Pro wrestling’s innovators don’t always get the credit they deserve.

While every sports-entertainment fan knows that the Mandible Claw was Mankind’s signature submission hold, few realize that the inventor of the bizarre move was Dr. Sam Sheppard — the same guy whose true life drama inspired the 1993 Harrison Ford thriller “The Fugitive.”

Stories as interesting as this shouldn’t go untold, so join WWEClassics.com as we celebrate the innovators behind the Sharpshooter, the powerbomb and more of sports-entertainment’s best maneuvers.

Pro wrestling’s innovators don’t always get the credit they deserve.

While every sports-entertainment fan knows that the Mandible Claw was Mankind’s signature submission hold, few realize that the inventor of the bizarre move was Dr. Sam Sheppard — the same guy whose true life drama inspired the 1993 Harrison Ford thriller “The Fugitive.”

Stories as interesting as this shouldn’t go untold, so join WWEClassics.com as we celebrate the innovators behind the Sharpshooter, the powerbomb and more of sports-entertainment’s best maneuvers.

Photos of wrestling's best innovators | Watch Randy Orton's earth-shattering RKOs

Who invented the RKO?

Randy Orton’s RKO has taken out every heavy hitter from Hulk Hogan to John Cena. So it may come as a surprise that the maneuver was innovated by  John Laurinaitis — the former Raw General Manager who is better known to the WWE Universe for his misguided governance than his Japanese ring career.

“ The RKO, or as I call it, the Ace Crusher, was invented back in 1987,” the onetime Johnny Ace told WWEClassics.com. “I was a young kid training and Barry Windham said to me, ‘Why don’t you do a front face neckbreaker as a move?’ ”

It wasn’t until Laurinaitis headed to All Japan Pro Wrestling in ’88 that he debuted the maneuver. In the ring with studs like  “Dr. Death” Steve Williams and Kenta Kobashi, the tag team specialist needed a move that would stand out. When he dropped his first Ace Crusher in Tokyo’s Korakuen Hall, the audience was appropriately blown away.

“The crowd cheered and then went into an awe, because they’d never seen a move like that before,” Laurinaitis remembered.

Big Johnny later showed  Diamond Dallas Page how to perform the maneuver, which Page redubbed the Diamond Cutter. DDP, in turn, passed it on to Randy Orton.

Who invented the Sharpshooter?

The Sharpshooter has become so integral to Bret Hart’s “Excellence of Execution” persona that it’s hard to believe the “Hit Man” didn’t create the maneuver on a dark and stormy night down in the Hart Family Dungeon.

Truth is it was former South Korean Olympic wrestler and New Japan Pro Wrestling icon Riki Choshu that crafted the tendon-snapping maneuver. A legitimate ring legend in Japan, Choshu dubbed the submission “Sasori-gatame” when he invented it, which loosely translates to “Scorpion Hold.”

The name fit well when added to the arsenal of WCW’s Sting, who utilized the maneuver with great success as the “Scorpion Deathlock.” As Hart recounted in his fascinating biography, “Hitman: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling,” the maneuver was suggested to him by WWE official Pat Patterson. But it was Konnan — then competing under the mask of Max Moon in WWE — who showed him how to apply the hold.

In the years after Hart left WWE, the Sharpshooter was adopted by Trish Stratus, The Rock and Hart’s niece, Natalya.

Who invented the moonsault?

It takes a special kind of competitor to leap from the top rope and come crashing down on their opponent. But to do it blindly, with the added flair of busting out a complete backflip? Most folks would’ve developed a case of acrophobia pretty quickly.

It wasn’t a noted daredevil like Jimmy Snuka who created the moonsault, however, but Mando Guerrero, older brother of WWE Hall of Famer Eddie Guerrero. Trained in the high-flying art of lucha libre, the elder Guerrero dared to backflip off the top rope, creating a new starting point for later generations of aerialists, like The Great Muta, Ultimo Dragon and even Lita. With each passing year, young wrestlers are always adding new twists and turns to Mando’s innovative moonsault, literally taking sports-entertainment to new heights.

