A facebuster, also known as a faceplant, is generally a takedown move in profressional wrestling in which an attacking wrestler forces his/her opponent down to the mat face-first without involving a headlock or facelock. If these are used then the move is either a DDT or bulldog variation. Inverted mat slams are commonly referred to and considered to be facebusters. A standard facebuster, also known as a jumping facebuster, involves the wrestler grabbing hold of the opponent's head / hair and jumping down to their knees, forcing the opponent's face into the mat.
Variations[]
Argentine facebuster[]
The attacking wrestler places an opponent in an Argentine backbreaker rack, where the opponent is held face-up across both the shoulders of the wrestler, from here the wrestler falls sideways (towards the side where the opponent's head is held) while still holding the opponent's head with one arm and flipping the opponent's legs over with the other, driving them down to the mat face-first.
Belly-to-back inverted mat slam[]
From a position in which the opponent is bent forward against the wrestler's midsection, the wrestler grabs around his or her opponent's midsection and lifts so that the opponent is held upside down, facing in the same direction as the wrestler. The wrestler then hooks both arms of the opponent using his or her legs, and then falls forward planting the opponent's body into the mat face-first. The move often sees the wrestler keep his/her legs hooked under the arms of the opponent after hitting the move, using the underhooking technique to turn the opponent on to their back into a Rana style pinning position.
Diving facebuster[]
This variation sees the wrestler grab a hold over the opponent's head/hair,then climb to the second rope and finally jump from there dropping to their knees or in a sitout position and planting the opponent face first to the mat. In another variation the wrestler could just jump from the turnbuckle grabbing the opponent's head/hair in the air and planting them to the mat.
Double underhook facebuster[]
Triple K about to perform a Pedigree on Dustin Simpson
The wrestler bends their opponent forward, placing the opponent's head between the wrestler's legs and then applies a double underhook on the opponent. The wrestler then jumps up while tucking their knees causing them to lift their opponent off the mat before landing on their knees, forcing the opponent's face into the mat.
Inverted double underhook facebuster[]
The wrestler stands behind and facing the same way as their opponent and hooks both their arms. The wrestler then places their head next to the opponent's back and turns 180 degrees while twisting one of the opponent's arms over both of their heads. With the wrestler now in front of the opponent and still hooking the opponent's arms, the wrestler drops on to their back, driving the opponent down face-first into the mat.
Lifting double underhook facebuster[]
This facebuster is performed when a wrestler bends an opponent forward, placing the opponent's head between the wrestler's legs (a standing head scissors), and hooks each of the opponent's arms behind his/her back. The wrestler then pulls back on the opponent's arms lifting him/her up so that the opponent is held upside down facing in the same direction as the wrestler, as if the performer was going for a double underhook piledriver, the wrestler then falls forward planting the opponent's body into the mat face-first.
Electric chair facebuster[]
The wrestler approaches the opponent from behind, and lifts him on his shoulders into a seated position, the electric chair. The wrestler then lifts the opponent up by his thighs and pushes him forward and down, slamming him down to the mat chest first. The wrestler may also sit down while slamming the opponent.
F-5[]
Described as a fireman's carry facebuster, the move sees a wrestler lift an opponent up in a fireman's carry across his shoulders, then throw the opponent's legs out in front of him to spin them out while he simultaneously falls backwards, and then it drives into a DDT or drops them on their face and belly as a facebuster.
Forward Russian legsweep[]
The wrestler grabs the opponent by the arm and goes behind him while holding the arm. The wrestler then blends the opponent's back and slams their face to the mat.
Full nelson facebuster[]
The wrestler approaches the opponent from behind and puts him in a full nelson. The wrestler then trips the opponent by the leg, slamming their face to the mat.
Inverted full nelson facebuster[]
The wrestler approaches a standing opponent, facing him. Then, the wrestler tucks and slides his arms under the opponent's armpits (the wrestler could then lock his hands or simply keeps his arms under the opponent's armpits without locking his hands). From this point, the wrestler falls backwards, slamming the opponent face-first into the canvas. A leaping variation is as well possible. The execution of the inverted full nelson facebuster looks like the execution of the reverse STO.
Gory Bomb[]
This back to back release facebuster is a variation of the Gory special where a wrestler would release the arms of the opponent to take hold of the opponent's legs while dropping to a seated position, forcing the opponent to fall forward and impact the mat face-first.
