A wrestler’s finisher is their most important move. It signals the end of their match and helps distinguish them from their peers. Without a good finishing move, a wrestler cannot do a good job telling a story in the ring.
There was a time when virtually every wrestler in WWE had a cool or unique finisher that got a noticeable reaction from the crowd. Whether it was the Stunner, the People’s Elbow, the Tombstone, or even something simpler like Mr Socko or the Scissors Kick followed by a Spinarooni; every wrestler had a go-to move that got a huge reaction from the crowd every time it was executed.
Now, WWE’s roster is a barren wasteland of similar-yet-uninteresting finishing moves. WWE’s philosophy towards match structure has shifted to a new one where, in the bigger matches, wrestlers kick out of each other’s supposed finishers several times during a single bout.
It has reached a point where finishers aren’t really finishers; they’re more like signature moves that are associated with only one particular wrestler, and even then there are several wrestlers whose moves overlap.
Because of this new match style, seeing a finisher inside a WWE ring has lost its lustre. Instead of hearing the crowd pop and cheer at the sight of a wrestler’s finisher, nowadays most of them slightly cheer because they know the match may not end.
Several wrestlers have used similar and repetitive finishers, which has made the WWE product less spontaneous and more predictable. This has been made much worse with the ubiquity of the internet. It’s now possible to see pretty much any and every wrestling move ever created, which has led to a sense of inferiority towards WWE finishers.
People dream of seeing the crazy, high-risk, ultra-dangerous moves in a WWE ring, but because of the company’s aversion to major risks, the only time you’ll see one of those super-finishers is in a WWE video game.
As for the real WWE wrestlers, they’re stuck with some really basic, and often boring finishing moves. The ten moves listed here stand out as the worst offenders, being moves that are more likely to put fans to sleep than get them to their feet.
10. Seth Rollins - The Pedigree
Seth Rollins is an excellent wrestler that cannot seem to carve a solid identity out for himself. Despite having broken away from the Authority months ago, he still uses the move bestowed upon him by Triple H himself, the Pedigree, as his own finisher. This came on the heels of his Curb-Stomp being banned by WWE last year, and in the aftermath, he hasn’t been able to find a new move to replace it.
The ironic thing is, Seth, being an excellent wrestler, could use pretty much any move as his finisher and it would be convincing. He could use the Superplex/Falcon Arrow combo, God’s Last Gift (his Small Package/Fisherman Buster combo move), or even the Phoenix Splash. Any one of these moves would make for an awesome and convincing finisher.
Yet strangely, Rollins is stuck using the Pedigree. The problem with this move is, no matter how much Rollins uses it, it will be forever associated with Triple H. He could even rename it to something completely different, and people would still call it the Pedigree. Because of that, Rollins isn’t creating his own identity as a performer per se. Rather, he’s seen as more of an extension of Triple H, because Triple H isn’t wrestling so his trademark finisher must still be seen on WWE programming.
Because the Pedigree has been seen so much in WWE for the past twenty years, people have become numb to it. The only reason it’s still taken seriously as a finisher is because it was so well-protected over so many years. Many people cannot separate the Pedigree manoeuvre from Triple H, so anyone that uses it will be considered to either be ‘making homage’ to the Game, or stealing his move.
Considering how good Rollins is, he’s better off using something that isn’t associated with the Authority, especially since he’s supposed to have parted ways with them months ago.
#9 R-Truth - What's Up?
WWE has something of a poor track record with mid-card African-American wrestlers stuck in singles competition. For some reason, they made the same decision with three wrestlers, one after another: Shelton Benjamin, MVP, and most recently, R-Truth.
After each of these wrestlers’ initial singles push was derailed (and then abandoned), they were each saddled with a new finisher and a terrible one at that.
The ‘What’s Up?’, as it’s called by R-Truth, is a leaping reverse STO. Basically, Truth jumps at his opponent, wraps one arm across their collar, and then falls backwards. The idea behind this move is that the opponent is driven face-first into the mat.
But this isn’t a DDT, where you can create the obvious illusion by wrapping your arm around your opponent’s head. Instead, by wrapping your arm around your opponent’s chest, there’s more space between the victim’s body and the canvas, weakening the impact.
It also doesn’t help that the user takes more damage by landing flat on their back than the victim does on their face.
Even if the move’s supposed to be athletic, most people can see through this move’s illusion. It just doesn’t make sense from any logical standpoint, even if wrestling’s supposed to be outlandish and wacky. What person would jump up and then land hard on their back without even grabbing their opponent fully around the head?
