Wrestlers, andWWESuperstars in particular, put a lot of thought and effort intotheir finishers. Professional wrestlers are often defined by the move they end their matches with, as the way they end their match tends to be the final impression a wrestler leaves on the audience as 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 from the undercard anytime soon. Fear not, though, asit’s never too late for a wrestler to decide to change their finisher. It’s why so many legends and Hall of Famers' trademark finishers are far different from the finishers they started their careers with, as seen throughout this list. And in some cases, wrestlers change their finishers late into their careers.
10Shawn Michaels' Teardrop Suplex
Precursor to Sweet Chin Music
The Sweet Chin Music easily ranks amongthe 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 any wrestler should want from their finisher. However, before he’d tune up the band to end his matches,the Sweet Chin Music was a transition move to set up his actual finisher, the Teardrop Suplex, early into his singles career.
Eventually, Michaels would drop the teardrop suplex in total and settle on Sweet Chin Music being his sole finisher. Similarly, Sheamus entered WWE using the Celtic Cross (Razor’s Edge under a different name) as his finisher with the Brogue Kick being used to set up the move, until deciding the Brogue Kick was the more sudden, exciting of the two moves.
9Randy Orton’s O-Zone
Precursor to the RKO
When Randy Orton made his WWE in-ring debut on the Jun 08, 2025 episode of SmackDown, he defeated Hardcore Holly with an Oklahoma Roll inside cradle pin. In subsequent weeks, the rookie would establish his actual 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 between the two to bring the move to WWE television.
He wouldn’t have the finisher for long, as shortly after his debut, he’d be injured for months. When he’d eventually return as a member of Evolution over on Raw the following year, Orton would instead introduce the RKO, a finisher he’d use to winsome of his best matches.
8Seth Rollins' Front Facelock DDT
Replacement for the Curb Stomp
The Curb Stomp ranks among one of the most dangerous finishers in WWE history. It’s also the only finisher on this list thatWWE banned for looking too dangerous. Within a month of winning his first WWE Championship with a Curb Stomp, Rollins was told by Vince McMahon that out of concern that children could replicate the move and harm themselves, The Chairman decided to ban the move. Rollins understood, but what made the news awkward was thatit came to him mere hours before he was set to wrestle Dolph Ziggleron the July 21, 2025 episode of Raw.
On short notice, Rollins had to figure out a new finisher, and he landed on this front facelock DDT/facebuster maneuver. The move wouldn’t stick for long as weeks later, he’d adopt the Pedigree from his mentor, Triple H. That lasted for a couple of years until their kayfabe alliance ended, leading Rollins to finish matches with a Ripcord Knee until the Curb Stomp was eventually reinstated.
7Undertaker’s Diving Elbow Drop
Precursor to the Tombstone Piledriver
A lot of people would say that The Undertaker had the perfect gimmick - arguably the best gimmick in wrestling history - but even perfection takes time to craft. Fans would be surprised to learn how much had to change from Taker’s debut for him to reach that perfection and how long he needed to workshop things about his character before achieving that perfection. Even something like his choice of manager took time to find, as he began with “The Million Dollar Man” Ted Dibiase, and then Brother Love before landing on Paul Bearer.
Finding the perfect finisher is no different, as Mark Calaway’s original finisher wasa diving elbow drop off the middle of the top rope, similar 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 became an iconic part of the Deadman’s legacy.
6Kane’s Mandible Claw Submission Hold
Finisher During His Rebrand
Kane has one of the most iconic masks in WWE history. He stopped wearing that mask for about 9 years beginning in 2003, andhe never really felt like the same monsterhe once was to the audience. When he brought the mask back in 2012, it was treated like a return to form for the Big Red Machine, with WWE booking him as more brutal and monstrous than he’s ever been. At least, that’s the impression storylines wanted to give during his Embrace the Hate campaign against John Cena.
In highlighting that brutality,Kane would introduce a claw submissionwhere he would clamp down on his opponent’s mouth and nose until they’d pass out from suffocation. While it sounds agonizing on paper, it never quite had the same vigor and crowd reaction of a good ole Chokeslam, and so Kane would go back to that in record time.
5John Cena’s Protobomb
Precursor to the FU/Attitude Adjustment
It’s hard to imagineJohn Cena ending his WWE matcheswith anything other than an AA or STF. He tried to introduce a Lightning Fist as a new finisher late into his career, but it never caught on. The Attitude Adjustment in particular in both name and execution always fit him perfectly. The funny thing about that is thatCena wouldn’t introduce the AA into his arsenal until a year after his debut. Feuding with Brock Lesnar going into WWE Backlash 2003, he would mock Lesnar’s fireman’s carry DDT - the F5 - by doing a fireman’s carry 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. This same move is also notably used by Sami Zayn, who calls it the Blue Thunder Bomb.
4Cody 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 untilthe future WWE Championwould fine-tune his moveset into what he’s known for today, and that would include his finisher. Before he had the Cross Rhodes, he had a swift Snap DDT, most notably seen when he hit his tag team partner, Hardcore Holly, with it at Night of Champions 2008 for his first heel turn.
He wouldn’t debut the Cross Rhodes until 2009 shortly after aligning himself with Randy Orton as a part of Legacy. Imagine how different Rhodes' wrestling career overall would be had he kept his Snap DDT as a finisher. WrestleMania XL would have looked a lot different had Cody needed to lift Roman Reigns in their match three times for consecutive DDTs - which, honestly, might look even more devastating than three consecutive Cross Rhodes.
3The Usos' Tequila Sunrise
Their Heel Finisher
When WWE reintroduced the brand split in 2016, it truly changed the landscape of WWE as the product became more open to trying new things, especially on SmackDown which went back to being the Land of Opportunity. One tag team that benefitted from new opportunities was The Usos. After years of being pegged as boring and cookie-cutter, they turned heel, wiped away their facepaint, and started introducing characteristics that would make up the Uso Penitentiary.
One such thing wastweaking their moveset into something more vicious, like ending their matches with a single-leg Boston Crab they would call the Tequila Sunrise. They’d eventually go back to using the Uso Splash to finish matches and as of now, neither Jimmy nor Jey Uso tend to use their heel submission anymore.
2The 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 to not rise to their feet when they see a Rock Bottom or a People’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 audienceas a character and as an in-ring wrestler who had yet to find himself. Before he was electrifying, his finisher was a less-than-exciting shoulder breaker. In theory, it’s an effective finisher that neutralizes the opponent’s shoulder from kicking out, but as a babyface trying to get over, it’s not a surefire way to get a reaction.
1Triple H’s Cutter
Precursor to the Pedigree
It’s ironic to think that long before The Game took Randy Orton under his wing,it was Triple H using the Cutter as a finisher. While the Cutter 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 in an episode of his Snake Pit podcast,he politely asked a young Trips to stop using the Cutter since the move was just starting to get Page over. The younger rookie complied out of respect for Page. He’d soon use a double underhook facebuster he’d call the Pedigree, changing hisWWEcareer for the better.
