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In WWE (and wrestling in general), it's not always easy to come up with a finishing move. While power moves that lift superstars are popular, they're not always the most practical. In the long-gone WWE documentary series Breaking Ground, WWE Performance Center coach Matt Bloom told the trainees that they needed to come up with a finishing move that could even be used on The Big Show.
It's a practical way of looking at things, but the reality is that several top superstars have adapted someone else's finisher as their own. It's more common for signature moves to get adapted, but in many cases, so are finishers. Here are five examples of current WWE Superstars using someone else's finisher.
#5. Roman Reigns - Adopted the spear as his WWE finisher
Roman Reigns has slightly diversified his finishing of matches in WWE since his 2020 return and heel turn. As a babyface between 2015 and 2019, the spear seemed to be his exclusive finishing move.
Nowadays, Reigns even uses the guillotine to submit superstars and defeats several of his opponents clean as well. But even when being a part of The Shield as its powerhouse, his individual finisher was the spear.
The first person to formally introduce the spear to wrestling was none other than WWE Hall of Famer Goldberg. This was, of course, well before his WWE days and it was the first time that it was dubbed as the "Spear".
After Goldberg, Rhyno and Edge were arguably the two men to popularize it the most. Rhyno was an ECW legend and re-labeled the spear as "Gore," while Edge directly adapted Goldberg's move.
Interestingly, despite The Rated-R Superstar's legendary status in WWE, many consider his spear to be the weakest in history. Even Batista began to use the spear in the Ruthless Aggression era, but more as a signature move than an actual finisher.
Roman Reigns has done a better job with the spear. In his 2017 to 2018 run, his spear was the most protected move in WWE, along with Brock Lesnar's F-5.
#4. Alexa Bliss - Uses Sister Abigail as her WWE finisher
Alexa Bliss has now had multiple finishers in WWE. During her dominant run between late 2016 to the summer of 2018, she largely used two moves at the time - The Twisted Bliss as well as a snap DDT known as the "Twisted DDT". The second one in particular was criticized by WWE fans because of the lack of supposed impact the DDT has when finishing the match.
Jake Roberts would disagree, but the perception of the DDT has changed since then. This isn't to criticize the DDT as a move itself, but the way Bliss did it seemed less impactful than many other superstars.
However, since Alexa Bliss began her run with 'The Fiend' Bray Wyatt, her character in WWE has changed entirely. This was when she started to adopt Sister Abigail as her finishing move.
The Sister Abigail move was made famous by Bray Wyatt, a man who many consider the most underutilized WWE Superstar of this generation. Even after her split with The Fiend at WrestleMania 37, Alexa Bliss continued to adopt the characteristics of Wyatt and still uses Sister Abigail on occasion.
#3. Kevin Owens - Changed his finisher in WWE to the Stunner
Kevin Owens' original finisher in WWE was the "Pop-Up Powerbomb." It's a good modification of the powerbomb where a superstar runs towards Owens and using the momentum, he lifts them up and powerbombs them on the spot.
When Kevin Owens turned babyface, he felt the need to change things up and he looked to one of his greatest WWE idols - 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin. While Owens isn't Austin nor will he ever be, there was an edge to his babyface character at the time that made many people use that comparison.
Last year on an appearance on WWE's The Bump, Kevin Owens revealed that he felt the Stunner was the coolest move in wrestling history. Given that nobody was using it at the time, he went directly to 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin himself and asked for permission from the WWE legend:
"He was like 'Yes, go ahead and do it, it sounds great.' . . . Moments like that just still blow me away, and having the guy I looked up the most give me his blessing to use his finishing move that he made famous beyond this industry ,which is pretty wild. Once in a while I still think about him and be like I can't believe I get to do this," said Kevin Owens.
#2. Nia Jax - Adopted the Samoan Drop in WWE
The Samoan Drop is what Nia Jax uses in WWE to finish her matches and it looks legitimate when she does it. The classic move was largely popularized by the father-figure of the Anoa'i family "High Chief" Peter Maivia (The Rock's grandfather).
It's a move that has been passed down through generations and even superstars like Roman Reigns and The Usos have been known to use it. However, for most other superstars, the Samoan Drop has been used as a signature move.
Nia Jax's original finisher in WWE was the leg drop, but she even uses the Samoan Drop today. Perhaps her most significant Samoan Drop was at WrestleMania 34, where she defeated Alexa Bliss to capture the RAW Women's Championship.
Interestingly, the Samoan Drop that Jax uses has been dubbed as "The Annihilator". She has had mixed success in WWE, winning only one singles championship and two tag team championships as of this writing.
Even still, she is considered one of the biggest threats in the WWE Women's division and will likely have a place in the company for years to come.
#1. Randy Orton - The iconic RKO in WWE originated from The Diamond Cutter
Contrary to what many fans believe, WWE Hall of Famer Diamond Dallas Page never had an issue with Randy Orton's RKO. For those who aren't aware, the RKO is extremely similar to Page's iconic "Diamond Cutter."
Given Orton's rise to superstardom in WWE and his legendary tenure, the RKO has managed to stay relevant, even becoming a part of internet pop culture at one point with the "RKO Out of Nowhere" memes.
Diamond Dallas Page revealed to Wrestling Inc that when he retired, he gave the young Randy Orton permission to use his finisher - but The Viper didn't recall the conversation because he was out of surgery:
“I literally called Randy the day I knew I was retiring from WWE,” Page said. “I told him I wanted him to use it. He had just got out of surgery, so he didn’t even remember this conversation. I told him I’d really love for him to do it. Michael Hayes and Johnny Ace got with him and worked with him on the version he started doing,” Page said. (H/T WrestlingInc)
RKO is an adapted version of The Diamond Cutter, but it could be argued that Orton took it to the next level in WWE. It comes as no surprise that most fans aren't aware of the origins of The RKO - perhaps the most iconic finishing move in the company this past decade.