You can’t suspend your disbelief with this poorly-conceived finisher.
#8 Titus O'Neil - Clash of the Titus
Titus O’Neil has the look of a powerful man. He’s tall, muscular and somewhat intimidating. And he’s been saddled with a finisher that was used most recently by the man once known as Hugh G. Rection. I’m not even joking.
The Clash of the Titus is a straightforward Sitout Spinebuster. There’s very little flash or theatricality to it, just a simple lift and slam. Given how big Titus is, one would expect such a move to get over quickly. Unfortunately, Titus, like many lower mid carders, suffers from poor booking and a disinterested audience, which also includes the commentators.
Even if he were to execute the move perfectly, because no one is reacting to it in a major way, Titus doesn’t develop as a performer. When the fans aren’t sure how to think about someone, they’ll often turn to the commentators to find out what they think of that person.
If they’re not selling the wrestler or their finisher as a big deal, and are instead bickering amongst themselves or telling jokes, as they tend to these days, then the fans won’t care either.
That seems to be where Titus is today: stuck with a generic finisher that could, in theory, be much more if the commentators actually made it out to be a big deal like they should.
#7 Nia Jax - Every Finisher She Has Used
It is rare for WWE to have someone on its roster that can fill the role Nia Jax has. They have a ‘monster’ woman, which they don’t come across very often. Because of her size, they have the potential to create some interesting storylines of her being a major threat to everyone around her.
They could’ve made her the female Braun Strowman. Instead, she has been somewhat left behind by the creative department.
A big reason for that is Jax doesn’t have much of a decisive finisher in her arsenal. Instead of doing something impressive and power-oriented, as one would expect of a power wrestler like Jax, Nia has switched finishers several times in the past few months.
She has switched from a big Leg Drop à la Hulk Hogan, to a modified fireman’s carry Powerslam, to some kind of Samoan Drop, because every Samoan has to use that move, it’s just a requirement, for some reason.
Had Jax been given a single, straightforward finisher that looked much more devastating and was booked as a true finisher, she’d be in a different place right now. When a wrestler keeps changing their finisher in such a short period, it suggests that either those moves are too dangerous for that wrestler to be using, or they’re too weak-looking to get over with the audience.
In either case, it hurts the wrestler, which is what has happened to Nia Jax.
#6 John Cena - The Attitude Adjustment/The AA
John Cena is often called ‘Mr Five Moves of Doom’ because of his tendency to repeat the exact same manoeuvres in every match. While he has had some variation added here and there, his go-to match finisher has stayed the same for over ten years.
The Attitude Adjustment used to look like a cool move. He’d pick someone up and then slam them as hard as possible into the canvas off of his shoulders. Unfortunately, familiarity breeds contempt, which has led to people hating the AA almost as much as they hate the man that uses it.
Over time, Cena has defeated many opponents with the same move, leading to a never-ending pattern of ‘Cena wins, LOL’.
It has reached a point where Cena’s regular matches get boring because he’s forced to repeat the exact same spots in his matches. He’ll hit the two shoulder blocks. Then he’ll use his spinning back Suplex. Then he’ll go for an AA, and his opponent will escape it every time.
He won’t hit a successful one until later, which makes the whole point of going for the first one moot.
If only Cena added more variety and unpredictability to his match flow, this problem wouldn’t exist. Sadly, the powers that be have demanded that Cena be the living version of a broken record in WWE, always repeating the exact same thing on a regular basis, much to the chagrin of the WWE fans.
#5 Darren Young - The Crossface Chickenwing & The Gut Check
It’s funny, but of the original eight members of the Nexus, Darren Young is the only one still actively wrestling in WWE. From the beginning, it didn’t look like he was ever going to be pegged as a top guy, and part of that was that he never had a finisher that really stood out.
His most recent finishers were: a fireman’s carry double knee Gutbuster, which is as basic and generic as they come; and the Crossface Chickenwing, which he adopted from Bob Backlund.
In both cases, Young had the potential to get over with his finishers, but again, nothing was done to elevate those moves. For a wrestler to progress and convince the fans to invest in them, there must be a reason for those fans to do so.
Without the commentators filling in the holes of the stories told in the matches, which is done by selling the moves they use as important, the wrestlers stay in the same place.
Darren Young’s Gutbuster was never treated like a big deal when he used it to win a few matches. Then, when he started using the Crossface Chickenwing (which is a legitimately painful hold used by many true submission experts), the same thing happened.
