5 most protected WWE finishers in 2017

Somewhere in WWE's timeline, it seemed as though finishers had lost their value. A lot of great finishing moves such as the RKO, the Attitude Adjustment (once known as the FU), Tombstone would get kicked out of time and again. While they are undoubtedly great spots and have added to the drama of certain matches (The Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels WrestleMania 25 & 26 matches exemplify this), they tend to de-value finishing moves on the long run.

Look at Razor Ramon's "Razor's Edge" finish. Ramon stated that he simply wouldn't use the finisher if he wasn't winning a match. Simple but effective, isn't it?

However, we will credit WWE in the aspect of protecting finishers of late. In the past year or so, WWE has put a lot more emphasis on protecting finishers. Take Roman Reigns for example. His spear has been a one-hit finisher since WrestleMania 33 and the fact of the matter is, it's very unlikely we're going to see it kicked out of until WrestleMania 34, until he inevitably triumphs over The Beast Incarnate.

Surprisingly though, the Spear does not make this list. These five finishers, however, do.

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#5 F-5

Brock Lesnar's F-5 has been a one-hit killer in 2017, but it wasn't always the case

Let's just start off by saying that since his second return in 2012, Brock Lesnar's F-5 has been kicked out of by five Superstars: Triple H, The Undertaker, John Cena, Roman Reigns and most recently, Randy Orton.

However, Orton kicking out of the F-5 was during SummerSlam 2016 and since then, things had changed. He went on to feud with Goldberg between October 2016 to early April 2017.

As we know, the story of the rivalry was about Goldberg still having Brock's number, which was leading up to a big Brock win at WrestleMania. Unsurprisingly it happened, and from WrestleMania 33, when Brock got his first pinfall of the year, it was via a single F-5.

Since then, he's faced Samoa Joe, Braun Strowman, had a fatal-4-way involving the former two and Roman Reigns, and even had an instant classic with AJ Styles. Brock would pin all four of these elite competitors hitting a single F-5.

It's evident that the F-5, just like the spear, is being built up as the finishing move of WWE and we definitely won't be seeing anyone kick out of the F-5 until Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 34.

#4 - Coup-De-Grace

Finn Balor's finish is simple but destructive

The Coup-De-Grace is another finisher which has simplicity yet looks as legitimate as possible. WWE probably looks at it that way as well, because, since his arrival to WWE in 2014, the finisher has been kicked out of only once: by Kevin Owens at The Beast In The East special in 2015.

That was the very night that Balor was crowned the new NXT Champion. Although he took Hideo Itami's spot (who was clearly poised to win the NXT title in his home country of Japan prior to injury), it was a great moment.

Since coming to the main roster in July 2016, not a single person has kicked out of the coup-de-grace. Some of Finn Balor's victims include elite names such as Roman Reigns, Kevin Owens, Samoa Joe, Seth Rollins and Jinder Mahal.

#3 Black Mass

The Black Mass is good a finisher as it gets

Aleister Black brings a unique presence to the ring. Everything about him is different and exciting, both in his persona and his in-ring ability.

Many people consider Aleister Black a future WWE main eventer, some call him the next CM Punk. Whatever you want to call him, you can't deny what The Dutch Destroyer brings to the table.

His finisher, The Black Mass, is a swift roundhouse kick to the head that leads to an instant knockout. It's simple but extremely effective and the legitimate feel of it is what gives it the leverage of being a protected finisher.

Since Aleister Black's arrival at NXT Takeover: Orlando, The Black Mass has not been kicked out of a single time. Some of the victims on this list include current NXT Champion Andrade 'Cien' Almas, Hideo Itami and Adam Cole.

#2 - Dirty Deeds

Dean Ambrose put Triple H to sleep with The Dirty Deeds in 2016

Dean Ambrose has been a character who many fans have desired to see on top of the card. Many fans also argue that Ambrose just doesn't have the "It" factor to be the face of the company.

In 2016 leading up to WrestleMania 32, there was a lot of hope that WWE had decided to give the ball to Ambrose instead of Roman Reigns after the Fastlane program between Ambrose, Reigns and Brock Lesnar was mainly centred around The Lunatic Fringe himself.

Unfortunately, WWE dropped the ball and did Ambrose no favours in his match against Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 32. It took time for him to recover but Ambrose did go on to become WWE Champion and later on had a run as Intercontinental Champion as well.

The interesting thing, if you observe closely enough is that WWE is well aware of fans' response to Ambrose. Despite criticism, he's been one of the most pushed and protected stars of the entire company since his split from The Shield and this is proven by his finisher: Dirty Deeds.

The last time anyone kicked out of The Dirty Deeds was John Cena on an episode of SmackDown Live in 2016 (Ambrose still defeated Cena clean). However, the fact of the matter is, since 2012, only three people have ever kicked out off the Dirty Deeds: John Cena, Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns.

What seems clear is that Ambrose has always been kept in that #2 position very safe and sound. If something were to ever happen to Roman Reigns, we know very well who WWE will give the ball to.

#1 End Of Days

Baron Corbin's start-stop push hasn't affected The End Of Days

Baron Corbin's had an interesting year. He began getting a big, main event level push when he made the best elimination of Royal Rumble 2017 by eliminating Braun Strowman. His success would continue when he was in an Intercontinental title match on the pre-show of WrestleMania against Dean Ambrose, albeit in an unsuccessful attempt.

Corbin seemed to be a guaranteed future world champion when he won the Money In The Bank briefcase in June 2017. However, something went wrong (whether it's backstage issues or something else, you decide) and his push just halted, becoming the third person to ever unsuccessfully cash in the MITB.

He was in a SummerSlam match against John Cena, which on paper does sound good, right? Wrong. The match just looked like Cena burying Corbin in the most hilarious manner, even ending Cena's seven-year SummerSlam losing streak.

Corbin did recover by winning the United States title, but his push continues to look like start and stop. That being said, his finisher, The End Of Days has been incredibly protected, dating back to his NXT days. Till date, no one in WWE has ever kicked out of The End Of Days.

The only other Superstar in WWE to not have their finisher kicked out of since their NXT days is Neville. The Red Arrow has never been kicked out of in WWE. The closest to it was Seth Rollins putting his foot on the rope during a WWE title match against Neville. However, we won't count him on the list due to his up-in-the-air WWE status.

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