Gutwrench facebuster[]
This variation sees a wrestler bend his opponent forward and lock his arms around their midsection. The wrestler then lifts the opponent and then falls into a seated position or on their back while simultaneously forcing the opponent into the mat face-first.
Kneeling facebuster[]
A kneeling facebuster, similar to a sitout facebuster, sees the user fall on their knees instead of falling into a seated position. A slight variation of the kneeling facebuster sees a wrestler fall into the kneeling position while having the opponent's head between their legs and pushing the opponent down with their hands.
Push up facebuster[]
A variation where a wrestler puts the head of his opponent between his legs as he performs a number of push ups, causing the opponent's face to be slammed into the canvas a number of times. Often instead of straight push ups, the attacking wrestler just bounces his legs up and down to create the effect.
Reverse chokeslam facebuster[]
The attacking wrestler grabs hold of an opponent's neck with both hands, one on the front, and one on the back. The arm that has the hand on the back of the neck may hook the opponent's arm. The wrestler then lifts the opponent up, releases the hand holding the front of the opponent's neck, and pushes forward and slams the opponent to the mat face-first with the other hand.
Reverse STO[]
Also known as the Complete Shot, this is a move in which a wrestler stands side-to-side and slightly behind with the opponent, facing in the opposite direction, and reaches around the opponent's torso with one arm across the opponent's chest with his/her hand holding onto his/her other hand which is behind the opponent's head. The wrestler then falls backward, driving the opponent into the mat face-first.
Arm triangle facebuster[]
This version of a reverse STO first sees an attacking wrestler apply a standing arm triangle choke before falling backwards to drive the opponent's head face-first to the mat. This stresses the choke which is already applied on the opponent while further damaging their arms, shoulders, and neck as well as impacting the opponent's face on the mat. The arm triangle choke is often maintained after the initial facebuster for a submission attempt.
Leaping reverse STO[]
A variation that involves the wrestler leaping and grabbing the opponent and then driving the opponent's face into the mat.
Lifting reverse STO[]
A variation that is executed when the opponent is lifted off the mat then dropped into the reverse STO.
Swinging reverse STO[]
The opponent is drawn forward before being thrown back and the attacking wrestler then swings them around and down to the mat.
Shoulder facebuster[]
Also described as a hangman's facebuster or an inverted snapmare into a facebuster, this facebuster is performed when an attacking wrestler, who is standing in a back-to-back position with an opponent, reaches back to pull the opponent's head over his/her shoulder before (while keeping a hold of the opponent's head) falling forwards to twist the opponent's head over so they slam face first into the mat.
Sitout facebuster[]
Also known as a sit-down facebuster. This is the most common variation of the standard facebuster in which the attacker grabs hold of the opponent by his/her head or hair then jumps down into a sitting position, forcing the opponent's face into the mat between the attacker's legs. There is also a variation in which it appears as though the attacking wrestler is executing a powerbomb but instead pushes his or her opponent off their shoulders and grabs the opponent's head for the facebuster.
Spinning facebuster[]
Also known as spinning kneel-out facebuster or tornado facebuster sees the opponent grabbing his\her head or hair and spinning in the air and then kneel's out on the mat before the opponent goes in face first into the mat.
Wheelbarrow facebuster[]
Also called a reverse powerbomb, this facebuster sees the attacking wrestler grab a standing opponent around the waist from behind and lift them into a backdrop position before then falling to a sitting position, swinging the opponent down so that their face is driven into the ground. A variant, sees the wrestler lift the opponents legs around their waist before placing both hands around the opponents waist and lifting them into a wheelbarrow position. The wrestler then elevates their opponent into the air before performing a seated drop, driving their opponents face into the canvas.
Chickenwing facebuster[]
The wrestler hooks both an opponent's arms in an elevated double chickenwing, lifts them up into the air from behind, then drops the opponent down onto the mat face first. There is also a sitout variation, where a wrestler hooks their opponent's legs and drops to a seated position, while planting the opponent's face into the canvas between the wrestler's legs.
Full nelson wheelbarrow facebuster[]
An attacking wrestler applies a full nelson from behind and lifts an opponent before falling to a sitting position and swinging the opponent down so their face is driven into the ground.