Who has/had the best finisher in WWE/WWF?

[Kidd]

For me, it comes down to 3 finishers:

The Pedigree and Tombstone Piledriver: Both look real. Both also look like it would cause some serious head trama.

Then there's the Rockbottom which also looks realistic and if done for real, could possbly break an opponent's back or cause some serious neck damage depending on how they land.

Although it hasn't been discussed, the AA is one of the worst finishers IMO. Just doesn't look devastating at all to me. The Cobra looks like it would hurt more.

 

[DaNewGuy]

I'm a sucker for a superkick. Or the Pedigree is a good shout.

That said (and for the sake of offering an alternative), as far as 'unique' and damage go then the Samoan Spike has to rank up there somewhere. Umaga put down top class opposition with it. It looked like something which would be painful and dehabilitating (which was enhanced by it being sold like a gunshot).
The closest move to it that I can think of would be Haku's Tongan Death Grip, or perhaps Santino's Cobra.

 

[TheHorndogSays]

How can people have the diamond cutter on their list and not have the RKO. They are one in the lame...same. Along with the Dudley drop, and Twist of Fate.

Because DDP simply did the move better in a lot of people's opinions. Some argue that Ortons looks more devastating but the fact is DDP better utilized the fact that the move can be hit from just about any position while I think Orton has only tried a few variations a few times at most.

I've never seen it done in the WWE but the best finisher is the Frontflip Piledriver(Canadian Destroyer), not only does it plant and oponent on his head but it's done in an amazing fashion.

Trevor Murdoch tried using the move a few times during his run with Lance Cade but after almost breaking Matt Hardy's neck with a botched attempt, Vince banned the move.

Personally I always thought Matt Morgan's WWE finisher (that he also used sometimes during his early TNA run), the Hellevator, looked AWESOME.

 

[OldSkoolFan]

for me it has to be Gregory Helms' Vertebreaker. The move just looked sick and could really hurt and do some damage if not done correctly. Luckily opponents had enough confidence in Helms to land it perfectly.

 

[NikeSoul]

For me it would have to be Edge's Edgecution, no clue why he ever switched to the Spear (highly overused). Also another one of my favorites is Jericho's Lion Tamer version of the Walls of Jericho.

 

[aliasv2]

Well the first move for me is purely the F5...It looked like it hurt no matter where it was done, and the way the Hardy's sold it when it was done on the stage was priceless.

Another mention I would say is the X-factor....yes it is a face buster, but ur slamming someones face into the canvas, if done right it looked like it hurt.

Some of my favourites: Tombstone, SCM, Pedigree....Also the Tag Finisher Al Snow and Blackman did

 

[shalliin]

It's a move most have forgotten, but Edge used to do a submission he called Edgucation. Looked bit like a sharpshooter, but from the side. When he first started he also had the Downward Spyral (similar ot Kanyon's Flarliner) which at the time was somewhat unique but others started adopting and became several others most notably the Complete Shot(an over the shoulder instead of bent over ddt) the original was more like a reverse Russian legsweep with the head held further from the shoulder at arms length from Edge/Kanyon

Also can't believe no one has mentioned Yokozuna's Bonzai Drop or Earthquake's splash. Both could cave in a chest or crush a skull with ease.

Someone mentioned Doomsday Device by LOD.

For true unique you have to go back to Ultimate Warrior's clothesline/shoulder tackle/ splash to back. Just so much involved in it and hit everything so quick wasn't just one impact but several.

As much as I like it, people have gotten out of Taker's Devil's Gate hold. HHH at wrestlemania as well as HBK.

For the record, the Stunner is a glorified sitdown Jawbreaker not a variation of a Diamond cutter. DDP's Diamond Cutter, Randy Orton's RKO, the Hardy's Twist of fate, Bubba Dudley's Bubba cutter were all the same but for the start of the setup. Hardy's set like doing a ddt then twist(hence the name) and drop into the cutter, Paige did his sign,Randy jumps up himself, and Bubba stalked his opponents for it. I never really bought any of them as enders and the weakest was always the stunner.

 

[shalliin]

Batista Bomb and Last Ride Both are simple power bombs with a touch of ouch. Batista pulls the Superstar down and slams him, where take just gets you to that 7 foot mark and drops them. Both Leave a lasting impression if not on the superstar, sure enough on the mat.

Got that wrong. Think you have Last Ride mixed up with Nash's Jacknife powerbomb. Which is a gutwrench to shoulders then Nash let's person fall.

