7 proposed new finishers for Roman Reigns

Roman Reigns is in desperate need of a new finishing manoeuvre. Ever since The Big Dog started using the Spear as his primary finisher, his popularity has been on the decline.

It isn’t hard to see why: so many of WWE’s previous big stars have used the move as their finisher, to a point where the move has become completely overexposed. It also doesn’t help that when he does his ‘howl’ to set up the Spear, he gets an even louder chorus of boos.

It’s obvious that the Spear is no longer working as a finisher for Reigns. If he wants to win over more fans, he needs to give them what they want. And what fans want to see nowadays are moves that look more devastating and have a higher risk factor.

If you look at some of WWE’s other top superstars, each one of them uses/used a move with a much higher risk factor that adds an element of suspense into their matches. Seth Rollins does the Curb Stomp, which could legitimately concuss someone if done incorrectly. AJ Styles has his Styles Clash, which can cause serious neck injuries if taken incorrectly (just ask Yoshi Tatsu).

What each one of these moves does is two-fold. First, it adds that suspense to a match by further blurring the line between worked pain and realistic injury. Second, it gets both the move’s user over as someone who can pull off such a dangerous move perfectly, and it gets the recipient over as someone tough enough to take such a move.

But Reigns? He executes a boring Spear that has been seen non-stop in WWE since the dawn of the new millennium. This only adds to the many reasons why Reigns is viewed as inferior to many other wrestlers on the roster.

The funny thing is, Reigns can perform other, more interesting moves with a lot of success. Though his arsenal of moves right now is somewhat limited, he has added a few extra manoeuvres to it in recent months. Some of these moves are much cooler than his Spear, to a point where they should be considered to become his new primary finishing move.

Here are seven wrestling manoeuvres that Reigns should consider to replace the Spear as his finisher, including two moves that he uses already:

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#1 The Dominator

This very well might be the most ‘powerful move’ a power-based wrestler could use. Nothing says ‘domination’ more than lifting your opponent onto your shoulders and then slamming them face-first into the canvas. That’s what the Dominator’s all about, and it would make a perfect finisher for Roman Reigns.

If Reigns wants to look strong, it would be logical for WWE to show him lifting people onto his shoulders with ease and slamming them hard into the mat. Using this move would accomplish that very easily, especially since no one else in WWE right now uses any move that even remotely resembles the Dominator.

The most notable wrestlers to have used this move in WWE are. Since a lot of emphasis in WWE is on signature and finishing moves that help distinguish one wrestler from another, giving Reigns something that hasn’t been used by any major wrestler in WWE in almost a decade would be a much better idea than saddling him with the most overused finisher ever in the Spear.

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#2 The Niagara Driver

Reigns is a powerhouse wrestler, and there’s no move that screams ‘power’ more than the Powerbomb (it’s in the name, after all).

When Reigns was the guy that held the Shield’s opponents on his shoulders for their much-beloved Triple Powerbomb, it was an awesome sight to behold. It made all three guys look awesome, but it did wonders for Reigns more than anyone else.

Though he doesn’t use that move as often anymore, he does use another Powerbomb variation that’s just as awesome, the Niagara Driver. Based somewhat on the same move made famous in Japan, the Niagara Driver is the combination of a Crucifix Powerbomb with the Splash Mountain.

With this move, Reigns holds his opponents over his head by their armpits and then drops down into a Sitout Powerbomb. When Reigns does this move, he gets a much better reaction than when he uses the Spear.

This move has that risk factor that fans look for, as the poor soul taking this move risks landing on their upper shoulders or neck.

So far, we haven’t seen any serious problems with this move (thankfully) which gives Reigns more of a reason to end his matches with it. It’s literally everything he wants in a finisher: it’s awesome to behold, it looks like it hurts, and no one else does the move.

#3 The Alpha Bomb

Remember Monty Brown in TNA or Marcus Cor Von in WWE? Probably not, as both runs were somewhat lacklustre.

But one of the few things people actually remember of the man was his finisher, the Alpha Bomb. It’s a Powerbomb with a twist: instead of lifting someone onto his shoulders in the traditional Powerbomb lift, Brown would hold someone perpendicular to himself and then hoist them up quickly before smashing them down to the canvas.

