10 Most Boring Finishers In WWE Today
A wrestler’s finisher is their most important move. It signals the end of their match and helps distinguish them from their peers. Without a good finishing move, a wrestler cannot do a good job telling a story in the ring.
There was a time when virtually every wrestler in WWE had a cool or unique finisher that got a noticeable reaction from the crowd. Whether it was the Stunner, the People’s Elbow, the Tombstone, or even something simpler like Mr Socko or the Scissors Kick followed by a Spinarooni; every wrestler had a go-to move that got a huge reaction from the crowd every time it was executed.
Now, WWE’s roster is a barren wasteland of similar-yet-uninteresting finishing moves. WWE’s philosophy towards match structure has shifted to a new one where, in the bigger matches, wrestlers kick out of each other’s supposed finishers several times during a single bout.
It has reached a point where finishers aren’t really finishers; they’re more like signature moves that are associated with only one particular wrestler, and even then there are several wrestlers whose moves overlap.
Because of this new match style, seeing a finisher inside a WWE ring has lost its lustre. Instead of hearing the crowd pop and cheer at the sight of a wrestler’s finisher, nowadays most of them slightly cheer because they know the match may not end.
Several wrestlers have used similar and repetitive finishers, which has made the WWE product less spontaneous and more predictable. This has been made much worse with the ubiquity of the internet. It’s now possible to see pretty much any and every wrestling move ever created, which has led to a sense of inferiority towards WWE finishers.
People dream of seeing the crazy, high-risk, ultra-dangerous moves in a WWE ring, but because of the company’s aversion to major risks, the only time you’ll see one of those super-finishers is in a WWE video game.
As for the real WWE wrestlers, they’re stuck with some really basic, and often boring finishing moves. The ten moves listed here stand out as the worst offenders, being moves that are more likely to put fans to sleep than get them to their feet.
10. Seth Rollins - The Pedigree
Seth Rollins is an excellent wrestler that cannot seem to carve a solid identity out for himself. Despite having broken away from the Authority months ago, he still uses the move bestowed upon him by Triple H himself, the Pedigree, as his own finisher. This came on the heels of his Curb-Stomp being banned by WWE last year, and in the aftermath, he hasn’t been able to find a new move to replace it.
The ironic thing is, Seth, being an excellent wrestler, could use pretty much any move as his finisher and it would be convincing. He could use the Superplex/Falcon Arrow combo, God’s Last Gift (his Small Package/Fisherman Buster combo move), or even the Phoenix Splash. Any one of these moves would make for an awesome and convincing finisher.
Yet strangely, Rollins is stuck using the Pedigree. The problem with this move is, no matter how much Rollins uses it, it will be forever associated with Triple H. He could even rename it to something completely different, and people would still call it the Pedigree. Because of that, Rollins isn’t creating his own identity as a performer per se. Rather, he’s seen as more of an extension of Triple H, because Triple H isn’t wrestling so his trademark finisher must still be seen on WWE programming.
Because the Pedigree has been seen so much in WWE for the past twenty years, people have become numb to it. The only reason it’s still taken seriously as a finisher is because it was so well-protected over so many years. Many people cannot separate the Pedigree manoeuvre from Triple H, so anyone that uses it will be considered to either be ‘making homage’ to the Game, or stealing his move.
Considering how good Rollins is, he’s better off using something that isn’t associated with the Authority, especially since he’s supposed to have parted ways with them months ago.