10 Best Finishers In WWE History, Ranked (2024)

A good-looking finishing move is one of the most vital elements that go into the presentation of any WWE superstar. Whether it's a match ending on a Raw or Smackdown or a major PLE like WrestleMania or SummerSlam, it's the kiss of death and the grand finale to most contests between warriors of the squared circle.

From the simpleness of a big boot and a leg drop (brother) to the incredible athletic prowess of The Prettiest Moonsault Ever, no matter what the era, there is never a shortage of technically diverse and visually varied finishers. The ones that stand out most, however, have visceral believability, general aesthetic satisfaction, and create rewatchable, iconic moments.

10 The Perfect Plex

The Perfect Finisher From the Perfect Competitor

This finishing move is also a pinfall and that's a rare occurrence. Everything about The Perfect Plex perfectly suited Mr Perfect, Curt Hennig, and his overtly smug, smirking, co*cky, “better than you” aura. His Fisherman’s Suplex with a cradle pin attached to it made every three count feel more elegant and sophisticated than what other mere mortals were capable of.

One of the most fun things to reflect on about the Perfect Plex is the sheer array of superstars who’ve taken it over the years. You can find Hennig putting this on everyone from 90s staples Hulk Hogan and The Big Boss Man to Y2K favorites Taz and Kurt Angle, and even people still wrestling today like Chris Jericho.

9 The Dudley Death Drop

The Greatest Tag-Team Finisher Ever

There is something about two performers working in tandem to deliver a finishing move that is just that little bit more visually impressive. Coming from the most successful tag team of all time, the daddy of all tag-team finishers is The Dudley Boyz's Dudley Death Drop. The launch into the ropes, the crowd’s united cry of “3D!”, tossing a human being into the air and driving them to the canvas (or more often onto a table), D-Von hopping like a man who’s just stood on a nail before delivering the last rites, sign-of-the-cross hand gesture after its execution: all these elements made the 3D iconic.

There’s a reason that the WWE gave The Usos the coolest-looking finisher in tag-team wrestling history when pushing them as the definitive duo of their generation. Whether it’s called the 3D or the 1D, what’s certain is that this classic is never going out of style.

8 The Razor’s Edge

Oozing Machismo From an Almighty Height

A serious contender to be the coolest finisher from the first half of the 1990s, Scott Hall’s Razor Ramon character and his enormous frame made him the perfect specimen to carry out this unique finishing move. Starting out with his opponent's head between his legs, he would almost flip his victim high above his 6’7 head and into a crucifix position before driving them down onto the mat from a great height.

In more recent times, Damian Priest has been using the Razor's Edge with great effect. The move suits a competitor that's tall and imposing like Priest or Hall, and the shaky setup is perfect for reversals.

7 The Insane Elbow

The Greatest Elbow Drop in the History of WWE

Aside from being two of the greatest WWE performers of all time, with the ability to work face or heel at the elite level with any opponent, what do CM Punk and Macho Man Randy Savage have in common? Both of them have a top rope flying elbow drop, a move that was made iconic by the unmatched Randy Savage, to whom Punk pays homage. However, neither of them delivers the elbow drop as well as Kairi Sane.

The sight of the Japanese superstar, suspended in mid-air with perfect form and landing an elbow onto the unsuspecting opponent on the canvas below her, is one of the greatest in-ring sights in contemporary WWE. Almost every WWE superstar is able to hit a knife-edge chop, but when Gunther unleashes one, it just looks better than everyone else's. Well, that’s also true of Kairi Sane and the top rope elbow. Perfection personified.

6 F5

A Finisher Fit for a Beast

Andre The Giant is one of the greatest big men ever to grace the squared circle but, while the bear hug that finished his matches would surely make you feel like your entire skeleton was being crunched like a fist crushing a can, it’s not a move that’s designed to have you jumping out of your seat. But then there’s Brock Lesnar, a monster of a man who can also deadlift exceptionally large humans into a fireman’s carry and spin them through the air to their demise.

