Lizzy Rain just picked up her first win on NXT, and now she’s breaking down exactly how her “Thunderstruck” finisher came together.
After picking up a win over Nikkita Lyons on the April 28 episode of NXT, Rain’s “Thunderstruck” finisher stood out as the moment that sealed her first match. Now she’s giving more insight into how it came together, and why she didn’t want to just copy something everyone else is doing.
While speaking on Busted Open After Dark, Rain first explained the mechanics behind the move and where the idea originally came from, pointing to a specific inspiration and her goal of making it her own.
“It’s a pop-up Shining Wizard—it’s my knee that hits her. I actually got it inspired from Meiko Satomura’s Scorpion Rising. I wanted to do a Shining Wizard, but a lot of people do them.”
She didn’t just stop at inspiration. Rain also explained that she already had a history of using knee-based finishers, and that played a big role in how she approached creating something new with her coach.
“I used to do the Knee Trembler as my finish, and I wanted to do some sort of knee, so me and my coach were thinking, what else can we do that’s different?”
That’s where things clicked. Instead of sticking with a traditional version, she decided to tweak it into something more explosive, and that change ended up sticking. And when it came time to name it, Rain made sure it matched both the look of the move and her overall persona.
“Then I thought, oh, how about a pop-up one, like Meiko Satomura’s finish. So we did it, and my coach was like, ‘This is the sickest finisher ever—we need to do it. This needs to be your finish.’ The name comes from the leg looking like a thunderbolt and Thunderstruck—it fits perfectly.”
The finisher already delivered in her debut, and now it’s clear it wasn’t thrown together last minute. It’s something she built step by step, with a clear direction in mind. Bottom line: it’s clear “Thunderstruck” is the centerpiece of how Lizzy Rain plans to stand out in NXT going forward.
Do you think “Thunderstruck” is strong enough to become Lizzy Rain’s signature move long-term, or does she need something even bigger to stand out? Let me know your thoughts.
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