• Top 10 WWF Finishing Moves

  

  Written by Zeromage 22 Comments
  Last Updated:: November 5, 2009

  The Finishing move. The move to end the match most of the time (unless you were fighting either The Undertaker, Hogan, or The Ultimate Warrior). The finishing move defined the wrestler and the motley fans of the WWF. When you saw Hogan finish off his opponent with his apocryphal Leg Drop, you were jumping up and down out of your seat knowing that Hogan would retain the belt. When your favorite wrestler was in the sharpshooter, you were begging that he was near the ropes. Whatever finishing move it was, it accentuated the staged-wrestling format to new heights. It’s what everybody expected; it was the pay off. Is this the definitive Top 10 Finishing moves list on the internet? We think so.

  10. Million Dollar Dream

  This variation of the sleeper hold that The Million Dollar Man executed put all jobbers to sleep. Dibiase would take the jobber’s arm and put it across his throat and then he would put his other arm and apply as much pressure as possible to the neck region. The conclusion? The end of the jobber and his dreams of beating the sly and elusive Million Dollar Man. The end of thinking that he could take the Million Dollar Belt away from The Million Dollar Man. This wasn’t a spectacular move but it yielded it’s exact consequences; the end of a match and the usually the end of the jobber’s 2 month stay in the WWF.

  9. Leg Drop

  Probably the worst finishing move of all time is also one of the best. I’m quite certain that Hogan could leg drop me 1,000 times and I would get up after the 1,000th time and ask him if he wanted to go get something to eat somewhere. But in the staged wrestling world, The Leg Drop meant everything. It meant the end of the wrestler (except for The Undertaker and The Ultimate Warrior). The lying wrestler would slightly flop as if to signify he was unconscious from the phantom Leg Drop. The degenerate crowd would erupt as if the Leg Drop actually had an impact.

  8. Sweet Chin Music

  Shawn Michaels executed his finishing move to perfection, showing that he was really an expert at karate. He would get full extension with his leg and kick his opponent into unconsciousness, including the infamous scene in the barbershop where he high kicked Marty Geneti and then subsequently threw him into the glass. Shawn Michaels would have trouble shaking off his heel persona slowly after this, which isn’t a bad thing. Some wrestlers just have it in them to be heels. This move would come suddenly and quickly. When it hit, it was over. Even though this is fake wrestling, you could hear it for miles away. The opponent was actually taking a hit. When watching this move, you could see just how devastating it was.

  7. Superfly Splash

  Superfly Jimmy Snuka was a high flying character from the rainforest, anthropomorphizing a jungle animal. It was only appropriate that his finishing move involved flying off the top turnbuckle. He wouldn’t just jump off the top ropes either, he would fly off them with arms extended right onto the opponent’s belly, knocking the wind out of him for good. Cameras would all be shooting when Superfly performed this incredible move. No wrestler had flown as high as Superfly. This was more than a memorable finishing move and will always be attempted by those early wrestling fans. Only the degenerates will get hurt though.

  6. The Brutal Banzai

  The Banzai Drop was a real leg drop because it was coming from someone who was over 500 pounds. This shit could suffocate you. But Yokozuna also had a better finishing move with the Brutal Banzai where he would drag his opponent towards the turnbuckles. Yokozuna would then get on the second ropes and jump off landing his fat ass right on the chest of the opponent. This was hard to watch. When I was young, I always had to turn away when watching this move. How could wrestlers just sit under Yokozuna fat ass even for the 3 count. They must have been breathing for their life during that time. Yokozuna had many refreshing things about him because he was so opposite of the big men that came before him who were just loafs with no endurance.

  5. DDT

  The DDT by Jake the Snake Roberts was explosive. Like The Perfect Plex, the beauty of the move was that it came from out of nowhere. The wrestling fan could be looking at something else besides the TV screen for just a second before Jake ruthlessly DDT’ed someone to the canvas. The move happened in a matter of seconds and left the jobber unconscious for Jake to pin. Jake’s ruthless nature sometimes made him do 2 or 3 DDT’s to an opponent. Jake loved being the heel. He had the blood of Judas in him and felt no mercy for anyone. A devastating move at such a quick speed, this had to be in the top 10 finishing moves of all time.

