The 25 Worst Finishing Moves Ever Used in WWE Rings

After an intense battle where the wrestlers have bashed each other with steel and elbows, a climax that involves a poor finishing move can take the air out of the whole experience. 

Which WWE finishers have been the most feeble?

Grading them on their ridiculousness, how weak they look and how awkward they are to perform, I dug into the world of puny strikes and odd-looking holds. 

Some of them are hampered by the dance moves that precede them while some are simply not dramatic or affective enough to serve as a proper finisher. 

25. World's Strongest Slam

While Mark Henry's finisher has a great name and has the advantage of being delivered at nearly any moment, it suffers from how painless it appears to be.

From time to time, it's performed with more gusto, but it usually looks likes Henry is just setting down his opponent like you would place your child in their bed.

A running powerslam or some powerbomb variation would suit The World’s Strongest Man far better.

Instead, he's held back by this blasé move unfit for such a powerhouse. 

Used by: Mark Henry

24. Diving Crossbody

The great Ricky Steamboat won a lot of his matches with less than climactic moves. 

The sunset flip, the inside cradle and the diving crossbody have given the Dragon his share of victories.  The crossbody is a gorgeous move, especially when performed by someone with the grace of Steamboat, but it doesn't seem powerful enough to finish off a match.

It is the kind of move an underdog steals a victory with, not the knockout blow of a main-eventer. 

Steamboat's career was Hall of Fame-worthy in spite of his lackluster finisher—certainly not because of it.

Used by: Ricky Steamboat

23. Attitude Adjustment

While this move has allowed John Cena to show off his power by holding more than one man in it or lifting a guy like Big Show, it's an anti-climactic move.

In a match where an opponent may receive any number of gutwrench suplexes, bulldogs or dropkicks, it's unsatisfying to see him finally go down for the three-count because of a weak-looking slam.

Randy Orton's scoop powerslam or Kurt Angle's Angle Slam are delivered with ferocity, while Cena doesn't seem to be slamming his foe as much as he is just letting him fall as gently as possible.   

Used by: John Cena

22. Mandible Claw

To an extent, fans can buy into the legitimacy of a nerve hold and be entertained by the addition of a sock puppet to the move. 

The issue is how silly the Mandible Claw appears in action.

The visual of a man holding a sock in his opponent's mouth is funnier than it is awe-inspiring. 

Foley's other finishers, the double arm DDT and the piledriver, make far more sense as moves that finally do a foe in.

Used by: Mick Foley

21. Polish Hammer

Ivan Putski's double axe handle shot to his opponent's chest looked smooth and had a great name.  But there is no way it should have been used as a finisher.

It's a simple strike.  When you see it delivered, you expect him to follow it up with a series of other moves.

Putski's Polish Hammer certainly had tons of power behind it, but enough to keep a professional athlete down for a three-count?  Unfortunately, there are worse strikes as finishers ahead. 

Used by: Ivan Putski

20. Bearhug

Used by many strongmen, the simple move could legitimately leave someone gasping for air.

It's far too boring of a move to end an exciting match with. 

A submission hold like the Crippler Crossface adds drama to a match because of how violent it looks, while the bearhug looks cozy in comparison.

Another issue with the move is that your arms, head and legs are free to kick, bite or whatever it takes to get out.  Many submission holds come off as extremely difficult to escape from while the bearhug only requires some stiff punches with those free hands. 

Used by: Tony Atlas, Bruno Sammartino, Ken Patera and many others

19. Tornado Punch

Strikes, other than the superkick, are hard to pull off as finishers.

Sure, you could knock someone out with a punch, especially with the added force of twirling around.  It just doesn't look all that cool.

Connecting Von Erich's Texas Tornado nickname with his finisher was a good idea, but in practice it just looked goofy.  It's the kind of move Popeye might have in his repertoire, not a man of Von Erich's talent.

About 2:35 in the video is when the slow-moving discus punch begins. 

Used by: Kerry Von Erich

18. WMD

With all the punches thrown in a typical WWE match, one has to wonder why this particular punch is so devastating.

And while a knockout punch could in theory be a decent finisher in the right hands, Big Show often does it limply and lackadaisical.

Did he or the bookers think we were getting tired of the chokeslam?  Most of us would much rather see a match end with a guy being hurled to the ground from a great height than just getting decked by a fake punch.

