You buy The Shawshank Redemption to feel the goosebumps on your arms as Tim Robbins opens his arms to the sky in the pouring rain.
You buy Rocky to scream at the screen as Sylvester Stallone endures through an epic battle with Apollo Creed.
I bought the complete Wrestlemania set to feel the excitement as Shawn Michaels came in by zip line in the 10th installment.
I bought it to sit on the edge of my seat as Bret "the Hitman" Hart and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin engaged in a classic clash of the titans in the 13th Wrestlemania.
You buy DVDs (or VHS if you still live in the Stone Age), so you can relive the moments on film that shook you to your core.
The essence of the wrestling match is the excitement that is built up towards the climax of the match.
The finisher.
When done right, the finisher can ignite the crowd. The right finisher can bring down the house.
Without further adieu here are the 10 finishers that were done to the highest level of excellence night in and night out.
10. "The Sharpshooter" - Bret "the Hitman" Hart
Speaking of excellence, "the Excellence of Execution" starts off the countdown with perhaps the most bone chilling, leg-lock finisher ever performed.
9. "The Razors Edge" - Razor Ramon
This finisher was a classic because it allowed for a momentary build up of crowd noise as Ramon held his lifeless opponent on his back. This is also a great finisher because it had the extra twist that a normal power bomb didn't have.
8. "Elbow Drop" - Randy "Macho Man" Savage
One of the more simplistic finishers. The elbow drop off the top turn buckle was electrifying because for decades Savage would hang in the air as camera bulbs flashed left and right.
7. "Sweet Chin Music" - Shawn Michaels
This is became Michaels finisher after he decided to go away from a more traditional, not nearly as exciting DDT.
This finisher had the second best build up to any finisher ever with Michaels repeatedly stomping and "tuning up the band."
6. "Chair Finisher" - La Parka
This involved an opponent being hit by a chair followed by a dance by La Parka. It was so odd in its nature that you couldn't help but enjoy it.
La Parka proved that if you couldn't come up with anything good, take something lame and add a twist. It worked well for the short-lived La Parka.
5. "Tombstone Pile Driver" - The Undertaker
It could be argued that the character of the Undertaker was the greatest wrestling persona ever created.
While the Tombstone did not offer any fancy or flashy elements, there is no finisher that fit better with its character then this one.
4. "The Pedigree" - Hunter Hearst Helmsley
As funny and entertaining as Triple H used to be and isn't now, his finisher has remained consistent. As Triple H's career became longer, his finisher became more recognizable to the point it's at now where it is instant.
Again, it's not a flashy finisher, but it's a classic because it has withstood the test of time, which is more then a lot of the previous names can say.
3. "Stone Cold Stunner" - "Stone Cold" Steve Austin
The only problem with the Stone Cold Stunner is that there was no build up to it. It would just happen and if you blinked, you might have missed it. However, the post-stunner celebration made Steve Austin a legend.
The middle fingers and the beers and the whole post-finisher spectacle ignited the crowd more so then the actual finisher did which is something no one else can say.
2. "Leg Drop" - Hulk Hogan
This is not the best finisher build up ever, but it definitely is an originator to what we saw for decades after.
Hulk Hogan got the crowd going like no one else could and then delivered a tree trunk of a leg to the chest of his opponent.
The leg drop was another simple finisher that lit the crowd on fire every time and has withstood the test of time better then any other finisher on this list.
1. "The People's Elbow" - The Rock
The Rock Bottom was not his finisher. "The Most Electrifying Move in Sports Entertainment" was quite simply the perfect build up, the perfect delivery, and the wrestler to perform it.
The People's Elbow was a perfect 10. Without the cameras and the posing, this is just a running elbow drop. However, the Rock never seemed to disappoint with a flawless delivery in the quite simple move.
Like all the aforementioned finishers, the actual move did not wow the crowd but the delivery did, and no one did it better then the Rock. It might be a pretty safe bet that no one ever will either.
Honorable mention: "Curtain Call" - Goldust. A kick to the groin that made thousands of men in attendance and millions more at home cringe as it took place.
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4 months ago
The problem is, is that a finisher is supposed to be a believable "knockout" or submission move. And when he did the peoples elbow followed by the rock bottom, it was believable. To me, and this is to me, no disrespect of ur opinion. I always felt the peoples elbow after didnt flow right. but besides that i agree with the list. i might have changed a few but overall pretty accurate
4 months ago
my favourite ever is the canadian destroyer by petey williams, but my fave wwe move is the tombstone piledriver. it's always the one move no-one kicks out of, only 4 men that i can think of have done so. lesnar, edge, batista and kane.
from 4 months ago
While impressive, the canadian destroyer goes against everything this list is about. The name "canadian destroyer" is uncreative. Petey Williams is not much of an entertaining character himself. This move features great athleticism but does not have the same excitement factor that all these other moves have because there's no build up to it and no exclamation point after the move.
I looked outside of the WWE for inspiration but when it came down to it, most of the best ones were from there because a finisher is about the entire package, not just the move. The WWE always delivered a polished, complete package because most of these finishers are simple boring moves and they were turned into works of art through the creative process around the move.
None of these finishers would be on here if this were a list for the top 10 most athletic finishers because they really aren't that athletic. Wrestling has always been about the 'wow' factor and its the entertainment that sells the tickets not the athleticism.
4 months ago
If you like the "Entertainment" aspect of a finisher, The People's Elbow is definitly #1! The crowd went nuts when he stood over the fallen body and riped off his elbow pads. Fans fighting for them in the crowd. Then the running to the ropes and droping that elbow. ELECTRIFYING!
But if you want the "believable" aspect, I would go with the Khali Chop!
Kidding!.... The F.U.!!!!!
Alright, thats not even funny I know. But seriously, the most "Effective" finisher would definitly be the "Tombstone Piledriver". The Piledriver is such a risky move to do (ask Stone Cold's neck), and Taker still does it at its best.
from 22 days ago
Um the tombstone is not what hurt Steve Austin it was a corkscrew pile driver which is very very different. Do a you tube search... Scott Steiner did it correctly many times.
FU is a glorified firemans carry seriously how can anyone treat cena as a top guy when his finisher is a firemans carry?
4 months ago
I can't believe you left out Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka... if your going to put Macho Man on here.... Snuka needs to be on here as well. His Flying Body Splash is a pretty bad ass move and always made the fans chear.
Also lets not forget about Goldberg... thing is his set up move (the spear) was more electrifying than his actual finisher. But when he was standing in the corner setting his oppenent up for the spear.. it really got the fans going.
22 days ago
Umm....Shawn Michaels NEVER used a DDT as a finisher. When he was freash from the Rockers and managed by Scary Sherri Martel he used a Tear Drop Suplex and then later began using the Super kick, which he had used for years as part of his set up arsenal with the Midnight Rockers.
Moreover... The Peoples Elbow is quite possibly the stupidest move in history. OK ill make it the second stupidest (forgot about the Worm). Anyways this is simply a stupid move with zero believability. To have it #1 undermines your entire list.
No perfectplex? No Figure Four Leglock? No Russian Sickle? No Von Erich Claw? Now Jerry Lawler Piledriver? No Jake Roberts DDT (love the quote What does DDT stand for? Jakes response "The End")
Horrid list and should be limited in scope in the title to last 10 years with serious WWE biased.
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