Wrestlers and WWE Superstars in particular put a lot of thought and effort into their finishers. Professional wrestlers are often characterized by the move they finish a match with, as the way they finish a match is usually the last impression a wrestler leaves on the public as they leave the arena.
A good finisher can instantly elevate a superstar to main event status, but if their finisher isn’t impressive, they probably won’t rise further from the undercard anytime soon. Fear not, however, because It’s never too late for a wrestler to decide to change his finisher. This is why so many legends and Hall of Fame finishers are very different from the finishers they started their careers with, as this list shows. And in some cases, wrestlers change finishers late in their careers.
10
Drop suplex by Shawn Michaels
Predecessor to Sweet Chin Music
Sweet Chin Music is easily one of the best finishers in WWE history. It’s a spectacular maneuver that can hit anyone of any size at any time, which is the ideal quality any wrestler should want in their finisher. However, before he set up the band to complete their performances, Sweet Chin Music was a transitional step to creating his true finisher, the Teardrop Suplex, early in his singles career..
In the end, Michaels abandoned the teardrop suplex entirely and settled for Sweet Chin Music, which became his only finisher. Likewise, Sheamus entered the WWE using the Celtic Cross (Razor’s Edge by another name) as a finishing move and the Brogue Kick was used to set up the move until he decided that the Brogue Kick was more sudden and the most exciting of the two.
9
Randy Orton’s O-Zone
Predecessor of RKO
When Randy Orton made his WWE in-ring debut on the April 25, 2002 episode of SmackDown, he defeated Hardcore Holly via an Oklahoma Roll pinfall inside the cradle. In the following weeks, the rookie installed his true finisher, the O-Zone, also known as Overdrive. In short, Overdrive was an elaborate neckbreaker. It’s better associated with MVP when Montel Vontavious Porter called him Playmaker, but Orton would be the first of them to bring that transition to WWE television.
He wouldn’t have a long finish as he would be injured for several months shortly after his debut. When he finally returned as part of Evolution on Raw the following year, Orton instead introduced the RKO, a finisher he used to win some of his best matches.
8
Front Facelock Seth Rollins DDT
Replacing a curb stomp
The Curb Stomp ranks among the most dangerous finishers in WWE history. This is also the only finisher on this list that WWE banned for looking too dangerous. A month after winning his first WWE Championship with a curb stomp, Vince McMahon told Rollins that due to concerns that children might repeat the move and harm themselves, the Chairman decided to ban the move. Rollins understood, but the trouble with this news was that it occurred to him just hours before he was scheduled to face Dolph Ziggler. on the April 20, 2015 episode of Raw.
In short order, Rollins had to find a new finisher and landed on this front DDT/facebuster maneuver. The move didn’t last long, a few weeks later he took over the Pedigree from his mentor, Triple H. This lasted a couple of years until their kayfabe alliance fell apart, leading Rollins to finish matches with the Ripcord Knee until Curb Stomp was eventually reinstated in positions.
7
Undertaker’s jumping elbow drop
Predecessor of the tombstone pile driver
Many people would say that The Undertaker had the perfect gimmick – perhaps the best gimmick in wrestling history – but even perfection takes time to create. Fans will be surprised to learn how much had to change since Tucker’s debut for him to reach such perfection, and how long he had to work on his character before achieving that perfection. Even something like choosing a manager took time, as he started with “Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase and then Brother Love before settling on Paul Bearer.
Finding the perfect finisher is no different, as Mark Calaway’s original finisher was diving elbow drop from the middle of the top ropesimilar to Xavier Woods’ Limit Break rope finisher. Undertaker continued to walk the ropes with his signature “Old School” move. Of course, it has no competition with the Tombstone Piledriver, which has become an iconic part of the Deadman’s legacy.
6
Kane’s Mandibular Claw submission move
Finisher during his rebranding
Kane has one of the most iconic masks in WWE history. He stopped wearing this mask for about 9 years, starting in 2003. he never really felt like the same monster once he was in front of an audience. When he brought back the mask in 2012, it was seen as a return to Big Red Machine form, with WWE calling him more violent and monstrous than he had ever been. At least that’s the impression storylines wanted to give during his Embrace of Hate campaign against John Cena.