Despite its relative overexposure, the Powerbomb and its many variations are much more convincing as a finisher than the Spear.

It’s simple physics: you’re much more likely to suffer damage by being driven downwards from an elevated position (in this case, Reigns’ shoulders) than you are from a man running at you and then hugging your abdomen while trying to push you backwards.

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#4 The Samoan Driver

WWE has this odd appreciation for any move done out of a fireman’s carry position.

Brock Lesnar’s F-5 is a fireman’s carry Facebuster, and many fans consider this their favourite wrestling move. John Cena’s Attitude Adjustment is a fireman’s carry slam, which he has used during his entire career, without any indication of changing anything.

Sheamus’ White Noise is a hybrid fireman’s carry/Kryptonite Krunch move, and he often uses a rolling fireman’s carry slam as a setup move. It would stand to reason, then, that WWE would suggest a fireman’s carry move for their supposed next top babyface.

Though often used by smaller wrestlers, the Samoan Driver seems like an ideal move for Reigns to adopt as his new finisher. You have the fireman’s carry component that WWE seems to have a love affair with at the moment, and you have a unique element of power and technical precision in the landing that makes the move more unique.

Anyone can do a standard fireman’s carry slam; it’s a basic move that almost every amateur wrestler does at one point or another. It takes a lot more timing, skill and power to lift them off of your shoulders while spinning them down forward without dropping them on their heads.

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#5 The Argentine DDT

Not many wrestlers execute moves from the Backbreaker rack position, which is a shame.

Many of wrestling’s most unique and interesting moves are executed from this position: AJ Styles’ Rack Bomb, Marc Mero’s TKO, Awesome Kong’s Accordion Rack, Kevin Owens’ Argentine Neckbreaker, and Kenta Kobashi’s Burning Hammer.

If Reigns wants to show the world that he has skills that compliment his supposed tough talk, he should try something unique that hasn’t been seen in WWE in a long time. The Argentine DDT is that move.

The move is straightforward and easy to execute but looks devastating on camera.

The user lifts their poor victim onto their shoulders and then flips them over so that they fall off the user’s shoulders, landing face-first onto the mat. Tyler Reks used this move briefly during his run, and it actually got a lot of attention from people because the move looked awesome.

If Reigns started using something like this, he’s virtually guaranteed to get a better reaction out of people, from the sight of him doing something unorthodox.

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#6 The Moment of Silence

Before his rise to the main roster, Roman Reigns, then known as Leakee, had an entirely different gimmick and presentation from what’s seen today. He debuted as a smart businessman whose time was too valuable to waste, acted like a cocky heel, and backed up his words with a powerful finisher that fit him perfectly.

The Moment of Silence is basically an elevated slam from a Back Suplex position. That might not sound like an impressive move, but one quick look at Reigns executing this move and you’ll see that there’s much more to it than meets the eye.

Reigns used this as his finisher before his main roster call-up and has since used this on rare occasion in his matches.

More often than not, this move actually got a better reaction than most of the other moves he used. That’s because this move takes more skill, shows off power more easily, and looks like a match ending move. The Spear, meanwhile, does not.

If it worked for Reigns during his rookie years, why not go back to what worked in the first place?

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#7 The Shouten

There is no move in wrestling that demonstrates ruthless power more than this one.

Made popular by Hirooki Goto in Japan and Matt Morgan in the United States, this is the perfect move for Roman Reigns. We know he has the power to lift people with ease, and we have seen him (attempt to) show ruthless aggression in his matches and segments with his opponents.

So why not combine those elements into one move would get a huge reaction from people?

Though he hasn’t shown that he has the freakish strength of John Cena, Reigns can still pull off this move if trained properly. All he has to do is lift someone in a vertical Suplex, then transition his arms quickly and wrap one of them around their collarbone and drive them downwards in a Rock Bottom-sort of ending.

If you watch the video, you’ll see and hear the absolute power with which Goto demolishes his opponent with the Shouten. Reigns hitting such a move on one of his opponents would get a similar, if not identical reaction, especially if the ring mics were amplified to louden the sound of that poor victim’s body crashing into the mat.