Top 10 finishing moves in WWE history

RKO Every WWE superstar has a finisher. It’s the move that signifies their persona on television. John Cena owns the Attitude Adjustment. Kane honed the Chokeslam and Brock Lesnar uses the F-5 to decimate his opponents.However, just like anytime in sports, there are ones that rise above the rest. Whether it’s about the severity of the move, it’s impact or relatability to the WWE Universe, WWE fans can pinpoint the best finishers of all-time. Today’s product is lacking the aura that finishing moves used to have. On Twitter, Jim Ross noted that today’s WWE stars use their finishers but are usually kicked out of by their opponent.“With so many established, big finish moves being discounted, what's it going to eventually take to win a match? Bad trend..needs reversing.” Ross is right that finishers aren’t devastating anymore. In fact, a good amount of WWE superstars the superkick as a regular move. Dolph Ziggler hasn’t made anyone pin with that move in a long time, if ever. John Cena uses a springboard stunner but hasn’t actually pinned an opponent with it yet. It’s things like these that seem to dilute the idea of a finishing move.Simply because, it doesn’t finish the match. Despite the negative connotation they have on today’s product, there are finishers that still aren’t kicked out of. When they are, it’s a very special occasion. Below are the top-10 finishers in WWE history.

#10 RKO

It can land anywhere, anytime. Randy Orton’s finishing move, the “RKO,” derived from the Diamond Cutter. Diamond Dallas Paige made that famous and Orton took that move and made it even better. Orton became famous in the entertainment world by being involved in the GIF that went viral. WWE fans started to put Orton into other famous scenes in movies, video games or TV shows and he would hit his RKO. 

Not only is it popular, but it is effective. He’s won multiple-WWE championships with the RKO and is a staple of WWE programming.