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While Byron Saxton has made his name as a commentator and backstage interviewer for WWE, he actually started his career as a wrestler inside the squared circle. That's right, he even spent five years wrestling in WWE's developmental system, even competing on the NXT game show twice, before he eventually transitioned to a role away from the ring.
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Now, Saxton was a fairly decent wrestler, but unfortunately, he was saddled with one of the most ludicrous finishers in WWE history. The move, creatively dubbed the 'Saxtonation', was just absurd, and he had no chance of ever receiving a significant push using it.
Byron Saxton's Finisher In WWE Was Way Too Convoluted
The best finishing moves have an element of surprise to them. The RKO, the Stone Cold Stunner, and Sweet Chin Music were all huge fan favorites due to the fact they could be hit at any given moment. Unfortunately, the Saxtonation did not have that level of unpredictability. In fact, was quite the opposite.
Starting off in an almost Cobra Clutch position, the move consisted of Saxton beginning to drive his opponent's face first towards the mat, in an almost Skull Crushing Finale type of motion, before inexplicably pulling them back in the opposite direction and throwing himself into the air as he did it, driving them back-first to the mat.
Having so much unnecessary action go into the move just made it feel like a joke, and a waste of both Saxton's time and his opponent's. It would still be pretty lame if he just drove them back first, but having all the meaningless motion prior just felt silly, and using the move actually hurt his chances of ever seeing any level of success in a WWE ring.
The Saxonation Was A Terrible Name For A Finishing Move
It's been mentioned already, but there's no getting around it, Saxtonation is just a straight-up terrible name. There's nothing menacing, smart, or even entertaining about it, and if audiences didn't already think it was a joke of a finisher, hearing commentators refer to it as the Saxtonation certainly did the job.
It doesn't really make any sense, and sounds as though a young child brainstormed the idea up themselves. With a company as big as WWE, and the immense talent that works there, as well as some of the incredible minds on the payroll, you'd have thought they would have come up with something a little more impressive than Saxtonation.
The Saxonation Didn't Look Like A Finisher That Would Keep A Wrestler Down
A wrestler's finishing move should be the most devastating weapon in their arsenal. The Tombstone Piledriver was clearly the most impressive move in The Undertaker's locker, the Pedigree stood clear above the rest for Triple H, but the Saxtonation looked less dangerous than a simple DDT.
In fact, there weren't many moves in Saxton's arsenal that actually looked less effective than his supposed finisher. It led to his victories always feeling a little anti-climactic, and made his opponents look super weak. Losing a match is always tough, but having to do it to a move like that is just a career-killer.
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Saxton never made it to WWE's main roster as an in-ring competitor, and it's interesting to ponder whether the company would have stuck with the Saxtonation if he had ever wrestled on either Raw or SmackDown, but one thing is for certain, if he kept the move, the likelihood of him seeing any success as a superstar was incredibly low. In fact, ending up behind the commentary desk instead was probably the best thing that could have happened to the guy.