  4. Tombstone

  The Tombstone spelt a certain end for every opponent (except for Hogan). When Undertaker hoisted up the opponent and planted him into his knees, it was doomsday. The Undertaker would then go on to fold up the arms of the opponent as if they were dead and pin him with his eyes rolling back in his head. This was one of the deadliest finishing moves in WWF history. The fact that Hogan was the only one would could get up from it told you something about it’s cataclysmic nature. The crowd would come to an abrupt hush after the Tombstone was executed. The Grim Reaper would prevail again as one of the most dominate wrestlers of all time.

  3. Sharpshooter

  If you were in the sharpshooter, you were done unless you were near the ropes, which happened to be about 50% of the people that Bret Hart executed the Sharp Shooter on. If you were in the middle of the ring though (which means you were most likely a jobber), you were done for. The move would crack your back if you didn’t call for submission. Bret Hart didn’t just execute the Sharpshooter though. He put so much pressure on your back during the execution that only the strongest could survive past 5 seconds. Always executed with greatness, The Sharpshooter was one of the most memorable finishing moves.

  2. Razor’s Edge

  The Razor’s Edge was technically one of the best finishing moves of all time. This took major athleticism and an incredible amount of creativity to come up with. Razor Ramon would perilously hoist a wrestler by his arm pits and smash him down on his neck. If this was done with vigor this could actually hurt someone. Seeing the spectacle of the Razor’s Edge though was incredible. It’s often forgotten in Razor Ramon’s feckless disposition. When Razor wanted to wrestle though, he did and he would destroy opponents with this grandiose finishing move. Great idea. I would give as much credit to whoever came up with the idea.

  1. Perfect Plex

  Mr. Perfect’s Perfect Plex actually wouldn’t hurt the wrestler, it would just put them in an interminable position of never being able to kick out of it. It was done with perfect execution only known to the excellence of execution; Mr. Perfect, and it would happen any time in the match. The power of certain finishing moves is that you never know when they’re going to happen. This was the case with the Perfect Plex. What looked liked a simple attempt at a suplex could spell the end for the wrestler as the suplex was actually a Perfect Plex. The true wrestler that he was, he was deserving of a such a perfect finishing move.

22 Comments

1. #1 BERSERKR says:
   March 17th, 2010 at 2:27 am

   Razors Edge? Really? The best power bomb variation EVER was the last ride, you see the hight he got on that thing?
2. #2 Nick says:
   March 17th, 2010 at 2:34 pm

   No Power Bomb, Figure 4, Elbow Drop, Stone Cold Stunner, or Rock Bottom? You guys are missing A LOT of finishers.
3. #3 BERSERKR says:
   March 17th, 2010 at 9:00 pm

   Razors Edge was a power bomb variation, but like i said nowhere near the best, Last Ride baby!
4. #4 Sw0rDMaN says:
   March 17th, 2010 at 10:22 pm

   This is a bad top 10 =P like Berserk said where is the Last Ride? And where is my Pedigree?!
5. #5 BERSERKR says:
   March 17th, 2010 at 2:11 am

   Wow, i guess no one really cares about wrestling around here:P I actually have not watched it religiously in about 2 years, but i still have fond memories and don’ look down upon it.
6. #6 Alexx says:
   March 17th, 2010 at 12:35 pm

   As much as Ted Dibiase is great Im not a big fan of the sleeper. DDT is higher in my books. Stunner is great. RKO is even good. AS Much as I dislike Michaels his finisher is pretty awesome
7. #7 Vintage Junkie says:
   March 17th, 2010 at 1:32 pm

   Perfect Plex should clearly be #1. That was the best finishing move of all.
8. #8 Blake says:
   March 17th, 2010 at 3:59 pm

   Hang on a mo.. There is no mention of any Tag-Team finishers, which as a rule are a lot more technical and entertaining.

