There are a lot of things lacking in the WWE today but one thing that doesn’t get much attention is the lack of great wrestling finishers. John Cena’s finisher is lame. Triple H’s finisher takes way too long. Randy Orton’s version of the Diamond Cutter is about as good as Britney Spears’ version of the Rolling Stones’ “Satisfaction.
Once upon a time wrestlers had great finishers. Everything from complicated submission moves like Chris Benoit’s Crippler Crossface and Charlie Haas’ Haas of Pain to simple highflying moves like Jimmy Snuka’s Splash and Randy Savage’s Elbow Drop. Those don’t quite make the top ten wrestling finishers of all time though.
Wrestling Finisher #10: Undertaker’s Tombstone
The Undertaker was created at a time when the WWE was making some pretty lousy characters. The Undertaker was actually cool though and has now been going strong for almost 20 years. Over that span of time the Undertaker’s Tombstone Piledriver has been one of the best wrestling finishers.
Wrestling Finisher #9: La Parka’s Chair
La Parka’s finishing move is classic. Here are three easy steps to La Parka’s finisher. 1. Acquire a chair. 2. Hit opponent with chair. 3. Dance. It doesn’t always work though, like when he faced Goldberg.
Wrestling Finisher #8: Kenta Kobashi’s Burning Hammer
The Burning Hammer might not be a move you are familiar with because it’s mainly used in Japan. The most famous wrestler with the Burning Hammer is probably Kenta Kobashi, who is basically as big as The Rock or Stone Cold in Japan.
Wrestling Finisher #7: Jake Roberts’ DDT
These days everybody does a DDT or a variation of a DDT as a regular move. It’s unfortunate because once upon a time Jake Roberts’ DDT was one of the most feared moves in wrestling and now everyone else has watered it down. Raven also has a great DDT. Everybody else? Blah.
Wrestling Finisher #6: Stone Cold Stunner
Stone Cold Steve Austin’s finisher was not only a quick and impactful move but the crowd went absolutely nuts for it. A few middle fingers and head waggin’ from Austin didn’t hurt either.
Wrestling Finisher #5: Hurricane’s Verta-Breaker
For a short period of time the Hurricane, aka Shane Helms, aka Gregory Helms aka heck, I don’t know his name anymore. Anyway, he had an awesome move called the Verta-Breaker for a short period of time but for whatever reason they told him to stop doing it.
Wrestling Finisher #4: Petey Williams’ Canadian Destroyer
Petey Williams has been pretty much irrelevant in TNA for a long, long time. However, when they do book Petey Williams in a match he always does his finisher, even if he doesn’t win the match, because it’s just that popular.
Wrestling Finisher #3: Victoria’s Widow’s Peak
This just goes to show how much Victoria rocks. Victoria’s finisher, the Widow’s Peak, is the only move by a woman wrestler that is good enough to make the top ten finishers of all time.
Wrestling Finisher #2: Ric Flair’s Figure Four Leglock
The Figure Four might not be the most complicated, original or new wrestling finisher but the Figure Four Leglock has reached legendary status simply because of how many times Ric Flair ended a classic match with it.
Wrestling Finisher #1: DDP’s Diamond Cutter
A great finisher is something that does a lot of impact and can come out of nowhere at any time. That’s why Diamond Dallas Page’s Diamond Cutter is the best finisher of all time. During his time in the WCW DDP must have used 100 different variations of the Diamond Cutter. Every night DDP was coming up with a new way to use the Diamond Cutter on somebody.