While there have been many iconic F5s, perhaps the most memorable one was delivered by Lesnar to everybody’s favorite superhero John Cena, on his big WWE return on the Raw after WrestleMania28. The kicking of the 5 Knuckle Shuffler’s cap at the end is truly a chef’s kiss moment.

5 The Sharpshooter

The Excellence of Execution in One Move

The blood-stained, grimacing face of Stone Cold Steve Austin, resplendent with crimson running from his forehead and slowly dripping between his front teeth, is one of the all-time iconic WWE images and it happens at the behest of the Sharpshooter. More technical than the ankle lock, and prettier on the eye than the figure four leg lock, the hold known as the Scorpion Death Lock in Japan was popularized by Bret The Hitman Hart and is arguably the best submission finisher in the history of professional wrestling. It always looked like it would snap tendons when a heel Bret would lean back and get extra purchase from the ropes too.

4 The Pedigree

Game Over

An original move and the brainchild of one Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque, The Pedigree is one of those wrestling moves that immediately like they would really hurt. An iconic and unique version of a facebuster, perhaps its greatest attribute is that it’s a move that feels different when administered as a heel than it does when he locks it in as a face. The sight of Triple H shouting in anger while flipping his (always) wet hair around is very different from him standing valiantly after hooking the arms in before smashing his adversary to the canvas.

The Pedigree is a move that will always look cool, no matter the year, as proved by Triple H pulverizing Daniel Bryan with it after being Special Guest Referee for Bryan's big victory over John Cena at SummerSlam2013. It's also been used regularly by Seth Rollins and, more recently, by Cody Rhodes, even if only as a setup for a false finish.

3 Sweet Chin Music

The Original "Out of Nowhere" Move

Sure, the Superkick Party may have been hurting the effectiveness of this move for the last decade (at least), but there is nothing that can dilute the impact of the original and best superkick in the game: Shawn Michaels's Sweet Chin Music. The true beauty of the Sweet Chin Music lies in its versatility.

Able to be detonated in the blink of an eye or unfurled with a dramatic, slow build when the Heartbreak Kid is tuning up the band, you’ve seen the jaw-obliterating finale used in so many different ways that it feels like everyone has a different favorite use of this sucker. Be it the Shelton Benjamin received explosion or the tear-filled crescendo to Ric Flair’s WWE in-ring career, Sweet Chin Music is as timeless as a finisher gets.

2 RKO

The Smoothest Move of the Smoothest Wrestler

The fact that the phrase “from outta nowhere” in any context will cause all wrestling fans to instantly conjure up the mental image of Randy Orton exacting his finisher is a testament to the maneuver being one of the most instantly recognizable and beloved finishing moves of all time.

The RKO is something that does exactly as advertised. It comes in the flash of a blade, it looks fantastic on standing opponents and ones caught in mid-air, and it complements Orton somewhat plain arsenal of moves with something spectacular. While DDP may have been the first one to use a Cutter as a finisher, Orton's RKO is firmly in the Hall of Fame of wrestling moves.

1 The Stunner

And That’s the Bottom Line

For pure visual impact and the countless times it has been sold by unwilling beneficiaries in all variety of manners, the Stunner is a two-part ritual of devastation that sits atop the mountain of all-time WWE finishing maneuvers. Though the move was created by ECW mainstay Mikey Whipwreck and originally called the Whipper-Snapper, it was written into both wrestling and pop culture folklore as the signature finisher from Stone Cold Steve Austin. It is the perfect crescendo to his one-man wrecking crew persona and is impossible to imagine the character with any other finisher.

The move itself is a “three-quarter facelock jawbreaker” and is served with a preceding boot to the midsection. It's been taken by pretty much every contender for wrestling's Mount Rushmore. There is an optional third part of the package in the shape of flipping off the victim first, with bonus points if they have a mouthful of beer to spit out.