Wrestlers, and Wow Superstars in particular, put a lot of thought and effort into it Their graduates. Professional wrestlers are often defined by the move they finish their matches with, because the way they finish their match tends to be the final impression a wrestler leaves on the audience when they leave an arena.
A good finisher can catapult a superstar to main event status overnight, but if their finisher is underwhelming, they probably won’t rise any further up the undercard anytime soon. Fear not, though, like It’s never too late for a wrestler to decide to change their finisher. This is why so many Hall of Famers’ legendary and trademark finishers are so different from the finishers they started their careers with, as seen in this list. And in some cases, wrestlers change their finishers late in their careers.
10
Shawn Michaels’ teardrop suplex
Precursor to sweet chin music
The sweet chin music is easily among the best finishers in WWE history. It is an exciting maneuver that can be hit at any moment on anyone of any size, which are the ideal qualities that every wrestler should want in their finisher. However, before he would adjust the band to finish his matches, The Sweet Chin Music was a transition move to set up his real finisher, the Teardrop Suplex, early in his singles career.
Eventually, Michaels would drop the tear suplex altogether and settle on Sweet Chin Music being his heel finisher. Similarly, Sheamus entered WWE using the Celtic Cross (Raiser’s Edge under a different name) as his finisher with the Brogue Kick, which was used to set up the move, until deciding that the Brogue Kick was the sudden, exciting of the Two moves.
9
Randy Orton’s O-Zone
Precursor to the RKO
When Randy Orton made his WWE in-ring debut on the April 25, 2002 episode of SmackDown, he defeated Hardcore Holly with an Oklahoma Roll in cradle pin. In subsequent weeks, the rookie would establish his real finisher, the O-Zone, also known as the Overdrive. The Overdrive was, in short, an elaborate neckbreaker. It’s better associated with MVP when Montel Vontavious Porter called it the playmaker, but Orton would be the first of the two to bring the move to WWE television.
He would not have the finish for long, as shortly after his debut, he would be injured for months. When he would eventually return as a member of Evolution on Raw the following year, Orton would instead introduce the RKO, a finisher he would use to win some of his best matches.
8
Seth Rollins’ Front Facelock DDT
Replacement for the basket stomp
The basket stomp ranks among one of the most dangerous finishers in WWE history. It’s also the only finisher on the roster that WWE banned for looking too dangerous. Within a month of winning his first WWE Championship with a basket stomp, Rollins was told by Vince McMahon that out of concern that children could replicate the move and hurt themselves, the chairman decided to ban the move. Rollins understood, but what made the news awkward is this It came to him only hours before he was set to wrestle Delf Ziggler On the April 20, 2015 episode of Raw.
On short notice, Rollins had to find a new finisher, and he landed on the front facelock DDT/facebuster maneuver. The move would not last for long as weeks later, he would adopt the lineage of his mentor, Triple H. That lasted for a couple of years until their kayfabe alliance ended, causing Rollins to end matches with a ripcord knee to the basket. Stomp was eventually reinstated.
7
Undertaker’s diving elbow drop
Precursor to the Tombstone Piledriver
A lot of people would say that The Undertaker has the perfect gimmick—arguably the best gimmick in wrestling history—but even perfection takes time to make. Fans would be surprised to learn how much had to change from Taker’s debut for him to reach perfection and how long he needed to work on his character before reaching perfection. Even something like his choice of manager took time to find, as he started with “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase, and then Brother Love before landing on Paul Bearer.
Finding the perfect finisher is no different than Mark Calaway’s original finisher was A diving elbow drop off the middle of the top ropeSimilar to Xavier Woods’ limit break tightrope finisher. Undertaker would continue walking the ropes with his signature “old school” move. Of course, there is no competition with the Tombstone Piledriver, which has become an iconic part of the Deadman’s legacy.
6
Kane’s Mandible Claw Submission Hold
finisher during its rebrand
Kane has one of the most iconic masks in WWE history. He stopped wearing the mask for about 9 years beginning in 2003, and He really never felt like the same monster He was once in the audience. When he brought the mask back in 2012, it was treated as a return to form for the Big Red Machine, with WWE booking him as more brutal and monstrous than he had ever been. At least, that’s the impression storylines wanted to give during his Embrace the Hate campaign against John Cena.
