Steve Austin recently discussed John Cena doing a springboard stunner at WWE’s Wrestlemania 31 during one of his Steve Austin Show podcasts and didn’t seem too happy, even referring to the use as gimmick infringement.
Via Steve Austin Show,
“Had they looked further down the road than the short term, [Cena] would have had a valid, great, badass finish instead of a set-up that now means nothing.”
Austin said that he was still on good terms with the WWE and John Cena but his main beef seemed to be how they diluted his finisher into nothing more than a set up maneuver. Austin also criticized the springboard motion saying that the Stunner is already a potentially dangerous move and adding that springboard could lead to problems in delivering the move cleanly. Imagine seeing the move you popularized get used in such a nonchalant way? I understand why Austin doesn’t like it and even when watching the move it just seems random and thrown in for the sake of adding a move to John Cena’s limited move set.