Professional wrestling is far more physically demanding than some people give credit for, particularly in the eyes of non-fans who look atWWEfrom the outside looking in. To non-fans, the sport might be “fake,” but most moves that wrestlers do in the ring can’t be faked, and especially the pain behind them. While at least 90% of moves in a wrestling ring can be done safely, every move has its risks and drawbacks for the person receiving it,including some iconic finishers.
Finishers are a big part of the wrestling business, and every wrestler performs their own in almost every match. Some, however, are more painful than others, despite the way they look. Over the years,WWE superstars have expressed how much they hated taking a specific colleague’s finisher move, and while some are to be expected, other entries in this list will come as a total surprise.
The Worst Landing Possible
On the July 30, 2025, episode of Raw, Team Rhodes Scholars vs. New Age Outlaws was interrupted by Brock Lesnar, attacking Triple H’s best friends as a means to accept his challenge for WrestleMania 29. Both futureWWE Hall of FamersBilly Gunn and Road Dogg are overwhelmed by The Beast Incarnate, most notably with the former Jesse James receiving an F5.
Brian James has spoken on his podcast -Oh, You Didn’t Know?- aboutwhat it feels like to take an F5 from Brock. He first recalls the discomfort that comes from being prone on the ground to being yanked off the ground and onto the man’s shoulders. There’s no way to prep for that transition or the timing. The best The Roadie could do was brace himself for a flat face bump, but instead fell on his nose and"nether region.“Ouch.
9Sabu (and Other WWE Wrestlers) Hated Taking Test’s Big Boot
Test’s Kicks Were Stiff
WWE’s 2006 revitalization of Extreme Championship Wrestling wasn’t as positively received as the original. The brand was far removed fromECW’s most extreme momentsof the 90s. The new regime triedpushing Test as one of its top heels. It’s too bad nobody liked taking his finisher, at least so recollects Sabu on the Wrestling Shoot Interviews show.
Sabu accuses Test of asserting his push as a reason to boss people around. Test once told Sabu that he had orders from Vince McMahon to kick Sabu as hard as possible in the face during their match to get his finisher over. Sabu wasn’t comfortable with the prospect, but the late Andrew Martin insisted. “He kicked me hard in the face and I never let him again,” Sabu says. He also adds that everyone else in the locker room shared the same sentiment about Test’s Big Boot and would complain about it.
Unexpected Risk of Concussion
Maven has completely turned his life around following his brief stint in WWE after being the company’s firstTough Enoughwinner. Along withan all-new comic bookMaven has a successful YouTube channel where he talks about his experiences in the ring. In the latter, he discusses the most painful moves he’s taken in the ring, citing the Frog Splash as one of his choices.
As Maven explains,“gravity is not your friend"when a 200-plus pound man comes flying 10-15 feet high in the air and crashes onto your sternum. That’s a move that’s not easy to gimmick, and it hurts even harder when a wrestler might accidentally miss their mark in the center, making for an awkward landing. He even recalls receiving a concussion from a frog splash courtesy of Val Venis (who called it The Money Shot).
7Maven Hated Taking the Batista Bomb
And Powerbombs in General
This was another top pick from Maven’s video. He starts off talking about powerbombs in general, saying that everyone does it a little bit differently andthe pain is usually dependent on where and how a wrestler lands. If a wrestler is delivered down from a large height safely down to the mat, it may not hurt that badly, but he also recognizes it’s called a powerbomb for a reason, with an added emphasis on power.
He then transitions into talking about Batista’s powerbomb specifically. While he does say that Batista always delivered him to the mat safely,gravity and powerful force never make for a fun combination, especially from someone as powerful and aggressive as The Animal. Maven says that whenever he took the Batista Bomb, only one thing came to his mind every time: “I hate this job.”
6Kurt Angle Hated Taking Undertaker’s Last Ride
The Hardest Bump He Ever Took
While answering fan questions on his podcast,The Kurt Angle Show, the Olympic gold medalist was asked what hurts more between The Rock’s Rock Bottom and Undertaker’s Chokeslam. Angle talks about the pain of receiving the Chokeslam superseding the Rock Bottom (The Rock falls with his opponent, softening the blow), butstill calls Taker the safest wrestler he ever worked with.
