WNS Column: My top 10 finishers of all time.

Well hello there, IWC. Quinn back with another installment of whatever I feel like writing about. But, I’ll be answering my question of last week. This question will be a fun one to write, so enjoy!

Last week’s question was: what are your top 10 finishers from the last 2 decades (and in order). Provide a little blurb to each pick as well.

You hooligans did a terrible job at writing little blurbs for them as NONE of you wrote one with your list, but that’s cool. I’m a cool cat so it’s all good!

*IN ORDER*

10. Five Star Frog Splash - RVD

This is a take of a familiar, body splash-like finisher but taking a grown man, having him leap into the air to a ridiculous height, and when it seemingly has felt like the man is flying, he comes back to reality and brings absolute pain, misery and agony to the sad victim. Actually though, his finisher is crushing for the both himself and the opponent. It’s visually pleasing, and looks impactful both in-person and on TV.  The way he can maneuver his body mid-air to smash whatever pour soul in the most perfect way. They weren’t the prettiest done off the top of the ladder (literally, the top of the damn ladder) but you can’t blame him as he doesn’t have the spring that the turnbuckle gives a star. Regardless, it’s one of my favorites growing up as a fan. 

9. Spear - Goldberg, Rhyno, Edge, Roman Reigns, various others

Simple. Impactful. Downright devastating. The spear is a move universally known. While the concept of the spear is simple and straight forward, the ending effect is differentiates between it’s owners. While Edge’s spear is viewed as ‘dull’ and ‘weak’ by a chunk of the IWC, it’s an impactful, confined spear. I feel what people forget to realize is that Edge was a big boy during his tenure in WWE.  6’5, 241 pounds are by no means a small frame. Now, when you have a monster like Rhyno or Goldberg charging at you, it makes the impact that much more devastating. It also definitely helps with the victim who’s taking the spear make it look equally devastating. There’s the art of selling (which I’ve mentioned before) and having the right people take the spear can make the one delivering it that much better.

8. Spinning Reverse STO - Bray Wyatt, Frankie Kazarian, Mike Knox, Alex Shelley, various others

Sister Abigail, Wave of Kazarian, Knox Out, Shellshock, whatever you’d like to call it, it falls back into being the Spinning Reverse STO. The beauty of this move is that a bigger wrestler, or a smaller one can do it. I also enjoy that this move, much like others on this list, can be hit out of no-where. Bray Wyatt has made a habit of performing it at a moments notice. A notable spot was Bray hitting Rey Mysterio with it on Raw (night after Wrestlemania I believe?). Another time was Bryan/Bray at Royal Rumble this past January when Bryan went for a dive to the outside. The move is a simple, visually pleasing, and has great impact at the end.

7. F5 – BAARACCK LLLLEZNARRRRRR clears throat Brock Lesnar

I LOVE this move. I always get hyped when I see him pick up his opponent over his shoulders. He usually shouts something and has a lunatic stare in his eyes and with all the love from his heart, he hurdles said victim through the air and to come crashing down on his front facial/abdomen area. Actually though, it was a great finisher that usually would spell the end for his opponent. He delivered it to Shannon Moore one Smackdown so devastatingly awesome that when Lesnar was spinning with Moore on his shoulders and he tossed him off, Moore continued to spin in the air before crashing down. My jaw dropped when at Survivor Series in ’02, Lesnar was able to hoist up Show onto his shoulders and slam him with it.

6. Canadian Destroyer – Petey Williams

What more could you want from the ultra pretty, ultra dangerous move in the Canadian Destroyer. For those who may not know what it is I suggest you youtube the finisher and then pick your jaw up from the floor. You take a piledriver, a move that is already brutal on it’s own, so much that it’s a banned finisher in WWE, and then you add a flipping motion to it and make it that much more deadly. It’s incredibly dangerous and even performing it properly can result in injury.  Now that he’s retired, the move retires with him leaving a legacy of damaged necks and head contusions behind it. 

5. Tazmission – Taz

Taz was one bad S.O.B during his reign in ECW. He was their juggernaut for most of the company’s history and became more apparent after coming back from his neck injury.  A take on the rear-naked chokehold, Taz modified it into his own monstrosity of a hold and often left opponents either tapping out due to lack of oxygen, or simply passing out because of no oxygen. Aside from the Ankle lock, this has got to be my favorite submission from anyone. 

4. Ankle Lock – Ken Shamrock, Kurt Angle, Jack Swagger

Oh the Ankle lock. A beloved hold where you hold your dearest sweet by the left ankle, and twist until the sounds of pain, death and misery pour out of the victims mouth. This hold, no lie, had me holding my ankle whenever Shamrock and Angle applied it for long stints during a match. Add the effect that Angle puts into the lock where he wraps his legs around the opponents leg just adds agony to the hold. At least with the others, you have a chance to crawl to the rope but nope, not with Angle. He throws in his weight as another factor to deal with. Most stars *coughnotsupercenacough* would ultimately cause a tap out.

3. RKO/Cutter – Randy Orton, Bubba Ray Dudley, DDP, various others

Ok, so this move isn’t exactly terrifying or THAT hard hitting, but it’s the execution that I’ve always loved. I personally think it just looks awesome, especially when it’s hit from OMG! Moments. Orton has to be the best at it, regardless that he is far from the originator from it. He’s incredibly smooth when he delivers it, regardless of the opponents’ size, weight, etc. Ziggler has been the best wrestler to take the RKO from what I’ve seen in the last while. Seth Rollins can sell it great also. One RKO that stood out to me as the most perfect, out-of-nowhere hit was Punk/Orton at Wrestlemania 27 where he caught Punk after Punk had spring boarded off the apron. Everything about it was perfect; perfectly grabbed, the ending, the sell, just everything. 

2. Clothesline from Hell - JBL 

I’ve watched countless compilation videos of his finisher and I can’t get enough of the impact it has on its victim’s. He is running at full steam at his opponents and delivering a lariat that borderline decapitates them. At 6’6 and nearly 300 pounds, that’s a whole lot of man coming at you with intention to shorten your career. The execution was absolutely destructive to the point where he fell after delivering the blow. I’m hopeful that we get at least one more out of him, as his Royal Rumble tease this past January taunted me for wanting one more Clothesline from Hell. 

1. Superkick – Shawn Michaels, Lance Storm, Dolph Ziggler, various others

Oh how the superkick, owned by many has been a beloved finisher for the last 20 years. It’s a kick that has won championships, caused betrayal and left a legacy with one star. Shawn Michaels perfected this kick and has always brought matches to an end with either the set up for the kick or having the kick be hit from out-of-nowhere.  The CLAP sound that comes with the kick just adds to its effectiveness. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed watching Ziggler use it and I wish he’d use it more often because he does a fantastic job with it. Lance Storm had such grace with the kick also. It almost looked like a dance move from him in the way he swayed from one side to the other before kicking the opponents head off like he was going for a Mortal Kombat fatality.  It’s almost a forgotten move however, which saddens me, as it’s my all time favorite finisher.

I fully expect people to not agree with my list and that’s fine. Everyone has a voice that can be heard, so let it be heard! There’s a bunch more I’d like to add and had I not wrote down blurbs for each finisher, the list would be 10x longer.

Question time! Now, with feuds developing going into Raw tomorrow, and rumored feuds that are about to begin, which storyline are you most excited for? There’s Paige/Aj, Cena/Lesnar, Swagger/Rusev, Seth/Ambrose or maybe one of your own that you can think up!

Thanks for hanging,

Stay Classy, IWC

Quinn