Lizzy Rain opens up about her explosive in-ring finisher.
On Tuesday, WWE NXT fans witnessed the television debut of Lizzy Rain, formerly known as Rayne Leverkusen, as she took on Nikkita Lyons. In the process, they also saw Rain’s exciting finishing move, called the Thunderstruck.
While appearing on Busted Open After Dark, Rain revealed that the move’s name partially stems from a song released by AC/DC in 1990. As for the move itself, which she described as a “pop-up shining wizard, ” she credits the legendary Meiko Satomura for inspiring it.
“It’s my knee that hits her,” Rain said. “I got inspired from Meiko Satomura’s Scorpion Rising. I wanted to do a Shining Wizard, but a lot of people do Shining Wizards. Used to do the Knee Trembler as a finish and I still wanted to do some kind of knee or Shining Wizardy thing. Me and my coach were just thinking, ‘What can we do that’s a little bit different?’ And we thought, ‘Oh, what about a pop-up one?’ Kind of like Meiko Satomura’s finish.
“She heavily inspired me. I love watching her wrestle. So we did it and we were like, ‘This is the sickest finish ever, we need to do this. This needs to be your finish.’ Then the name comes from the leg looking a little bit like a thunderbolt, and you know, AC/DC Thunderstruck, it kind of fits perfectly.”
In the ring, Rain is known for her heavy-metal persona, which aligns with her status as the niece of Iron Maiden’s original drummer Clive Burr. Rain brought out that musical energy in her on-screen debut against Nikkita Lyons, which she won via the Thunderstruck.