In highlighting the brutality, None would represent a claw submission Where he would hit his opponent’s mouth and nose until they would pass out from suffocation. Although it sounds agonizing on paper, it never quite has the same force and crowd reaction of a good chokeslam, and so Kane would go back to it in record time.
5
John Cena’s Protobomb
Precursor to the FU/attitude adjustment
It’s hard to imagine John Cena ending his WWE matches with anything other than an AA or STF. He tried to introduce a lightning fist as a new finisher late in his career, but it never caught on. The attitude adjustment in particular in both name and execution always suits him perfectly. The funny thing about this is that Senna would not introduce the AA to his arsenal until a year after its debut. Feuding with Brock Lesnar going into WWE Backlash 2003, he would tease Lesnar’s fireman’s lead DDT – the F5 – by doing a fireman’s lead slam called the FU.
Before that, his finisher would be a maneuver that he would relegate to a basic signature move: a spin-out powerbomb he called the Protobomb, based on his OVW character, The Prototype. This is a belly-to-back spin-out powerbomb, invented by Japanese wrestler Jun Akiyama, who called it the Blue Thunder Driver. The same move is also notably used by Sami Zayn, who calls it the Blue Thunder Bomb.
4
Cody Rhodes Silver Spoon DDT
Precursor to the Cross Rhodes
Winding the clocks back to 2007, Cody Rhodes would debut on Monday Night Raw. It would take years for the future WWE Champion to fine-tune his moveset into what he is known for today, and that would include his finisher. Before he crossed Rhodes, he did a quick snap DDT, most notably seen when he beat his tag team partner, Hardcore Holly, with him at Night of Champions 2008 for his first heel turn.
He would not make his Cross Rhodes debut until 2009 shortly after aligning with Randy Orton as part of Legacy. Imagine how different Rhodes’ wrestling career overall would be if he kept his Snap DDT as a finisher. WrestleMania XL would have looked a lot different if Cody had to lift Roman Reigns in their match three times for consecutive DDTs – which, honestly, could look even more devastating than three consecutive Cross Rhodes.
3
The Usos’ Tequila Sunrise
Very 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 is back to being the land of opportunity. One tag team benefiting from new opportunities is the UOS. After years of being pegged as boring and cookie-cutter, they turned heel, wiped off their face paint, and began introducing characteristics that would make the USO penitentiary.
One thing was Tweaking their moveset into something more viciousLike ending their matches with a one-legged Boston crab they would call the Tequila Sunrise. They would eventually go back to using the Uso Splash to end matches and as of now, neither Jimmy nor Jey Uso tend to use their heel submission anymore.
2
The Rock’s Shoulder Breaker
Precursor to the rock bottom
The Rock lives up to his moniker of the most electrifying man in sports entertainment largely due to an electrifying moveset. It’s hard for a crowd not to rise to their feet when they see a rock bottom or a man’s elbow, or even the unique way he executes a spinebuster. His moveset and presence have flair to it, but the opposite was the case when he first debuted in WWE at Survivor Series 1996.
As Rocky Maivia, Dwayne Johnson struggled to connect with the audience As a character and as an in-ring wrestler who has yet to find himself. Before he was electrifying, his finisher was a less-than-exciting shoulder breaker. In theory, it is an effective finisher that neutralizes the opponent’s shoulder from kicking out, but as a baby-face trying to get over, it is not a sure way to get a reaction.
1
Triple H’s launch
Precursor to the genealogy
It’s ironic to think that long before The Game took Randy Orton under his wing, It was Triple H using the launch as a finisher. While the launch is becoming an incredibly common move for wrestlers to add to their move set worldwide, it was rarer back then, especially in an era when it was taboo for two wrestlers to use the same finisher. The only other person using the move at the time was Diamond Dallas Page for the Diamond Cutter.
That’s why, as DDP mentioned on an episode of his Snake Pit podcast, He politely asked a young Trips to stop using the launcher since the move was just starting to get Page over. The younger rookie followed out of respect for Page. He would soon use a double underhook facebuster he would call the Pedigree, changing his Wow Career for the better.