However, that doesn’t stop Angle fromcalling The Last Ride “the worst bump that I’ve ever taken in my life.“It’s easy to see why when The Undertaker’s Last Ride is an elevated powerbomb, giving his opponent some extra height. Keep in mind that with the WrestleMania legend standing at 6'10, the opponent is already plenty high in the air. Coming down from a couple extra inches can’t be a fun landing. However, coming from a man who did Moonsaults from the top of the cage, Angle’s pick of the Last Ride as his “worst bump” is still surprising.
5The Undertaker Hated Sid’s Powerbomb
One of the Most Brutal Finishers
What goes around comes back around, asThe Undertaker was no fan of receiving the powerbomb himself. Surely, a man at 6'10 probably isn’t used to being taken that high in the air anyway, so the feeling of being manhandled in such a way can’t be comfortable for The Deadman.The late Sid Vicious, ironically, was one inch shorter than Undertaker, but he was also about eight pounds heavier than Taker in his prime, and he was able to lift up The Deadman with ease.
That’s not a feeling that Mark loved, as when listing out the most brutal moves to receive in the ring,Sycho Sid’s powerbomb is the first one that he mentions.
4Stone Cold Hated Taking the Lion Tamer
Stone Cold Was Too Tall
One detriment to a wrestler that sometimes becomes the deciding factor in how much pain they feel is how tall they are. Case in point, Chris Jericho’s Walls of Jericho, or even his Lion Tamer variation,can feel deadlier if the opponent taking it is exceptionally taller. The way that Jericho distorts another wrestler’s body becomes even more painful on a taller opponent, especially in terms of the Lion Tamer, which applies pressure to the neck.
10 Wrestling Moves Banned in WWE For Being Too Dangerous
These are some moves from wrestling history that were once (or still are) considered too dangerous, unsafe, and scary to do inside of a WWE ring.
Jericho goes into further detail in his book,Undisputed, thatbecause of Austin’s past neck issues, he wanted no part of the Lion Tamerto the point he refused to take it. It seemingly led to Jericho transitioning to using a simpler Boston Crab for his taller opponents, which became his most commonly used version of the move.
3Bret Hart Hated the Doomsday Device
No Easy Way to Take It
Originated by the Legion of Doom and adopted by the Dudley Boyz, this is the only tag team finisher on the list and,arguably, the hardest finisher to commit safely. After all, the move places the opponent on one person’s shoulder moments before they take a top-rope clothesline. If the clothesline alone wasn’t painful, then falling backward to the mat and potentially landing on the neck would do the job. Some more athletic wrestlers take this bump with a backflip, but it’s still pretty difficult and dangerous.
In his book, Bret “The Hitman” Hart recalls finding footage of the Road Warriors' Doomsday Device shortly after forming the Hart Foundation with Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart. It gave him the idea of creating the Hart Attack, asa means of creating a safer Doomsday Device. As much as he was impressed with the Doomsday Device, he criticized it because neither Animal nor Hawk could have any regard or care for their opponent’s safety while doing it.
2Triple H Hated Taking the People’s Elbow
He Thinks It’s Hokey, and It Often Hit Him in the Face
The Rock is naturally one of thefunniest men to grace a wrestling ring. There was a time whenThe People’s Elbow was meant to be taken as a jokeand an extension of his humor until it became his legitimate finisher. A move that was once created to get the Undertaker to break character during house shows had suddenly become a means to close out WrestleMania main events, which didn’t seem to sit right with Triple H.
Some years back in a Radio 1 interview,HHH outright called it the “hokiest” move he’s ever taken. He not only detested how silly the maneuver looked, but after lying on his back for several seconds for Rocky to finish his showmanship at the crowd, his elbow would often land on Triple H’s face. Clearly, Hunter must have gotten over it, as years later, these two are working so closely in the new WWE regime.
1EVERYONE Hates Cesaro’s Swing
It Doesn’t Hurt But It’s Dizzy-Inducing
Regardless of whether he goes by Cesaro or Claudio Castagnoli, working with WWE Superstars or AEW wrestlers,everyone seems to share the same sentiment about the big swing: it sucks to take. The Swing is as simple as it sounds: a wrestler grabs his opponent by the legs and uses his strength to swing them for however long he decides to, often followed by a Sharpshooter for extra measure.
In an interview with Chris Van Vliet, Claudio claims that althoughhe personally doesn’t get dizzy from the Swing, his opponents aren’t so lucky. Just about everyone he works with tells him how much they hate taking the move. Some go as far as to refuse to take it because they feel that much discomfort from it, and then they have to go on with the match. At least there’s one thing thatWWEand AEW wrestlers can agree on.
