DDT (professional wrestling)

In professional wrestling a DDT is any move in which the wrestler falls down or backwards to drive a held opponent's head into the mat. The classic DDT is performed by putting the opponent in a front facelock and falling backwards so that the opponent is forced to dive forward onto his or her head. The DDT is often prefaced with a kick to the stomach in order to drive the head of the opponent downwards; a kick and a DDT in quick succession is referred to as a Flowing DDT.

The move was named by Jake "The Snake" Roberts, who accidentally invented the move in the 1980s. Rumors abound as to what the letters DDT supposedly stood for, including Drop Dead Twice, Demonic Death Trap "Death Drop Technique" and Damien's Dinner Time after Jake's pet python Damien. When asked what DDT meant, Jake once famously replied "The End." The abbreviation itself originally came from the chemical dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane, a notorious pesticide, as stated during shoot interviews and on his "Pick Your Poison" DVD. Many think the term DDT was appropriated because the chemical DDT is something "bad" that is buried in the ground and causes extreme danger (and possible brain damage/birth defects) when there; similarly, a DDT is bad in that it buries an opponent's head into the mat, creating extreme danger to the brain and spinal cord.

Since its creation, the DDT has grown to be come known as a "lights out" match finisher when applied, even if the wrestler applying it does not use the DDT as a finisher normally. This is strange considering the variety of high-impact power moves that are not considered "lights out" finishers by wrestlers not using them as finishers (such as the Death Valley Driver or the Powerbomb).

The DDT is easy, quick, believable, and reliably safe enough so that any wrestler, regardless of size, may use it and score a convincing win over another, more heavily favored opponent. It was a major crowd pleaser when used by Jake the Snake and partially led to his rise in fame. The DDT's popularity has led some to speculate that the quick, easy, believable, and reliably safe formula was used to create the Stone Cold Stunner, The People's Elbow, and The Superkick as finishers.