Used by: Big Show

17. Brain Chop

This strike probably legitimately hurts, but it looks unimpressive.

In a sport where the Last Ride and the Air Bourne exist, a slow, awkward chop to the head just doesn't stack up.   

The Great Khali's limited athleticism certainly makes it harder to find a suitable finisher, but even his vice grip is better than this glorified love tap.

Khali's lack of speed worsens the effectiveness of the already inept brain chop.

Used by: the Great Khali

16. Warrior's Splash

The running splash as a finisher makes more sense for some 400-pound monster. 

When the Ultimate Warrior finished off opponents off with it, you couldn't help but wonder why they weren't kicking out. 

The Frog Splash has the advantage of the added force from the wrestler jumping from the top rope.  The 450 splash has all that added force of the spinning wrestler.

The running version, especially Warrior's, looks like a playful pounce.

Used by: Ultimate Warrior

15. Samoan Spike

After criticizing the Samoan Spike in an earlier article, someone commented, "If someone jabbed his thumb into your throat, it would hurt a lot!"

I'm sure it would, but the mark of a great finisher is not how well it inflicts pain in real life.  A finisher is a capper to a dramatic battle, something iconic and exciting that makes sense as a final blow in a physical war.

Anything involving a thumb likely doesn't fit that bill.

The Samoan Spike would be fine as a strike to throw in the middle of a match while holding a foe in a headlock, but it shouldn't be portrayed as powerful enough to win a championship.

Used by: Umaga

14. Atomic Leg Drop

Countless heels and challengers have fallen victim to the big boot followed by the anemic leg drop made famous by the Hulkster.

Fans would be likely to accept this as a legitimate finishing move if Hogan were to do a somersault while doing it or perform it from the top rope—two things we'll never see him do.

As it is, the Atomic Leg Drop comes off as a lazy strike where the back of Hogan's leg is brought down on his foe's body in feeble fashion.    

Used by: Hulk Hogan

13. The People's Elbow

The Rock charmed the millions and millions of his fans into thinking this was a move befitting a top WWE superstar. 

Mick Foley as Mankind once called it an "abortion" of a move.

While I wouldn't go that far, it's definitely too goofy to take seriously and after all the dancing and prancing is over, it's just an elbow drop. 

Randy Savage's elbow from the top rope would surely put away an opponent.  The Rock's version is not a believable finisher at all.

To make things worse, the People's Elbow likely gave birth to the Five Knuckle Shuffle. 

Used by: The Rock

12. Tito Santana Flying Forearm

The good points of Tito Santana's finishing move included the fact that it could happen at nearly any moment in the match and showed off Santana’s high-flying skills.

Still, it's only a forearm strike, and as a finisher is it underwhelming.

It's unrealistic that anybody in the WWE would be defeated by a single glancing blow.

Would Santana’s career have been more successful had he employed some sort of moonsault instead?  We'll never know. 

Used by: Tito Santana

11. Lie Detector

Take everything wrong with Santana's flying forearm and add the fact that R-Truth doesn't seem to even make contact on a lot of these. 

His athleticism is impressive as he corkscrews through the air, but the lack of direct impact makes it hard to tell when he's supposed to have missed or not.

With all the dressing up Truth does to it, in the end it's still just a forearm.  His What's Up? isn't perfect, but it is far better than this. 

Used by: R-Truth

10. Scissor Kick

The martial arts version of the scissor kick is quite devastating.  The attacker not only kicks the victim in the head, but twists their body, usually bringing them down to the ground.

The WWE version has one major flaw. 

It requires the opponent to be in an awkward position for way too long.  Why would they stay bent over like that?

Then instead of the audible pop you get with Sweet Chin Music or Tajiri's Buzzsaw kick, you get an underwhelming blow that doesn't make much of a sound at all. 

Used by: Booker T, Alicia Fox

9. Heart Punch

In 1971, Ox Baker thought he actually killed a man with his infamous heart punch. Turns out his opponent, Albert Torres, died of a ruptured appendix.

None of us would enjoy getting punched in the chest, but it's not nearly dramatic enough for a finisher. 

It is supposed to hit a nerve that stops the victim's heart momentarily.  Anything where the audience has to accept some manipulation of the nervous system is hard to swallow.