Who invented the powerbomb?

The footage is grainy now, but the moment is unmistakable. In a match from the early 1950s in New York City’s Madison Square Garden, storied grappler Lou Thesz grabs Italian highflier Antonino Rocca around the waist, yokes him into the air against his will and unceremoniously dumps his confused and overpowered opponent back on the mat.

In that instant, the powerbomb was born.

The bread and butter of ’90s big men like Kevin Nash, Vader and Sid, the debilitating throw has long been associated with super heavyweights. But it was the 228-pound former NWA Champion and pro wrestling cornerstone Thesz who innovated the maneuver.

A tireless trendsetter, the St. Louis native was also responsible for the creation of a pair of holds that carried two of WWE’s top Superstars to the WWE Title — “Stone Cold” Steve Austin’s Thesz Press and John Cena’s STF.

Who invented the Texas Cloverleaf?

One of the most effective submission holds a Superstar can use, the Texas Cloverleaf was made famous by  Dean Malenko in the late ’90s. The Man of 1,000 Holds used the leglock to torture opponents into giving up, stretching every tendon between the neck and knees. He even inspired Sheamus to use the cloverleaf as his go-to hold after the Brogue Kick was banned. But while the Florida native made the move famous on a worldwide stage, it was another renowned grappler who invented this agonizing hold.

Second-generation star and  WWE Hall of Famer Dory Funk Jr. is credited with the invention of the Texas Cloverleaf. A master of the mat already, Funk added the hold to his vast arsenal of submissions, which included The Funks’ famed Spinning Toe Hold. The Cloverleaf served Funk well, helping him capture the NWA World Title, along with many regional singles and tag team championships.

Who invented the Shooting Star Press?

High up on the list of sports-entertainment’s most dangerous maneuvers, the Shooting Star Press is a dazzling backflip executed from the top rope. Performed into a swimming pool, it would be impressive enough, but when nailed in the squared circle, it’s a thing of beauty.

Fearless airmen like John Morrison,  Evan Bourne and Billy Kidman have used the dive with breathtaking accuracy. Brock Lesnar nearly ended his career with it at WrestleMania XIX when he failed to rotate completely and landed in ugly fashion on his forehead. But it was Japan’s  Jushin “Thunder” Liger who gets credit for the daring move’s innovation.

A star in New Japan Pro Wrestling, Liger was a WCW regular for much of the ’90s. Still active today, the former WCW Light Heavyweight Champion no longer performs the Shooting Star Press, but he’ll always be revered as the genius behind the audacious dive.

Who invented the Figure-Four Leglock?

Invented by a “Nature Boy” and made famous by another, the Figure-Four Leglock has long been one of professional wrestling’s most infamous submission holds. In the 1950s,  “Nature Boy” Buddy Rogers was credited with the creation of the Figure-Four, where the executor of the hold twists his opponent’s legs into the shape of the number four, using his own legs to apply unbelievable amounts of pressure.

It was that hold that brought Rogers his greatest success as the first WWE Champion in 1963. After Rogers left the squared circle later that year, the Figure-Four was cribbed by a number of competitors, including Greg Valentine, Dusty Rhodes and Jeff Jarrett. They had varying degrees of success, but it was the next “Nature Boy” who made it famous.  WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair adopted the hold and forced countless foes to submit on his way to 16 World Championships.

Who invented the Frog Splash?

The Frog Splash is most closely associated with WWE Hall of Famer Eddie Guerrero, as he introduced the daring leap to American audiences in 1995, mimicking a frog’s jump before crushing his fallen foe’s sternum. But Guerrero wasn’t the creator of the amazing dive. It was his close friend and tag team partner, Art Barr.

Guerrero and “The Love Machine,” known collectively as either La Pareja del Terror or Los Gringos Locos, were the most hated duo in Mexico’s AAA promotion. Fans couldn’t help but admire Barr’s graceful finishing maneuver, though. After Barr’s untimely passing in 1994, Latino Heat adopted the  Frog Splash as his trademark finisher — a move that made him WWE Champion and a Hall of Famer.