The highlight to any wrestling match in World Wrestling Entertainment is when one of the wrestlers executes their patented final move, also known as the “Finisher”. Throughout the years there are been a wide variety of finishers, some alike, and some so unique they belong in their own category. Here is a list of the Best WWE Finishing moves of All-time.
Doomsday Device: The Road Warriors also known as The Legion of Doom, have taken the tag team world by storm in almost every federation since the early eighties, and have won countless titles. Hawk and Animal have taken down team after team, many thanks to their finisher, the Doomsday Device. One of the wrestlers will put their opponent on their shoulders, as the other climbs to the top turnbuckle and brutally clotheslines the other off and onto the mat. Effective every time, and even mimicked by the McMahons at the 2005 Summerslam, the Doomsday Device will always be associated with the Road Warriors.
Sharpshooter: Bret Hart always quoted himself as “The Best There Was, The Best There Is, And The Best There Ever Will Be” and his finisher was one of the best. A modified Boston Crab, Bret Hart sticks his leg in between a laying opponent and turns them over for a submission win. It was infamously used to put Stone Cold Steve Austin unconscious at Wrestlemania 13, used against him at Survivor Series 1997, and paid tribute by wrestlers like The Rock.
Vader Bomb/Banzai Drop: Big wrestlers always have big impact moves, like Earthquake’s Earthquake or Bam Bam’s flying head butt. Two huge wrestlers, Vader and Yokozuna, had a similar finisher, either known as the Vader Bomb or the Banzai Drop. They would climb up to the second rope with opponent lying lifeless beneath them, and using the top rope fore more momentum, would send all their body weight crashing down to the unfortunate opponent below. No one could recover from this move, but if the opponent got out of the way, it could mean double damage for Yokozuna or Vader.
Sweet Chin Music: Some finishers are quick and unanticipated, and others have a slow buildup before the execution. Shawn Michael’s Sweet Chin Music is a mix of both of these. For the slow buildup, Michaels will stand in the corner, slowing stomping his foot and waiting like a predator to attack his prey and deliver a massive foot to the jaw of the unsuspecting opponent. This move can also come out of no where. At any point during a match, Michaels’ leg can come flying up through the air knocking out his opponent. A great example of this is during a WWE Raw match against Shelton Benjamin, where Shelton came flying off the top rope and met Michaels’ foot on the way down.
Angle Slam/FU/F5: After the era of the Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin, three new WWE superstars emerged with very similar finishers. The first was Kurt Angle, with his Olympic Slam. Grabbing his opponent over his shoulders, Angle would spin and slam his opponent to the ground. Brock Lesner’s F5 is slightly different. He would carry his opponent the same way on his shoulders and swing them around in mid-air and slam them to the ground. John Cena’s FU is a take on the F5, but instead of swinging the opponent around he would swing them up over his head and onto the mat below. All three are effective finishers and especially effective when used on huge wrestlers. At Wrestlemania 20, John Cena defeated the Big Show with one of the biggest FU he has ever performed.
Tombstone: The Undertaker has many trademark moves, like “Old School”, The “Last Ride”, and the choke slam, but nothing is more effective and popular than the tombstone. Essentially a reverse pile driver, the Tombstone has made wrestlers “Rest In Peace” for over ten years and gotten the Undertaker numerous WWE Championships. Simple and effective, you usually know the match is over when the Tombstone is applied.
Stone Cold Stunner: Stone Cold is arguably of WWE’s most popular wrestlers, and one of these reasons is his trademark finisher, the Stone Cold Stunner. A kick to the gut is delivered and the opponents head is pulled down to Stone Cold’s shoulder and when he hits the mat, the opponent has a whiplash effect sending them flying back and lifeless. This move always gets the crowd going and has been used on a countless number of wrestlers and even non-wrestlers like Donald Trump. This finisher is definitely the most crowd-pleasing and who can forget when he delivered it to every single member of the McMahon family on the special edition episode “Raw: Homecoming.
Hogan Leg Drop: Before the debut of the Stone Cold Stunner, when any wrestling fan would think of finishers, you could not forget Hulk Hogan’s leg drop. This finisher was much more than a leg drop though. After getting beat-down by his opponent, a rush would come over Hogan and he would “Hulk-Up” take any punch delivered to him. He would then send the opponent across the ropes, deliver a big boot, and a running leg drop to defeat his opponent. Many Wrestlemania main events have seen finishes like this, including Wrestlemania 3 against Andre the Giant and Wrestlemania 5 against “Macho Man” Randy Savage.
Some future top finishers used now, include Ken Kennedy’s top rope slam, and Rey Mysterio’s 619 that could be added to the list someday. The finishers above are highlights because of the wrestler using them, and the impact they have in matches, making some even more memorable the wrestlers using them.
