As you may or may not know, I'm sort of a workrate mark. I love seeing good moves executed well. I love seeing moves I've never seen before. I hate it when someone uses a finisher that doesn't look like it should finish a match. I tend to get wrapped up in that sort of thing. Since I'm that kind of person, why not put it to use and make a list of what I think are the top 10 finishers in the WWE? Here goes nothing:
After the jump... 10. The Zack Attack - Zack Ryder
There it is if you haven't seen it. I'm not embedding since embedding 12 videos on a page would be murder on people with older computers or with slower connections. What separates the Zack Attack from, say, the Playmaker, is that this move looks like it actually hurts. Ryder pulls it off with such crispness too. He's been a revelation since being sent over to ECW.
9. Shooting Star Press/Airbourne - Evan Bourne
The SSP may be played out as a high-flying move in the indies, but in the WWE, it's the best you get in terms of aerial fireworks. Bourne does it so well, he's so fluid in the air. He's the quintessential high flyer.
8. World's Strongest Slam - Mark Henry
I know what you're thinking. A freaking bodyslam finisher? Well, the greatness in this move isn't in the move itself. If, say, Evan Bourne were using it as a finisher, I'd have a problem with it, but Mark Henry? Tell me you'd want to have 400 lbs. of feral weightlifter come down on you, crushing your ribcage. That move looks like it should hurt for days coming from Henry. The best part about it is in the execution. It's really the biggest sign of Henry's turnaround from slug to elite big man wrestler. He could laze it up, but he puts the extra oomph behind it.
7. Pedigree - Triple H
We all know what a regular Pedigree looks like, so here's how it would look if it weren't done right. Funny thing, a botched Pedigree looks even better because it looks like it hurts more. That's what the puro geeks would call Tiger Driver '98 right now. One of few iconic WWE finishers left in the game today.
6. Sweet Chin Music - Shawn Michaels
Everyone knows what this looks like, but it bears seeing again, especially when the recipient is Brock Lesnar. I used to hate on the SCM, but I've grown to like and appreciate it over the years. It is probably in the top two of iconic finishers in the WWE right now, and it's one of those moves that can almost be hit in any circumstance, as a premeditated move, a counter, to a standing opponent or one leaping from the top. So versatile and unlike other kick finishers, it doesn't take much stiffness to look credible.
5. Codebreaker - Chris Jericho
This is a move that when it's botched, it's botched badly, but when it's done perfectly, well, see for yourself. A great heel finisher for Jericho because it can be hit from out of nowhere, probably the best "from out of nowhere" finisher in the WWE right now.
4. Killswitch/Unprettier/Impaler - Christian
This is one of those finishers that I'm surprised the WWE allows because of the difficulty protecting the head on the victim. Still, I'm glad they do allow it. It's one of the most credible and awesome looking finishers out there. Christian is one of the most gifted offensive wrestlers in the WWE, and you can't tell me that a PPV main event crowd won't mark hard for this finish when it happens.
3. Last Ride - Undertaker
I'm surprised that Rey Mysterio survived that. I was irked when Taker came back and didn't use the Tombstone, but that lasted for a grand total of like 2 seconds until after I saw how awesome this MEGASUPERVERSION of the powerbomb was. It's since become one of Taker's big match moves and a nice rare treat.
2. The Knockout Punch - The Big Show
Big Show, along with Vader, probably has the most credible looking KTFO punches in wrestling history. Seriously, are you getting up from that? I'm not. This is one of the positives to come out of Show's feud with Floyd Mayweather last year, and one of the few moves that look devastating enough to get someone who doesn't watch all that often to do a spit take and ask "Uh... are you sure that's not real?"
And finally, drum roll please....
1. Tombstone Piledriver - Undertaker
Yep, Undertaker makes two appearances in this top 10 (and almost made three becuase his gogoplata is fuckin' aces as well). This one's reputed to be the first, and fortunately for us fans, Koko B. Ware was hardly the last victim of it. This is probably the only finisher active in the WWE today that is more iconic than Sweet Chin Music, but to a piledriver mark like myself, I enjoy it a whole lot better. What makes it so iconic is the grim deliberation that 'Taker uses to deliver it. It's almost literal spike to hell.
Some honorable mentions now:
Best Team Finisher - Hart Attack - The Hart Dynasty
Yeah, it may not be as good as when the Hitman and Anvil did it, but it's the only team finisher in the WWE nowadays, so I think it deserves some mention.
Best Submission Finisher Not Done by the Undertaker - Regal Stretch - William Regal
I had to give props to a submission finisher, and since Undertaker's already mentioned here twice, why not give "Bill" Regal a shout out? This is one of the most painful looking variations of the STF out there, and Regal applies it with such vigor.
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