll cover for the decade.
Nick Berk may not be a household name in the world of professional wrestling, but he sure caught my eye with his mind-boggling finisher (admittedly, I'm a sucker for any finisher with some spinny stuff going on), which has both the aesthetics and mechanics of a deadly weapon.
Everyone, behold the Berkocet:
Bah gawd, the move's snap rivals that of the Cross Rhodes to Kenny Omega!
You can watch it a couple of times and still wonder how the hell does he do it. Let me break the move down into chunks:
- The attacker starts in your standard double underhook, but without the opponent's head tucked between the attacker's thighs.
- The attacker swings his right arm upwards, leans forward, and proceeds to spin his whole upper body towards the right side. As a result, the underhooked opponent is forced to spin with him.
- When the attacker's back is facing the canvas, he starts to lift the opponent's whole body.
- The attacker then completes the spin and lands in a prone position, driving the opponent's face into the canvas.
Unlike the Saxtonation and the Cross Rhodes, Berkocet doesn't rely on the element of misdirection. It's a very straightfoward process—hook, spin, bust face, pin. There's also no secondary intent compared to the Cross Rhodes; notice that all of the spinning motion is done by Berk. (That's some insane upper-body strength right there.) The opponent wouldn't have any reward if he chooses to spin with Berk, but is left with no other choice as he spirals towards his impending doom with the risk of concussions and facial fractures. Also, the double underhook ensures that the opponent's face makes contact with the mat 100%.
Using my Regal Rating, I would give it a:
9/10 for aesthetics. It would have been a 10 if the initial swing wasn't so big. The snappy feel of the move adds more to its cred as a legit match ender.
10/10 for practicality. Even if Berk doesn't manage to lift the opponent halfway through the spin, he can always finish it like the Killswitch. Also, since the opponent's head is under Berk's torso upon completing the move, the weight of his/her upper torso is also added to the mass of the opponent's head, which greatly increases the average impact force.
And there you have it chaps, the last #FinisherFriday of the decade! What finishers would you like me to cover on next year's article? Let us know in the comment section below!
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Wreddit_Regal is the resident sports kinesiologist of Reddit's wrestling forum, r/squaredcircle. From the most basic of punches to the most intricate double-team maneuvers, he can explain them within the realm of human anatomy and physics, because when doing absolutely nothing wrestling-related, he also happens to work as an operating room nurse.