The reaction from the commentators (and by extension, the fans) was lukewarm at best, which prevented Young from climbing any further up the WWE ladder.
#4 Primo & Epico - The Backstabber
Primo and Epico are on the shortlist for ‘most poorly-planned team in WWE’. First, they were ordinary tag team wrestlers, then they were bullfighters, and now they’re travel agents. Is there a glitch in the Matrix, or have we actually gone back in time to the 1990’s WWF?
As if their gimmick wasn’t bad enough, both Colon brothers use the same manoeuvre, the Backstabber, as their respective finisher. Like other moves on this list, this one’s place here is due to the fact that others use it either for a big spot in their match or as a set-up for something bigger, which devalues the move in question.
Sasha Banks uses the Backstabber to set-up her Bank Statement finisher, and Alberto Del Rio used it on occasion during his most recent run. Neither one of those wrestlers used this move to actually end matches, yet now we’re supposed to believe two lower-card wrestlers can win with that same move?
This lack of forethought prevents fans from suspending their disbelief, which leads to a bored crowd. A bored crowd isn’t likely to respond to a big move like this one, which leads to those wrestlers treading water in terms of storyline direction.
#3 Big E- The Big Ending
Big E has been on the main roster for more or less four years, and during that entire period, he has used one of the most unusual and uninspiring finishing moves. The Big Ending is basically a Cutter to the stomach. Think the RKO, but instead of jumping and grabbing the head, Big E jumps down and targets his opponent’s stomach.
Since the beginning, I (and many fans) have had a hard time accepting the Big Ending as a proper finishing move. The move simply doesn’t make sense. He doesn’t drop to his knees to drive his huge shoulders into that person’s gut. He doesn’t drive his opponent hard into the mat.
Instead, Big E’s opponent falls ever so slowly to the mat. Even worse, in some cases, his opponents actually fall on top of his side, softening the impact of the move.
It’s a good thing Big E was put into a successful tag team in the New Day. Thanks to this decision, Big E and Kofi made the move significantly better by adding a diving tag team component to it. Otherwise, Big E would’ve floundered as a singles star with a disappointing finisher.
#2 Naomi - The Rear View
Naomi is an athletic woman. She has demonstrated this several times during her career. Yet for some strange, inexplicable reason, despite all the changes in the women’s division, Naomi is still saddled with the single worst finisher in WWE today: the Rear View.
That’s right because Naomi has…rather large hips, they’ve decided that she needs to end her matches by jumping midair and pushing her butt into her opponent’s face. I’m not sure if the name ‘the Rear View’ is supposed to be taken seriously or not, but it all sounds like one huge joke at Naomi’s expense.
The Rear View isn’t funny, it isn’t sexy, it isn’t a good example of ring psychology, and it isn’t…anything good. It’s one of the last remnants of the old ‘Divas’ era when women’s wrestling was treated as a joke.
If WWE were still serious about pushing the women to the forefront and treating the division with respect, the promotion would do away with moves like this and let Naomi do something more…serious.
At least then she wouldn’t still have people laughing at her for trying to end her matches by pushing her butt into her opponent’s face like a female version of Rikishi.
#1 Several Wrestlers – The Superkick
WWE has officially killed this move and every minor variation of it that exists. It has become overexposed and overused to a point where it’s almost impossible to believe as a credible finisher. Even Dolph Ziggler, who has copied Shawn Michaels’ ‘tuning up the band’ preparation, doesn’t get a big reaction anymore.
It’s one thing when a wrestler overuses one particular move to the point of irrelevance and repetition. It’s another problem when several wrestlers use the same move, often without notice and with reckless abandon.
Ziggler uses the Superkick as a finisher, but Kevin Owens, Seth Rollins, the Miz, the Usos and even Alberto Del Rio, all use it as either a signature move that doesn’t lead to a decisive win, or as a set-up move for something bigger.
By comparison, imagine if Dean Ambrose started using the F-5 as a set-up move for another move off the top rope. That would completely kill the F-5 as a finisher. That’s what WWE has done to the Superkick: taken a popular move and destroyed its credibility.
Recently, I lamented that Roman Reigns has one of the worst moves in WWE in the Spear. While that move may be somewhat limited in its appeal, at least WWE’s protecting his Spear by preventing others from using it. The same cannot be said of the Superkick, which has easily become the most overexposed finisher in WWE.
It really makes you wonder how the Young Bucks manage to keep the fans invested in their Superkick parties…
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