Fans prefer impact they can see, not the kind they have to imagine happening under the skin.

Used by: Crush, Ox Baker, Stan Stansiak

8. Coco Butt

Not to disrespect the great Bobo Brazil, who played a huge part in breaking down racial barriers for African American wrestlers, but his finishing move was one of the worst we’ve ever seen.

Unlike Kozlov's headbutt, Brazil's version didn't even look like it hit his opponent all that hard.

His theatrics that preceded the move forced the opponent to stand there waiting to get butted. 

One could argue that the headbutt is a big part of what made Brazil famous, but there's no doubt his other finisher, the piledriver, would have looked better and made sense as a way to end a match.  

Used by: Bobo Brazil

7. Armpit Claw

The Original Sheik was one bad dude.

Without him, we may not have hardcore wrestling.  A good percentage of his matches ended with him throwing a fire ball or hitting someone with an illegal weapon. 

He did have a match-ender that was an actual wrestling move. 

The armpit claw is supposed to pinch a nerve and render the victim helpless, but it just looks weird.  A guy's hands are in another guy’s armpits, on purpose.

There's a reason wrestlers have not copied that aspect of his game. 

The very beginning of the video shows Kamala performing the move. 

Used by: The Original Sheik

6. Airplane Spin

Props to Daniel Bryan for paying homage to the past by trying to bring back this antiquated move, but there's a reason contemporary wrestlers rarely use the airplane spin.

It is an asinine move, finisher or not. 

The purpose of the move is primarily to make the opponent dizzy, but why wouldn't it make the person delivering the move just as dizzy?

In a sport where violent and acrobatic moves are par for the course, this childish move stands out badly.  It belongs more in horseplay than wrestling. 

Used by: Mike Rotunda and Gorilla Monsoon

5. Playmaker

MVP's Playmaker may be the most awkward finisher ever performed.

It is most certainly not a quick-strike move.  MVP has to get one leg around his opponent's head while balancing on his other leg. 

Then what happens next doesn't appear to hurt at all.

There is no snap, no high impact, just the weakest form of a neckbreaker possible.  Even Honky Tonk Man's Shake, Rattle and Roll looks vicious compared to this move. 

Used by: MVP

4. Trip to the Batcave

Any version of the fat wrestler sitting on his opponents always comes off as a joke.

While Earthquake had the added momentum of running before he squatted on his foe and Yokozuna came crashing from a decent distance, Bastion Booger just plopped down on an unlucky jobber's face from a standing position.

Perhaps the uninspired dance he sets it up with is supposed to add power to the move. 

You have to feel for Mike Shaw, who may well have been a talented wrestler, but he had to drag the dead weight of two lame gimmicks—first Norman the Lunatic with WCW and the walking punchline of Bastion Booger with WWE. 

Skip to 2:20 in the video to get straight to the ineptitude.

Used by: Bastion Booger

3. The Cobra

The fact that Santino is a comic relief wrestler makes judging his finishing move a bit difficult. 

It's supposed to be silly (like him), and it certainly is.

The problem is that he's wrestling real wrestlers who sometimes go down to the goofy move.  It looks more irritating than painful.    

While the Cobra is funny and entertaining, as a move that is supposed to be somebody's best weapon, it falls short. 

Used by: Santino Marella

2. Underwear Swipe

There were undoubtedly a number of reasons Phantasio's WWE debut didn't translate into greatness. 

One has to think that if he had some inventive, impressive, awe-inspiring finisher that fans might have overlooked his childish magician gimmick.

I'm not sure of this move's real name, but a clever moniker couldn't have saved it anyway.

Can you imagine someone losing the title to a move where their boxers are removed followed by a schoolboy pin?

If you don't want to sit through a whole Phantasio vs. a jobber match, skip to the 3:15 mark. 

Used by: Phantasio

1. The Worm

The painfully-long theatrics building up to this move are beyond annoying.  Fans might be willing to forgive all the ridiculous gyrating and squirming around if the Worm culminated in some awesome display of violence or grace.

Instead, it ends with a chop.

We have to sit through about 30 seconds of clowning around for a chop?

Did fans seem to have fun watching it?  Sure, but how nauseating would it be to see a megastar wrestler be defeated by such a travesty?

Try watching the video without rolling your eyes. 

Used by: Scotty Too Hotty