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Finishing moves are an essential part of pro wrestling. There was a time when there was nothing more final than a finisher, although it's become more and more common for wrestlers to kick out of multiple finishers in a match.
Some finishers are submission based, while others are strikes or grapple moves. Finishing moves also change for Superstars over the years at different points of their careers. In today's article, let's take a look at some WWE Superstars and the finishing moves they don't use anymore.
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#3 Dean Ambrose - Midnight Special
Dean Ambrose has had a fantastic career in the WWE by anyone's standards but it's still pretty clear that it could have amounted to so much more.
Ambrose made his bow in WWE along with Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins as part of The Shield. After their main roster debut, the trio took the main roster by storm, destroying everything in their way. Ambrose was treated as the de facto leader of The Shield back in those days but after the group broke up, he was often booked as an afterthought.
Despite the 'Lunatic Fringe' being a grand slam winner in WWE, he's often been booked in ludicrous storylines. Remember Mitch the plant?
WWE also neutered Ambrose's Dirty Deeds from a double underhook DDT to a vanilla version of the move a number of Superstars just use in their repertoire.
However, let's talk about Dean Ambrose's old finisher in developmental today. It was a lot more impactful than either version of the Dirty Deeds.
Before the Dirty Deeds, Dean Ambrose's finisher was the Midnight Special. It was basically Ambrose's version of the White Noise which is used by Sheamus.
#2 Randy Orton - O-Zone
At this point, the RKO is one of the most legendary finishing moves in pro wrestling. Who hasn't seen a compilation of Randy Orton RKO-ing everything from teenagers jumping off rooftops to malfunctioning missiles? You can check out one such compilation below.
Some newer WWE fans may not remember that Randy Orton even had a different finisher before the RKO. When Randy Orton first came into the WWE, he briefly used a flying crossbody to finish matches before settling for the O-Zone as his finisher.
The O-Zone wasn't a great finisher and it's hard to see Orton reach the heights he has had continuing with it. The move has also been used by other WWE Superstars under the name Overdrive and the Playmaker. Switching Orton over to the RKO later in his career was a masterstroke.
#1 Roman Reigns - Checkmate
Roman Reigns is one of the top Superstars in WWE right now regardless of whether you're a fan of his or not. The man is a 4-time world champion as well as a former Royal Rumble winner. He's also a grand slam winner in the WWE.
Reigns also never lost the WWE Universal Championship and had to relinquish the title when he took a leave of absence for health issues. Reigns returned to WWE earlier this year and wrestled and beat Drew McIntyre at WrestleMania in his first singles match back.
Reigns' finisher right now is the Spear and some fans think that Reigns needs something a lot more impactful to finish matches. However, if you aren't happy with his finisher now, you should take a look at the terrible finisher he used to use in developmental. He called it the Checkmate and it was sort of a spinning bulldog. Check it out below:
