Editor's note: This article originally appeared on IGN sister-site Geek.com.
There’s a lot that goes into making a good wrestling match, but among the most important of these elements is the one that brings things to a close, that places a capstone on the entire match: the finisher. Even if the recipient kicks out, the referee’s count is interrupted or a wrestler doesn’t even get to properly deliver it, the mere existence of a finisher gives necessary form and structure to a wrestling match, setting up expectations that are either delivered upon, subverted or denied.
Below, presented in no particular order, are the 11 absolute best wrestling finishers in existence. If you think we missed something, you’re almost certainly wrong, but you should still feel free to tell us about it in the comments!
Whether you call it the RKO, the Ace Crusher, the Diamond Cutter, or the Gun Stun, the Cutter is, quite possibly, the perfect finishing maneuver. Seeing as it doesn’t require anyone to actually be picked up, the move can be hit on pretty much anyone. And seeing as the person delivering it just needs to jump up, grab someone and fall down, it can also be delivered by pretty much anyone. Throw in the fact that it’s one of the best “out of nowhere” moves — a valuable thing when building out exciting match finishing sequences — and it’s pretty difficult to beat the RKO.
The Figure Four is almost the complete opposite of the RKO. While the RKO is quick, the Figure Four requires a set of deliberate motions. While the RKO is more of a striking maneuver that must be followed up by a pin, the Figure Four is a submission. But both of those things, which could, at first, appear to be weaknesses, actually become strengths when discussing the Figure Four. With such an instantly recognizable set-up, the audience knows what to expect, making it easier for wrestlers to play around with those expectations.
Additionally, once applied, the Figure Four gives wrestlers numerous opportunities to continue telling the story of their match, as both talents have their faces visible (the better to emote to the audience) and their hands free (the better to scramble for leverage and/or a rope break). And on top of all of that? The Figure Four features one of my favorite absurd bits of wrestling logic: the idea that you can roll the move over to reverse the pressure.
The Road Warriors weren’t the first tag team to have a joint, double team finishing move, but they were arguably the first to have one that mattered. The Doomsday Device was great because it took both powerhouse wrestlers’ strengths and amplified them, with Animal using his massive power to hoist an opponent up on his shoulders and Hawk using his explosive strength to nearly take their head off with a leaping, top rope clothesline. The versatility and effectiveness of the move is underscored by how many tag teams still use the Doomsday Device, or variations of it, to finish their matches today.
I’m sure to lose internet wrestling fan credibility points in certain quarters for this, but that’s totally fine, because anyone with eyes to see already knows that Nikki Bella is a far better wrestling heel than anyone wants to give her credit for (which is, in and of itself, an example of how great she is), and that her Rack Attack move is amazing. While her slimmer sister Brie tends to wrestle more like her husband Daniel Bryan (missile dropkicks, even busting out the Yes Lock on occasion), Nikki has leaned into her more muscular physique and begun wrestling like a power-based competitor. When she lifts a woman up on her shoulders, then dramatically drops to her knees as part of a backbreaker rack drop, it looks like she legit cripples them.
WWE is the world’s largest wrestling promotion, so it’s no surprise that many of the most notable finishing maneuvers take place in their rings. But that doesn’t mean there’s not awesome, fascinating stuff going on in other promotions. To wit: Ring of Honor’s Roderick Strong and his End of Heartache. The move, which has also been called the Strong Breaker, sees Strong live up to his old nickname, “The Messiah of the Backbreaker,” by lifting and flinging an opponent with a vertical suplex, only to fall down underneath of them, hitting them with a brutal double-knee backbreaker in the process. The American independent scene is full of people who can and do hit stunning acrobatic moves, but the End of Heartache succeeds and stands out because of its crushing brutality.
Complicated finishers can be awesome, but oftentimes, something that’s quick, simple, and well-delivered can be just as effective — maybe even more so. Perhaps the best example of this is the DDT. These days, the move is, admittedly, terribly overused, especially once you factor in the eight million different variations that now exist. But back in the late 80s, when Jake “The Snake” Roberts was at his best in WWE, the move was monstrous. The way he built up to it during a match — it was practically the only thing he did in the ring — the way people sold it (like they were dead) and the fact that no one ever kicked out all led to the DDT being one of the most devastating finishers in wrestling history.
The piledriver has always been a great finishing move. One wrestler drives another into the mat brain-first — what’s not to like about that? But the move gets bonus points on account of WWE having banned it, rather understandably, over safety concerns. That means when you do end up seeing it, either when someone in WWE breaks the rules, or in a different promotion altogether, it looks all the more brutal and effective. Plus, there’s also the Tombstone variation of the move, which manages to be much, much safer, while still maintaining most of the menace that comes with planting someone’s head into the ground.
Like the Piledriver, you’re going to have a hard time finding any variety of Powerbomb that I don’t like. When delivered properly, the move is quick, fluid, and totally nasty looking, with one wrestler driving another down onto the mat, oftentimes from a great height. The only trick with the powerbomb is that the person delivering it has to be strong enough to hoist up their opponent and slam them down in a way that looks vicious and believable. Given the wide disparity of body types and sizes in wrestling, that isn’t always possible, which is what makes Kevin Owens’ Pop-Up Powerbomb so brilliant.
Owens is a big dude, but he’s far from the biggest or strongest guy on the WWE roster, which would make it hard for him to hit big, brutal, and believable traditional powerbombs in the way that, say, Batista did. The Pop-Up Powerbomb deftly sidesteps that problem by having Owens lift a running opponent (who also leaps to help with the process), before slamming them back down. Since he’s only doing part of the work, it means Owens can hit the move on a much wider variety of wrestlers, while also making the move seemingly even more sudden.
The Figure Four is a great submission finisher because of all the possibilities it opens up for both the wrestler administering it, as well as the one receiving it. Pinfall, ropebreak, agonized tap out, or even a reversal — they’re all possible with the Figure Four. Chris Jericho’s Liontamer, however, is great because there aren’t a lot of places to go once it’s locked in. In fact, there’s really only one.
The Boston Crab — which Jericho will also use, as the Walls of Jericho — is somewhat like the Figure Four, in that it allows wrestlers to scramble and pull for the ropes, breaking up the pin. The Liontamer variation, however, sees Jericho put his knee on his opponent’s back, neck or head, which plants them into the ground, preventing them from going anywhere. While it doesn’t open up as many storytelling possibilities, the Liontamer is fascinating because it is a match-ender. Also: it looks crazy awesome.
Like the DDT, the Lariat is another maneuver that is relatively simple, showing up frequently as a transitional move. But when used properly, the Lariat is a stunningly effective finisher. It call comes down to a couple things, the most important of which is menace. A wrestler needs to be able to hit the Lariat in a way that it looks less like they’re just running into someone, and more like they’re trying to detach someone’s head from their body. Watch a JBL, Stan Hansen, or Satoshi Kojima lariat to see what I mean.
Beyond just needing to look brutal though, a truly excellent Lariat finisher would ideally have some kind of set-up that lets people know it’s coming. One of the best ones going today is Kazuchika Okada’s Rainmaker, as it opens up a bunch of opportunities for reversals. The fact that, unlike the DDT, the Lariat can continue to be used as a devastating finisher while also performing like a weaker transitional move (sometimes in the same match!), would indicate that it’s perhaps an even better finisher than Jake the Snake’s finest.
Many of the entries on this list are ubiquitous, largely because of how excellent and versatile they are. This final entry, however, is a different ball of wax altogether. Kenta Kobashi didn’t invent the move (shout-out to Kyoko Inoue!), but he’s the most closely associated with it, not in spite of only hitting it seven times, but because he’s only hit it seven times.
The Burning Hammer was, for lack of a better term, Kobashi’s “super finisher.” When he’d tried everything else, and nothing could keep his opponent down, he’d go to this, his last resort, a brutal and dangerous-looking inverted Death Valley driver. And seeing as it was such a rare occurrence, it was always well-protected, and no one he ever gave it to was able to kick out, making it a game-ender much in the same way that the DDT was for a time.
Who am I kidding? I could have made this list 100 entries long and I’d still feel like I left things out. That’s because so much of a finisher comes down to its execution. Just like you can have someone hit a terrible looking Lariat, another wrestler could come in and turn something rather pedestrian — like an Iron Claw — into something terrifying.
Tell us your favorite finishers down in the comments below!
When he isn’t racking his brain trying to figure out whether a Lariat is better than a Superplex (it is), Aubrey Sitterson hosts the professional wrestling talk show STRAIGHT SHOOT, writes comic books and writes, produces and performs the sword & serial podcast SKALD. Check out his website and find him on Twitter.
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