Last Ride has Taker lifting to his shoulders, holding their a few seconds, Pushing the receiver up, usually hold for a few seconds, then yanking down, Taker stays on feet(except selling how tired he is from match), and opp lands on back practically spread eagle.

Batista bomb is just a standard sit down powerbomb. Head between knees, wrap gut, lift to shoulders, drop self down while letting opp fall onto back.

Ahmed Johnson's Pearl Rver Plunge powerbomb was much more impressive then Batista.

 

[TheNorwegianOne]

Well, when we talk about finishers, we have to concider the fact that they have changed alot over the different era's is wrestling.
In the 70-80's you saw more highflying finishers, elbow drops, fist drops and some used flying crossbody's as finishers. Also you saw more submission finishes too.
In the attitude era, we started to see the more "complex" moves. Spinning and flipping dives, moves that took longer to pull off (sometimes to a silly degree, "the Worm" anybody?) and more high impact moves.
But today it seems like the fast, sudden impact moves are the law of the land. The RKO, the Brouqe Kick, the WMD to mention a few. And it seems like the old, slower moves and submissions just get countered all the time.

So in my opinion, it's not always fair to compair a move from one era to one from another.

But here are my current favorites:
-The Buzzsaw kick
-Danielson's Cattle Mutilation
-Drew McEntire's kick out double arm DDT (don't remember the name)
-The Burning Hammer (Reverse death valley driver)
-The Brainbuster Suplex
-The Tombstone Piledriver (cliche, but it is that good)

Honerable mentions:
Diamond cutter, crippler crossface, crossface chickenwing, the piledriver (the Paul Orndorf version), Nick Gage's running facewash (with a glassplate of course), Low Ki's Ki Crusher.

 

[jazman84]

I used to like Wrath/Bryan Clark's Meltdown.

Was simply a Pumphandle Slam, but he did it very well and made it look very devastating.

 

[IT Factor]

There are alot of great finishers in the course of WWF/WWE history, mine would have to be;

The Stone Cold Stunner:
While alot of people think this is just a variation of a jawbreaker/cutter, it still had a pop effect when Austin nailed it. I can remember going through the halls of high school and seeing a dude hit a Stunner on a chic in the hall. I think she had to go to the infirmary afterwards, but, nonetheless captivating move

Chris Benoit's diving headbutt:
I know most will think this is in bad taste, seeing as the multiple headbutts caused the damage to Benoit which lead to the whole Benoit ordeal. From a viewer's standpoint, that move was awesome to watch. He could hit that from a regular position up close or even halfway across the ring. He nailed it to perfection everytime he connected and it looked like a work of art.

The People's Elbow:
This is mostly for it's dramatic element and usually The Rock won with it. He did so many different things encorporated with that elbow. Sliding across in his dress shoes, doing the Flair strut before nailing the elbow on Flair, and even doing the muscular Hulkster pose before hitting it on Hogan. That was a unique move that no one had done previously and it was detrimental in being a unique match ender.

Macho Man's big elbow off the top:
This elbow was the be-all and end-all for top rope elbow drops in pro wrestling. Just the way Macho Man set it up was great and you knew that most of the time it was over for the opponent.

DDP's Diamond Cutter/ Randy Orton's RKO:
These are great finishers because both guys liked setting it up at any time. It was a great finish and it usually came from outta nowhere.

Undertaker/Kane's Tombstone piledriver:
This is also for devastation and dramatic appearance. With the whole eye-rolling/arm folding motion, it stands out as something major as compared to a basic tombstone that numerous others[Benoit, Malenko, Finlay, etc] have used. Although I don't think anything will top Malenko doing it from the top ropes in Japan.

The Pedigree:
Up until the early 2000's, I never took notice of how truly devastating this move was. Especially during certain instances, like when HHH & HBK were "reuniting DX" in 2002 and HHH turned on HBK by Pedigreeing him. I dunno whether HHH jumped higher or HBK helped, but, it looked devestating because Triple H got his ass higher in the air before coming back down. Anytime there's a move that drives someone directly on their faces, it looks badass.

I'm sure I'm forgetting alot, but, those are the immediate game changers.

 

[Jatkuva]

Trevor Murdoch tried using the move a few times during his run with Lance Cade but after almost breaking Matt Hardy's neck with a botched attempt, Vince banned the move.

Ah I had to watch it, i couldn't imagine Murdoch doing it and I was right, it was botched from the set up, I wouldn't call it a Canadian destroyer at all, sence he steped over the arms and put matt hardy on an awkward spot on his back/neck with it.

