The 15 Greatest Wrestling Finishers Of All Time

TL;DR

• The greatest finishers combine impact, crowd reaction, character fit and the feeling that a match is truly over.
• The RKO, Tombstone Piledriver, Sweet Chin Music and Stone Cold Stunner all rank near the top.
• Some moves became iconic because they could happen at any moment, while others were protected so strongly that kicking out felt monumental.
• Our No. 1 finisher helped define one of the biggest stars and eras in wrestling history.

A great wrestling finisher does more than end a match.

The best ones create anticipation before they even happen. A wrestler moves into position, the crowd realizes what is coming and suddenly thousands of people are waiting for one move. When everything works, the finisher becomes inseparable from the performer using it.

Plenty of devastating moves have existed throughout wrestling history, but impact alone is not enough for this ranking. We considered visual appeal, crowd reaction, versatility, how well the move fit the wrestler and, most importantly, whether seeing it land genuinely felt like the match should be over.

With that in mind, here are our picks for the 15 greatest wrestling finishers of all time.

15. The Clothesline From Hell — JBL

A clothesline is one of the most basic moves in professional wrestling. JBL somehow turned it into attempted murder.

The Clothesline From Hell worked because there was almost nothing complicated about it. JBL charged forward and threw his entire body through his opponent, creating a collision that frequently sent wrestlers flipping through the air. The move perfectly suited his physical, aggressive style and proved that a finisher does not need an elaborate setup to look devastating.

14. The 3D — The Dudley Boyz

Few tag-team finishers created anticipation like Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley’s 3D.

The combination of a flapjack and cutter could arrive quickly, looked spectacular when an opponent sold it correctly and became even more memorable whenever a table was involved. Hearing an arena realize the Dudleys were about to hit the 3D was often almost as entertaining as the move itself.

13. The Jackhammer — Goldberg

Goldberg’s entire character was built around overwhelming opponents as quickly as possible, and the Jackhammer was an ideal final exclamation point.

After the Spear cut an opponent in half, Goldberg would lift them vertically, hold them in the air and drive them down with a powerful powerslam. His ability to perform the move on wrestlers of wildly different sizes made it even more impressive, and during his WCW undefeated streak, hitting the Jackhammer usually meant there was no suspense left.

12. The Shooting Star Press — Billy Kidman

The Shooting Star Press existed before Billy Kidman, but his WCW run helped introduce a generation of mainstream wrestling fans to just how spectacular the move could look.

A wrestler essentially performs a forward-moving backflip from the top rope while still traveling toward the opponent below. It is athletic, dangerous-looking and immediately understandable even to someone watching wrestling for the first time. Numerous performers have since adopted variations, but the move remains one of wrestling’s great aerial finishers.

11. The Perfect Plex — Mr. Perfect

PERFECT PLEX TO THE GIANT & A GIANT KIP UP.
byu/JCHazard inWCW

Curt Hennig did not need to spike somebody on their head to create an unforgettable finisher.

The Perfect Plex combined a fisherman suplex with a bridge that flowed directly into the pin. Hennig’s execution was so smooth that the move became an extension of his entire “Mr. Perfect” persona. It looked effortless while still appearing strong enough to keep an opponent’s shoulders trapped against the mat.

10. The F-5 — Brock Lesnar

Brock Lesnar needed a move that looked like something only Brock Lesnar should be able to do.

The F-5 accomplished that immediately. Lesnar lifts an opponent across his shoulders before violently spinning them toward the mat, creating the impression that he is simply throwing another human being away. The move becomes even more impressive when Lesnar performs it on massive opponents who should not look that easy to lift.

For more than two decades, the sight of somebody being hoisted onto Lesnar’s shoulders has been enough to tell audiences that the end could be seconds away.

9. The Pedigree — Triple H

The Pedigree became synonymous with Triple H during his rise from promising mid-carder to one of WWE’s defining stars.

Hooking both of an opponent’s arms before driving them face-first toward the canvas gives the move a built-in sense of helplessness. Once Triple H had the arms secured, escape suddenly looked extremely difficult. Years of being used in WrestleMania main events, championship matches and major storylines transformed it into one of WWE’s most recognizable finishing moves.

8. The Sharpshooter — Bret Hart

The Sharpshooter. A thing of beauty
byu/Tiny_Consequence_693 inWrasslin

A submission finisher creates a different kind of drama because the match does not necessarily end immediately.

Bret Hart’s Sharpshooter forced opponents to struggle, crawl toward the ropes and decide how long they could withstand the pressure. Hart’s crisp execution also helped make the move look painful without requiring any elaborate theatrics.

The Sharpshooter became so closely connected to the Hitman that seeing him cross an opponent’s legs and begin turning them over was enough to completely change the energy of a match.

7. The Spear — Edge

Many wrestlers have used the Spear, including Goldberg, Roman Reigns, Rhyno and Batista, but Edge turned the setup into part of the attraction.

