who invented the 450 splash

The 450 splash does not have one universally agreed-upon inventor; most historians and fans credit either Scott Steiner or 2 Cold Scorpio , with Hayabusa often cited as an early innovator who helped popularize it in the 1990s.

Quick Scoop

There is genuine debate in wrestling circles about who truly invented the 450 splash. Different wrestlers and fans point to different first usages in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Main claimed inventors

• Scott Steiner
  • Reportedly hit a 450-style dive (then dubbed a “1½ Superfly”) in the late 1980s in Dick the Bruiser’s Indianapolis territory, years before the move was widely known.

* Steiner himself has claimed he was the first to perform the move, though he did not adopt it as a regular finisher.

• 2 Cold Scorpio
  • Widely credited by many fans and commentators as the innovator who developed and regularly used the 450 splash as a signature move in the late 80s and early 90s, especially through his work in Japan, Mexico, and WCW.

* Scorpio has directly stated in interviews that he believes he invented the move, pointing to his high-flying run before others were doing that style consistently.

• Hayabusa
  • Frequently mentioned as a key early user who helped make the move famous in Japan during the mid‑1990s, even if not the original inventor.

* His dramatic, risky style cemented the 450 splash as one of the most spectacular aerial moves in wrestling.

Why there’s no single “official” inventor

• Early instances of the move were not always widely televised or recorded, so “who did it first” is hard to prove beyond doubt.

• Different wrestlers experimented with variations of twisting and flipping splashes, blurring the line between accidental innovation and deliberate invention.

• Modern write-ups typically frame it as: Steiner and Scorpio as the leading candidates for inventing it, with Hayabusa and later stars (like AJ Styles and others) responsible for popularizing and refining it.

In fan discussions today, the safest phrasing is that the 450 splash was likely first executed by either Scott Steiner or 2 Cold Scorpio , then brought to wider fame by high-flyers like Hayabusa and later generations.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.