Emphasizing this cruelty, Kane would introduce a claw submission. where he pinched his opponent’s mouth and nose until they passed out from suffocation. While it sounds excruciating on paper, it never had the energy and crowd reaction of a good old Chokeslam, and so Kane returned to it in record time.
5
John Cena’s Proto-Bomb
Precursor to FU/Attitude Adjustments
It’s hard to imagine John Cena finishing his matches in WWE with anything other than AA or STF. Late in his career, he tried to introduce Lightning Fist as a new finisher, but it never caught on. “Attitude Adjustment,” in particular, both in title and execution, always suited him perfectly. The funny thing about this is that Cena introduced AA into his arsenal only a year after his debut.. While feuding with Brock Lesnar prior to his appearance at WWE Backlash 2003, he mocked Lesnar’s fireman’s DDT – the F5 – by performing a fireman’s carry kick called the FU.
Until then, his finishing maneuver would be a maneuver that he would classify as a basic signature move: a spinning power bomb, which he called the Proto Bomb, based on his OVW character, Prototype. This is a belly-to-back spinning powerbomb invented by Japanese wrestler Jun Akiyama, who called it the Blue Thunder Driver. This same move is also often used by Sami Zayn, who calls it the “Blue Thunder Bomb”.
4
Silver Spoon Cody Rhodes DDT
Predecessor of the Cross of Rhodes
Going back to 2007, Cody Rhodes made his debut on Monday Night Raw. It would be years before the future WWE Champion would develop his moveset into what he is known for today, including his finisher. Before he had the Cross Rhodes, he had a quick Snap DDT, most notably when he hit his Hardcore teammate Holly with it at Night of Champions 2008 during his first heel turn.
He didn’t debut Cross Rhodes until 2009, shortly after joining Randy Orton as part of Legacy.. Imagine how different Rhodes’ wrestling career as a whole would have been if he had kept the Snap DDT as his finisher. WrestleMania XL would have looked a lot different if Cody had to lift Roman Reigns three times in their match for consecutive DDTs – which, frankly, might have looked even more devastating than three consecutive Cross Rhodes.
3
Tequila Sunrise by The Usos
Their heel finisher
When WWE reintroduced the brand split in 2016, it really changed the landscape of WWE as the product became more open to trying new things, especially on SmackDown, which once again became the “Land of Opportunity.” One of the teams that benefited from the new opportunities was The Usos. After years of being considered boring and formulaic, they stepped up, wiped the paint off their faces, and began introducing the characteristics that would make up the Uso Prison.
One of those things was turning his techniques into something more viciousfor example, ending their matches with a one-legged Boston Crab that they would call the Tequila Sunrise. They would eventually go back to using the Uso Splash to finish matches, and at this point, neither Jimmy nor Jey Uso use the heel move anymore.
2
Doom Shoulder Breaker
Harbinger of rock bottom
The Rock lives up to his nickname as “The Most Electrifying Man in Sports Entertainment” thanks in large part to his electrifying moveset. It’s hard for the crowd not to rise to their feet when they see Rock Bottom or People’s Elbow, or even the unique way he performs a spinebuster. There’s a special talent to his moveset and appearance, but it was the opposite when he first debuted in WWE at Survivor Series 1996.
Dwayne Johnson as Rocky Maivia struggled to connect with the audience. as a character and as a wrestler in the ring who has yet to find himself. Before he went electrified, his finisher wasn’t a very exciting shoulder. In theory, this is an effective finisher that neutralizes the opponent’s shoulder strike, but for a babyface trying to break away, it is not a surefire way to elicit a reaction.
1
Triple H cutter
Ancestor pedigree
It’s ironic to think that long before The Game took Randy Orton under its wing, it was Triple H using Cutter as a finisher. While the Cutter is becoming an incredibly common move for wrestlers to add to their move repertoire around the world, it was rarer at the time, especially in an era where it was taboo for two wrestlers to use the same finisher. The only person using this technique at the time was Diamond Dallas Page of the Diamond Cutter Company.
That’s why, as DDP mentioned in an episode of his Snake Pit podcast, he politely asked young Trips to stop using the Cutter, as Page was just starting to recover from the move.. The younger rookie complied out of respect for Page. Soon he will use a double facebuster, which he will call “Bloodline”, changing WWE career for the better.