10 WWE Wrestlers Who Have The Wrong Finisher (And What They Should Have)

By Adam Blampied

It’s fairly well-documented what makes a move a good finisher. If a move is impactful, excites the crowd, can be hit on anyone, can come From Outta Nowhere, and compliments the wrestler’s persona, it’s a good finisher. That’s a pretty high bar, because if even one of those goals aren’t met, a finisher can become an albatross around a wrestler’s neck.

Crucially, this is not a list of outright bad moves, but rather a list of superstars who actually have the perfect match-ender currently tucked away in their repertoire, but for some reason are still leaning on something far less effective.

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10. Edge – The Spear

The Rated R Superstar returned at the 2020 Royal Rumble looking like he’d spent the last 9 years training at the Intense Vagrant Academy of Bumpy Tummies and Scary Eyes. Of course his first move upon re-entering the ring, was the Spear. Damn.

Like the Cutter or the Superkick, the Spear is over as a move, no doubt, but Edge could only just get away with his spear back in 2011 when there wasn’t anyone else on the roster doing it. However, when you’ve got The Big Dog knocking out his Very Good Spear and Goldberg still doing his Very VERY Good Spear, then Edge’s looks all the cuddlier by comparison.

Replace it with: The Edgecator

Remember the Edgecator? It’s a kneeling, inverted sharpshooter with crazy eyes theatrics and it’s perfect for Edge! There’s a lack of quality submission finishers in today’s WWE and this serves the Ultimate Opportunist’s current look so much better.

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9. Rhea Ripley – The Riptide 

It’s not like the Riptide is a bad move for Rhea Ripley, but when someone’s entrance theme screams ‘THIS IS MY BRUTALITY’ we expect something a little more brutal than a Pumphandle Slam. At least Rhea doesn’t add ‘preamble hump theatrics’ like Road Dogg used to do, but wrestling’s arrow merely marches forward and when a move becomes a transitional one for countless other wrestlers, it’s hard to regain that crucial sense of impact and occasion.

Replace it with: The Big Boot

The Big Boot is hugely underrated as a finisher if done right. Test’s Big Boot was unbelievably good and carried that wincingly brutal vibe that Rhea both needs, and could convincingly execute. She’s hit it on NXT a few times, and with the right theatrics and leg-slapping it could be even more impactful than Drew McIntyre’s Claymore.

• AJ Styles
• Adam Blampied
• Finishers
• wwe

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