 

[HBsam31]

I have to say Jake Robert's DDT. It actually scared me as a kid it looked so devastating. He could slap it on so quick, and the lights would go out. Great finisher in its time.
Also I have to add in Sweet Chin Music, especially when it was hit out of know where. HBK hit the superkick to perfection.

 

[relentless1]

1- Diamond cutter, i dont care what anybody says it is much different than the 3d, twist of fate, rok...ddp could literally hit it out of anywhere and that was its appeal.

2- stunner, whenever stone cold hit this move somebody got knocked out, i spent all of grade 7 doing this move to class mates lol

3- sweet chin music, hit it from anywhere at anytime, so deadly

4- chokeslam, devestating move always loved it

5- razors edge, scott hall made this move famous and rightfully so, such a deadly move

 

[THTRobtaylor]

How can people have the diamond cutter on their list and not have the RKO. They are one in the lame...same. Along with the Dudley drop, and Twist of Fate.

Anyone can mark out to their favorite wrestlers just to pretend like the move is something special. As the above the moves are only as devastating as the other superstar sells it. The RKO-Stunn-Drop of fate is sold well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWvA6pswAOA

As with most moves the spot has to be one or it comes off looking like crap.

Powermoves that don't need that are the moves that look real, the superstar will always have to play it off but some don't give them much of a choice.

Border Toss- Hernandez A modifier Razor's Edge but the superstar is thrown 1/2 way across the ring. The move is extremely dangerous, but still comes off as a power move.

Jackhammer -Goldberg Start with Goldberg is garbage. But it doesn't take much to get a suplex started, however once your in the air for 10-20 seconds their is nowhere to go but down and once you hit that mat the shock is enough to keep you down. It looks strong it looks painful.

Batista Bomb and Last Ride Both are simple power bombs with a touch of ouch. Batista pulls the Superstar down and slams him, where take just gets you to that 7 foot mark and drops them. Both Leave a lasting impression if not on the superstar, sure enough on the mat.

Shooting Star Press- Kidman,Air BourneNot everyone can pull off this move ( ask Brock Lesnar) The set up is more work than the finisher, but the move itself looks sweet and smooth, and you can't just do it at a moments notice.

Now since the premise of the thread was a devastating move, that was believable, had power and could be pulled off at anytime. The best finisher is

WMD- Big Show
Can the moves be used at any time? Yes
Is it devestating? Yes, just ask anyone who fought Tyson
Is it believable? Yes, again Tyson

Personally of all the moves I personally like The Famasser It is a direct shot to the head, it comes at any bent over superstar. Can it come out of no where sure, there were a few times he did it in a suit.

The Fameasser or Rocker Dropper is one that hurt too many people, Marty Jannetty cost Vince 18m bucks by paralyzing a jobber with it, that was the beginning of the end for him. I was stunned when they let Billy Gunn use it. I actually prefer Booker T's Scissor kick as a variant, it's more impressive and he doesn't use his bodyweight so it's safer.

Can't agree with the WMD... in a worked situation a punch is a lame finish, it only works if Show shoots. The only real exception was the Heart Punch, which was a nasty move.

The guy who said about the Camel Clutch in fights, it's not smart to shoot with wrestling moves, but the fear you can instill is sometimes good. Explaining to someone when you have their arm for a simple armbar that 15lbs of pressure and their arm will never work again normally ends the fight.

 

[theBec2101]

gotta go with D-Lo Browns SKY HIGH. That move was awesome and devastating. That move could cripple someone.(j/k)no but really its dangerous

I would also go with either sweet chin music, I prefer that move when it is hit out of know where like when he did it on Shelton Benjamin rather than the long drawn out stomps.

Best tag move, total elimination

 

[ヒュー　G.　レックション]

The Fameasser or Rocker Dropper is one that hurt too many people, Marty Jannetty cost Vince 18m bucks by paralyzing a jobber with it, that was the beginning of the end for him.

But Dolph Ziggler does it and has been for a long time...

But the best finisher, hard to define really. In terms of "mark out"ness though, it would have to be, in the words of JR...

"ROCK BOTTOM! ROCK BOTTOM!"

 

[RJJ]

3. Stone Cold Stunner: Easy to hit, Anyone can take it, and it gets huge crowd reaction.


2. Goldberg's Spear: Just like the stunner, it comes outta nowhere with huge pops. P.S it's one of the most devastating moves ever.


3. Test's Big Boot: I wouldn't compare it to the moves above in terms of crowd reaction, but it def more devastating than the two.

 

[King Sheamus]

Sweet Chin Music and The Tombstone. I always loved Sweet Chim music because it looked and sounded good. The tombstone looks like it could really hurt someone and the Undertaker does it perfectl.