Crouching in the corner while waiting for an opponent to stand gave the audience several seconds to anticipate the collision. Edge’s version was not always the most physically violent Spear in wrestling, but few performers made the move feel as much like an event.

That anticipation became even more effective in matches where Edge could strike suddenly, particularly when a championship opportunity appeared out of nowhere.

6. The Figure-Four Leglock — Ric Flair

Ric Flair did not invent the Figure-Four, but generations of wrestling fans associate it with the Nature Boy.

The move fit Flair because it allowed him to attack an opponent’s leg throughout a match before eventually locking in the submission. It also created opportunities for dramatic reversals, rope breaks and desperate escapes rather than immediately ending everything the moment it was applied.

When a move survives across generations and remains instantly recognizable decades later, it has earned its place among wrestling’s greatest finishers.

5. The Tombstone Piledriver — The Undertaker

The Tombstone Piledriver looked dangerous, felt dangerous and belonged perfectly to the most supernatural character WWE ever created.

The Undertaker would turn an opponent upside down, trap them against his body and drop to his knees before folding their arms across their chest for the pin. That final detail made the entire sequence feel less like winning a wrestling match and more like completing a ritual.

Its reputation became even stronger because WWE protected it for years. During The Undertaker’s WrestleMania streak, somebody kicking out of a Tombstone could instantly become one of the biggest moments of the match.

4. Sweet Chin Music — Shawn Michaels

Superkicks are everywhere in modern wrestling. Sweet Chin Music still feels different.

Shawn Michaels could hit it from almost any position, which meant opponents were never completely safe. Sometimes he dramatically tuned up the band in the corner. Other times the kick arrived suddenly enough to change a match in a fraction of a second.

That versatility gave Michaels countless memorable finishes. Sweet Chin Music could be anticipated for 30 seconds or appear without warning, and both versions worked equally well.

3. The RKO — Randy Orton

Very few finishing moves have benefited more from unpredictability than the RKO.

Randy Orton took the basic concept of a cutter and transformed it into something that could happen from virtually anywhere. Opponents have been caught jumping from ropes, diving toward him, springboarding into the ring and attempting their own moves. Sometimes Orton barely seems involved until suddenly someone’s face is hitting the canvas.

The simplicity is what makes it brilliant. There is almost no required setup, allowing Orton and his opponents to invent new ways of reaching the same destination.

There is a reason “RKO outta nowhere” escaped wrestling and became part of internet culture.

2. The Rock Bottom — The Rock

The Rock Bottom is not the most complicated move on this list. It did not need to be.

The Rock hooks an opponent’s arm, throws their arm across his chest and drives them into the mat with a powerful side slam. What elevated it was the performer delivering it. By the height of the Attitude Era, seeing The Rock position himself for the move could send an entire arena into an eruption.

It also worked almost anywhere. The Rock could counter another move into it, catch somebody unexpectedly or dramatically wait for his opponent to turn around.

The People’s Elbow may have been more theatrical, but when The Rock needed a finisher that looked capable of actually ending a fight, the Rock Bottom was the answer.

1. The Stone Cold Stunner — Steve Austin

No finishing move is more closely associated with the explosion of wrestling’s Attitude Era than the Stone Cold Stunner.

Steve Austin kicks an opponent in the stomach, grabs their head and drops into a seated position, driving their jaw against his shoulder. On paper, it sounds incredibly simple.

Then somebody like The Rock sells it by launching himself halfway across the ring.

The Stunner’s greatness came from how suddenly Austin could deliver it. There was no lengthy positioning or complicated setup. One kick could instantly tell the crowd what was about to happen, and sometimes even that warning disappeared when Austin caught somebody by surprise.

It also became more than a wrestling move. Vince McMahon took it. The Rock took it. Triple H took it. Undertaker took it. Commentators, referees, celebrities and seemingly anyone unfortunate enough to stand inside a WWE ring with Austin eventually took it.

Each Stunner became part move, part punchline and part crowd-participation moment.

Plenty of wrestlers have created more technically impressive finishers. Some have used moves that look significantly more dangerous.

Few have ever created one capable of making an arena react quite like Steve Austin kicking somebody in the stomach.

That makes the Stone Cold Stunner our pick for the greatest wrestling finisher of all time.

What Makes A Great Wrestling Finisher?

The moves on this list are wildly different. Bret Hart slowly trapped opponents in the Sharpshooter while Randy Orton could hit an RKO before anyone realized what was happening. The Undertaker turned the Tombstone into a ritual, while Austin needed only a kick and a few seconds to send an arena into chaos.

The common thread is recognition.

You could show most wrestling fans the opening motion of these moves without showing the wrestler’s face and they would immediately know what was coming. That connection between performer and move is what separates a good finishing maneuver from an iconic one.

Wrestling will always invent moves that are faster, more complicated and more dangerous-looking.

But sometimes the greatest finisher only needs one thing.

Everybody in the building has to believe the match is over.