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In a time when great moves like super kicks, destroyers, and DDTs have been devalued to an extent, AEW has done well to maintain the stature of certain finishing maneuvers.
Some finishers, like Cross Rhodes, have been kicked out of by many opponents, so there isn't a sense of invincibility about them. On the other hand, the One-Winged Angel is the most protected move in all of pro-wrestling, and nobody in AEW has kicked out of it yet.
Besides invincibility, the look, the suddenness, and the ability to pop a crowd go a long way in defining a finisher's effectiveness.
Let's look at the top 5 finishers in AEW.
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#5. Wardlow's Casualty of War in AEW
Wardlow's new finisher in AEW has a sinister name: Casualty of War. It's a vicious knee strike to an opponent perched on the top rope.
The move looks devastating, and Wardlow deserves immense credit for how he executes it. There's a lot of scope to go wrong and hurt your opponent since it's a strike to the face, but so far he's always got it right.
Wardlow has an impressive arsenal of moves. He demolished Juventud Guerrera with an F10 (a spinning version of F5) before taking down Chris Jericho with the Casualty of War.
So far, every time Wardlow hits the move, he has won the match via referee stoppage, further elevating the move as a one-hit knockout blow.
#4. Britt Baker's Lockjaw in AEW
Britt Baker has enjoyed a meteoric rise in AEW. She's the AEW Women's Champion, the face of the women's division, and one of the most popular stars in the company.
She owes much of her success to her submission maneuver, the Lockjaw. It's best described as a hybrid of the Mandible Claw and a crossface as The Dentist pulls at her opponent's teeth while locking in the crossface in a painful move.
Baker has made two former AEW women's champions submit to the move. Hikaru Shida surrendered her title to Baker at AEW Double or Nothing, while Nyla Rose unsuccessfully challenged Britt Baker for the belt. Both former champions succumbed to the Lockjaw.
#3. PAC's Black Arrow + Brutalizer
PAC has an astounding accuracy when it comes to delivering the Black Arrow. In terms of visual impact, few moves make fans jump out of their seats as that one. PAC majestically spins in the air before crashing on his opponent's mid-section.
It is essentially a corkscrew spinning splash that PAC was using since his days at NXT. So far, nobody has kicked out of it.
The Black Arrow is often accompanied by the Brutalizer, a submission move that's as painful as it sounds. PAC is one of the best wrestlers in AEW and he has a finishing sequence to suit his greatness.
#2. Jon Moxley's Paradigm Shift in AEW
Jon Moxley deserves immense credit for getting over an underhook DDT as his finishing maneuver in WWE, NJPW, and AEW. The move was called Dirty Deeds in WWE, Death Rider in NJPW, and is called a Paradigm Shift in AEW.
The Paradigm Shift has helped Moxley put away some of the biggest names like Chris Jericho, Kenny Omega, Mr. Brodie Lee, and Darby Allin. It helped him win the AEW World Championship as well.
Jon Moxley has made adjustments to the move to make it look even more dangerous in AEW. He doesn't just spike his opponents with a DDT. Instead, he elevates them to a decent height before driving their heads into the mat.
The Paradigm Shift can be executed at any time, giving it a spontaneity threat. The suddenness, visual effect, and the opponents it has helped Moxley put away make the move one of the best in AEW.
#1. Kenny Omega's One-Winged Angel in AEW
There could really be only one winner while ranking AEW's best finisher: Kenny Omega's One-Winged Angel that has been built up to mythological levels.
Kota Ibushi is the only person to ever kick out of the move. Since then, Omega has faced the likes of Chris Jericho, Jon Moxley, Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Will Ospreay, Finn Balor, Sami Callihan, and all of them succumbed to it.
Moxley managed to escape once, but he didn't kick out. During their exploding barbed wire death match Moxley got his foot to the bottom rope and the explosion caused Kenny Omega to break up the cover.
The One-Winged Angel has to be built up with V-Triggers, snapdragon suplexes, and Kitaro crushers that damage opponents enough to get them in the electric chair. Once it hits, there's a foregone conclusion as to who wins. Kenny Omega hoists his opponents up and drives them back-first to the ground with one hand.
Nobody has kicked out of the move since 2012, and the myth has carried over to AEW.
Also see 5 AEW superstars that turned down offers from WWE:
