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Finishers in professional wrestling are moves that wrestlers use to end a match. They have been used for years, and there is a variety of finishers that have been used in wrestling promotions around the world. Some wrestlers innovated their own finisher and others just went on to make it more popular than it ever was. Some finishers look stunning when performed successfully, such as Neville's Red Arrow and Kenny Omega's One-Winged Angel.
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There others that look absolutely brutal, scary and some just look bizarre. Finishers come in different forms and are performed differently by various wrestlers. Most of the time it takes two wrestlers to perform a finisher, the person performing it and the person receiving it. They both have equal roles to play to make sure that not only does the move get performed successfully, but it also gets performed safely so that no one is seriously hurt. A small mistake could lead to broken bones and even end another wrestler's career.
Although most finishers are performed safely, they can lead to serious injuries if not performed correctly. Also, with a family friendly promotion like WWE, children will try to copy the moves they see on TV, and they may end up injuring themselves and/or someone else. WWE has banned a lot of finishers and some have been modified to make it more safer, especially ones which target the neck and the head. Here are five finishers that the WWE banned and then brought back.
#5 The Piledriver
There are different variations of the piledriver, but they all end with someone being carried and dropped on their head or the back of their neck. WWE Hall of Famer Stone Cold Steve Austin experienced that first hand when Owen Hart botched a piledriver causing Austin to receive neck surgery.
This lead to Austin's early retirement in 2003, after he suffering a broken neck from the botch. The move is as dangerous as it looks. One botch is enough to end a wrestler's career. Popular superstars like Jerry "The King" Lawler used the move as their finisher and helped make the move popular.
The Undertaker exchanged the Tombstone Piledriver for the Last Ride as his new finisher as part of the American Badass persona. However, the tombstone was brought back in 2004 and another variation in 2015 when CM Punk performed a piledriver on John Cena.
#4 Shooting Star Press
The shooting star press is one of the most popular aerial moves in professional wrestling. Just a little mistake and the move could lead to a serious concussion and a broken neck if not performed correctly. It takes a long time to perfect the move and make it look special. Several wrestlers make it look easy and some failed to do the same.
Shane McMahon botched the move at 2001's King of the Ring where he landed on a trash can and Brock Lesnar botched the move at WrestleMania XIX due to a miscalculation where he landed on his head in his match against Kurt Angle. This caused for WWE to ban the move as it was considered dangerous.
The move was later brought back by WWE when Evan Bourne signed with the company and proved that he could perform the move correctly. Till today the shooting star press is still used in WWE by one of its cruiserweight wrestlers Lince Dorado.
#3 The Vertebreaker
Former WCW superstar Shane Helms performed a devastating finishing manoeuvre called The Vertebreaker. The move is like a piledriver variation and also results in a wrestler dropping his opponent on his head. The move was also used by different wrestlers and when performed correctly looks devastating.
When Shane Helms joined the WWE, the move was banned because it was viewed as being too risky. Even though it looks cool, it could injure another wrestler if not performed correctly. According to Wrestling Inc., Shane Helms, also known as The Hurricane stated the following:
"At that time they had been a string of neck injuries in WWE, and they were getting away from anything where you landed on your neck. Even the German suplexes were modified. You wouldn't see the guys doing the Japanese style where they'd drop someone on their head. It was something I knew was coming anyway. I was prepared for it. I was off and running as The Hurricane so I didn't need that."
Surprisingly, the move was brought back in a WWE Live Event in 2016 when Seth Rollins delivered The Vertibreaker on AJ Styles. Seth Rollins hasn't performed the move on live TV yet. Perhaps someday we will see the move performed frequently in WWE.
#2 Styles Clash
The Styles Clash is a finisher used by current WWE Champion AJ Styles. He used the move in various promotions like TNA and NJPW before joining the WWE. The move was banned by WWE in 2016 after Vince McMahon was told that former WWE superstar Yoshi Tatsu was injured by the botched Styles Clash by AJ Styles.
This caused Styles to use his submission move The Calf Crusher and The Phenomenal Forearm as his new finishers. Styles. However, Chris Jericho encouraged Vince to bring the move back. Jericho stated that Vince didn't even know what the move was before banning it. According to Wrestling News World, Jericho stated the following in a radio show:
"And that's the one when I basically got the Styles Clash unbanned because it was banned. And I was like, I knew that Vince had heard that somebody got hurt by the move, but I know he probably didn't even know what the move was, he just knew the name. So I pitched it to him as that cool move that AJ does where he drops you on your face, we did it at WrestleMania, we did it a couple of times."
#1 The Curb StompT
There were questions as to why WWE chose to ban Seth Rollins' finisher, The Curb Stomp. The main reason was that it was pretty risky and since it required wrestlers face to be stomped on the mat, it could lead to an injury if not performed correctly, just like when Rollins curbed stomped Brock Lesnar on Raw causing him to be busted open.
Seth Rollins' finishing move, the Curb Stomp was banned by WWE in 2015. The move is easy to take, and even though Seth didn't injure anyone with the move, it still ended up being banned. The last time Rollins used the move (before being unbanned) was at WrestleMania 31 where he won the WWE Championship.
Seth Rollins went on to adapt Triple H's pedigree as his new finisher beginning on Payback in 2015. One other possible reason could've been because it would lead to injuries if children tried to perform the move. WWE brought the move back this year but instead referred to it as the Blackout and then The Stomp.
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