   Also the Sharpshooter is the in-bred relative of the Boston-Crab, which only ‘The Model ‘ Rick Martel could call his own.
9. #9 Pete says:
   March 17th, 2010 at 1:06 pm

   What about the flying elbow?
10. #10 David Macphail says:
    March 17th, 2010 at 6:00 pm

    When will Old – Wizard get with the times? It’s called “WWE” now, it has been for about 7 years.

    Some of the best finishing moves in the business (In no order):

    Sweet Chin Music
    Pedigree
    5 – Star – Frog – Splash
    Crippler Crossface
    RKO
    Lionsault
    Codebreaker
    STF (Cena’s version, even though i think he sucks)
    Sharpshooter
    Clothesline From Hell
    Spear

    BTW – Hogans finisher was called the Atomic Leg Drop, not just the Leg Drop.
11. #11 Fedricco Rabaya says:
    March 17th, 2010 at 2:50 am

    Fuck all these WWE fairies. Kimbo Slice will own all of them lololol.
12. #12 David Macphail says:
    March 17th, 2010 at 10:16 pm

    Kimbo Slice??? WTF is he? He’s not one of those “TNA” weirdo’s is he? Cause i won’t watch that crap.
13. #13 Fedricco Rabaya says:
    March 17th, 2010 at 3:04 am

    Kimbo Slice is a UFC Fighter. He can own everybody in a real fight in WWE except Brock Lesnar. He’s one bad mofo!!! LOL I’m not black. Please Old Wizard make other topics for us to debate on.
14. #14 David Macphail says:
    March 17th, 2010 at 9:49 pm

    Brock Lesnar hasn’t worked for WWE for about 6 years. Also, i’d like to see this kimbo Slice “Own” The Big Show or The Great Khali in a real fight.
15. #15 Fedricco Rabaya says:
    March 17th, 2010 at 3:21 am

    Actually I’m having doubts if Kimbo Slice will beat the Big Show and The Great Khali. They’re too big for him. Only way to know is if they join the UFC.
16. #16 sl stadler says:
    March 17th, 2010 at 4:58 am

    Mr. Wonderful Paul Orndorf’s Pile Driver
17. #17 Emerald Magus says:
    March 17th, 2010 at 5:57 pm

    Good list. I think the figure four should be on here though. And the Camel Clutch.
18. #18 Darryl says:
    March 17th, 2010 at 3:31 pm

    I agree Iron Sheik’s Camel Clutch should be on this list and so should the HHH Pedigree. The only person to break out of Camel Clutch was Hogan to my knowledge. I think agree Perfect Plex should be number 1.
19. #19 curiousbystander says:
    March 17th, 2010 at 6:13 am

    “Also the Sharpshooter is the in-bred relative of the Boston-Crab”

    yea but u can twist and kick out from the boston crab, i dont think i ever saw anyone KICK OUT from a sharpshooter.
20. #20 Furyof5 says:
    March 17th, 2010 at 12:11 am

    Zero, no one had ever kicked out of the Tombstone until Kane. Hogan didn’t either, as a matter of fact Taker beat Hogan with the tombstone(Chair or not), and he never kicked out of it.

    This move is used to elevate wrestlers, nobody kicks out of it, so when they do thats a huge boost in credibility to the audience.

    More recently people have, such as Edge(there was the ref being out and stuff but he still did.) and I think Batista did as well, and it rea1ly added that extra element to the Taker Hbk match at Mania. So this move is huge in historical relevance. If Hogan the greatest and most iconic wrestler of all time couldn’t kick out of it, and was fallen by it, then its a big move.
21. #21 Vintage Junkie says:
    March 17th, 2010 at 12:15 am

    Actually the article never said he “kicked out”. It said :

    The Tombstone spelt a certain end for every opponent (except for Hogan).

    Hulk Hogan-Survivor Series ‘91 (Hulked up right after he received the Tombstone.)