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We're back with part two of selected WWE finishers which, in my own opinion, no longer belong in WWE.
The best finishing moves can connect with an opponent regardless of their size. The best finishing moves are quick, impactful and give a satisfying conclusion to the end of a match. The best finishing moves should be totally in line with a wrestler's moveset, their abilities and their characters.
Unfortunately, a number of current WWE finishers look either outdated, sluggish and not as hard-hitting as they should. Here, we'll take a look at another five of them!
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#1. Bayley - Bayley-to-Belly Suplex
What on earth is WWE doing with Bayley and Sasha Banks right now? Their feud in NXT was white-hot and produced a couple of genuine contenders for the best WWE women's match in history. Fans have been waiting to see their feud carry over to the main roster and now, finally, it looks like it could be on. With a Bayley heel turn seemingly on the horizon, let's hope they can do their NXT feud justice.
Bayley is an excellent technical wrestler. Her great matches with the likes of Sasha Banks, Asuka and Nia Jax back in NXT proved this and she is right up there with the best when it comes to ability. The difference lies with her finisher. Whilst the majority of the women's roster use submission finishers: Charlotte Flair's Figure-8, Becky Lynch's Dis-Arm-Her, Natalya's famous Sharpshooter and Askua's Asuka Lock, Bayley finishes a match with a simple belly-to-belly suplex.
Excruciatingly named the "Bayley-to-Belly," it should not be a finishing move. It's just not impactful enough and is sometimes unbelievable; it's hard to believe that a belly-to-belly would put performers like Charlotte and Nia Jax down for the 1-2-3. Hopefully, Bayley will introduce an aggressive submission finisher to go in line with her new heel persona. Only time will tell.
#2. Mickie James - Mick Kick
I, for one, was thrilled when it was announced that Mickie James, a former 6-time women's champion, would return at NXT Takeover: Toronto to challenge Asuka. Asuka was absolutely dominating at the time in NXT; there was nobody left on the roster who could credibly stake a claim to challenge her. That must be why WWE decided to bring in an experienced, proven awesome wrestler like Mickie to take up the challenge. In a time when WWE's women were treated very poorly, Mickie always stood out as being one of the best on the roster.
Her inevitable recall to the main roster following this has been inconsistent. It's clear she can still go in the ring and has always been underused on the mic. Her matches are good most of the time and her return to the main roster will certainly benefit the younger, up-and-coming superstars, being able to wrestle a woman with so much experience.
While I enjoy watching Mickie in the ring, I always have to turn away when she goes for her finisher. Both of her finishers, actually. The Mick Kick is a finisher Mickie has been using for most of her career. While a few of her opponents may be able to sell it well, the move on a whole is very slow and, most of the time, completely misses the opponent. It's such a shame that such a good wrestler has this as her finisher. Her secondary finisher, the jumping DDT, does not fare much better. It relies heavily on the strength of her opponent to lift Mickie up to provide the impact. This leads to, most of the time, Mickie not getting enough height on the move, making it look weak and not very impactful. Please WWE; give Mickie a new finisher worthy of her accomplishments!
#3. Nia Jax - Leg Drop
Nia Jax is, well, she's alright isn't she? Not like most girls, Nia is making a name for herself in the WWE and proving the women in WWE don't have to be, well, divas. Whilst clearly not the most technical wrestler on the roster, her matches with the likes of Bayley and Asuka proved how willing she is to learn and better herself, resulting in her in-ring performances improving since making the jump to the main roster.
Her RAW women's championship win at Wrestlemania 34 was a clear feel-good moment and even drew a huge reaction from the live crowd. Clearly, WWE was onto something installing Nia as an underdog babyface. Immediately after Wrestlemania, though, Jax entered a feud with Ronda Rousey and, after squashing a local enhancement talent, suddenly Jax was playing the arrogant heel again. Whilst Rousey is obviously going to be a babyface for the foreseeable future due to her massive crowd reactions, flip-flopping Jax like this doesn't help her feuds or her character.
Jax's moveset is as broad as it can be. She has experimented with numerous finishers, including the Samoan Drop and, quite frankly, an awesome running senton she busted out against Emma in a random match on raw. Whilst the Samoan Drop still wins Jax most of her matches, she frequently wins matches with a leg drop. Yep; a leg drop. Although she does rebound off the ropes, she doesn't come running off the ropes to hit the move and doesn't get the height on the move that the likes of Hulk Hogan did, or even the Undertaker when he busts out the move. The Samoan Drop is fine - lose the leg drop!
#4. Sami Zayn - Helluva Kick
Whatever Sami does in the rest of his WWE career he will, in my opinion, always be remembered for his incredible match with Shinsuke Nakamura at NXT TakeOver: Dallas. Zayn's final match in NXT, coinciding with the King of Strong Style's very first, the two went at each other without holding back and delivered one of the best matches of the year. Arguably, neither wrestler has had a match this good since that night, though Nakamura's career has certainly taken off more than Zayn's has.
Zayn has had good matches, mixed in with some great ones alongside his arch-rival and part-time best friend Kevin Owens. His recent offerings following his split with Owens, though, have left a lot to be desired. His programme with Bobby Lashley did nothing for either wrestler and, considering the talent of both men, gave us average matches at best. Lashley has now moved onto bigger and better things, putting the Zayn feud behind him, while Zayn himself is likely to miss the rest of 2018 with injuries.
Maybe his time off would be a good time to consider replacing his finisher. Zayn has some innovative offence, but I have never been a fan of the Helluva Kick. Basically a big boot, it relies on the opponent basically waiting against the corner turnbuckle for quite a long time as Zayn prepares to deliver the move. It never really looks impactful and Zayn certainly deserves better. He wouldn't even have to think of a new move - his current signature, the Blue Thunder Bomb, is an awesome looking move and always garners a great reaction from live crowds. Maybe it's time this became his finisher!
#5. John Cena - STF(U)
John Cena has done it all. The Intercontinental Championship the only title being the only one to elude him, Cena has equaled Ric Flair's world title wins and held every other championship there is to hold in WWE. His matches have ranged from good to great and his matches with CM Punk stand out as probably the best of his career. His more recent matches with the likes of AJ Styles and Dean Ambrose prove that when he is here, Cena still has the passion and can deliver great matches when he needs to.
That's the problem, though. Cena is hardly ever around nowadays, thanks to his growing presence in Hollywood. When he does return, it's clear the current stars of the WWE roster are passing him by. Cena will always be a great talker, but in-ring it now takes performers like AJ Styles to drag Cena into having great matches. When not involved with high-level talent, it sometimes appears that Cena no longer wants to be around, which is a shame, considering how much he carried the company in the 2000's.
Cena's moveset hasn't changed much in recent years. He did experiment briefly with a springboard stunner, but it only lasted for a couple of matches. His signature "five moves of doom" have been around for years, almost always signalling the end for his opponents. While I am not a big fan of his AA finisher, it's his submission finisher which makes this list. His STF, stepover toehold facelock, almost always looks pretty bad. It hardly ever looks like there is any pressure on his opponents, and even Stone Cold Steve Austin himself commented that Cena needed to tighten the STF more. Surprisingly, when Cena tagged with his then-girlfriend Nikki Bella, she actually performed the move better than Cena, hooking her opponent's leg better and clasping her hands around her opponent's neck much better than Cena. Take note, big match John!
