A pro wrestling match might showcase lots of exhilarating action throughout its course, but the electrifying climax to all the action occurs when the wrestlers perform their signature finishing moves on their opponents as the final blow before scoring the victory.
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Such is the importance a finisher holds in a wrestler's arsenal of moves, and wrestling promotions used to hold those maneuvers to high standards back in the day and protect them at all costs. But things changed over the years, and for the sake of keeping the fans on the edge of their seats, promotions like WWE and AEW to name a couple, started booking multiple near falls in the matches even after the wrestlers performed their finishing moves on their opponents. With that said, let's take a look at the Canadian Destroyer and nine other wrestling finishers that lost their effectiveness over the years.
10 Canadian Destroyer
The Canadian Destroyer is a gravity-defying maneuver introduced by former TNA X-Division Champion Amazing Red. It is a variant of a Piledriver with the wrestler getting his opponent in a standard Powerbomb position before performing a flip and sending the victim head first onto the mat.
It is a controversial move with high chances of injury, especially to the neck and upper spine, which led to WWE banning the move for a long time. However, due to the sudden rise in popularity, the company lifted the ban and allowed the wrestlers to perform them during matches. However, the flip Piledriver has since lost all its credibility, with wrestlers downgrading it to a normal move in their arsenal, which especially became evident during a recent match between Orange Cassidy and Penta El Zero M in AEW, with both wrestlers no-selling the move on multiple occasions.
9 The Powerbomb
The Powerbomb is a devastating finishing move that sees the wrestlers pick up their opponents on their shoulders and drop them back-first down to the mat. It has multiple variants with the same result, and legendary wrestlers like The Undertaker, Kevin Nash, Batista, Big Van Vader, Mike Awesome, and Jushin Thunder Liger have won multiple matches by hitting their opponents with their versions of the Powerbomb.
With acrobatic high-risk moves dominating modern wrestling, the Powerbomb has lost its value as a potential match-ender as the wrestlers are routinely kicking out of this move.
8 The DDT
The DDT is a move made famous by the iconic WWE Hall of Famer Jake "The Snake" Roberts and was once hailed as a devastating finishing move. The execution sees a wrestler locking his opponent's head underneath his arm in a front facelock before falling backward to drive it into the mat.
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While modern-day wrestlers like Jon Moxley are using it as a finishing move, the frequent usage, coupled with the fans' skyrocketing expectations for hardcore and high-impact moves, resulted in the DDT losing the aura of inevitability it once had.
7 Pedigree
Modern-day wrestling fans have witnessed wrestlers like Seth Rollins and Cody Rhodes perform The Pedigree on their opponents only to see the latter kick out of the move. However, the move was once one of the most devastating maneuvers in history, as 14-time world champion Triple H vanquished many of his adversaries with the Pedigree.
In technical terms, it is a double underhook facebuster with the wrestler locking his opponent's head in between his legs and applying a double underhook before performing a kneeling or sitout facebuster. The Game won all the accolades in his career by defeating his opponents with The Pedigree, but now it has become just another move that fails to keep an opponent down for the three-count.
6 The Stunner
The legendary Stone Cold Steve Austin was the one who made The Stunner famous all over the world as he incorporated the maneuver as his finishing move and took down all of his adversaries throughout his decorated career.
It is a three-quarter facelock jawbreaker, with the wrestler locking his opponent in a three-quarter facelock before falling into a seated position to force the opponent's jaw to drop on his shoulder. It was a simple yet effective move that took down even the best wrestlers back in the day, but along with many other iconic finishing moves, The Stunner has also lost its value over the years.
5 Attitude Adjustment
John Cena has won 16 world championships throughout his decorated WWE career, and he won almost all of those titles by taking his opponents down with his iconic Attitude Adjustment. While fans might consider it as one of his Five Moves of Doom, the AA is a high-impact finisher that takes a toll on the receiver's back.
It's technically a standing fireman's carry Powerslam, with Cena lifting his opponent on his shoulder and flipping him to the mat onto his back. While Cena did manage to overcome many opponents with the move, his opponents started kicking out of the move more frequently over the years, resulting in him having to perform the maneuver multiple times in the same match.
4 Piledriver
The Piledriver is one of the most high-risk finishing moves in pro wrestling history, as one small mistake in execution might lead to the receiver injuring their neck or spine and suffering concussions. The move is said to have been innovated by the late Wild Bill Longson, who was an active competitor between 1931 and 1960, and apart from the standard Piledriver, wrestlers introduced multiple variations of the devastating maneuver over the years, including The Undertaker's Tombstone Piledriver.
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However, as mentioned earlier, the fans' expectations towards longer and hard-hitting matches have greatly affected the effectiveness of most finishing moves, and the Piledriver is no different as we can see the wrestlers kicking out of what once was a decisive match-ending move frequently.
3 The F5
The F5 is the ultimate move in Brock Lesnar's arsenal as The Beast Incarnate has taken down numerous opponents with the devastating finisher, including some of the legendary names of the business.
Derived from the term EF5, which is a level of measure for tornados, Brock Lesnar's F5 is executed by lifting the opponent in a fireman's carry and slamming them to the ground by spinning them over his head. It was one of the most effective and protected finishers in pro-wrestling history back in the day, but wrestling fans have witnessed wrestlers like Roman Reigns, Drew McIntyre, or Cody Rhodes kick out of the F5 in recent years on several occasions, which diminished its value to a great extent.
2 Spear
The Spear is one of the most over-used finishing moves in modern-day pro wrestling and is one of the common finishers used by brawlers and powerhouse wrestlers. Including Roman Reigns, multiple wrestlers on the WWE roster currently use the Spear, which greatly diminished its uniqueness and its value as a finisher.
The move is a visual spectacle, as the fans love to see the sight of a wrestler charging toward a standing opponent and driving their shoulder through the midsection. Goldberg made the move famous during his time in WCW, and wrestlers like Edge and Rhyno took it up as their finishers as the years went by, and the fans have almost lost count of how many wrestlers currently use the Spear as their final moves.
1 The Superkick
Along with the Spear, the Superkick is another iconic finisher that has significantly lost its value over the years. Introduced by the late legend "Gentleman" Chris Adams, the Superkick has been used by many iconic names in pro wrestling, including Shawn Michaels, who gets credit for making it famous around the world.
However, modern-day wrestlers have overused to move to the point that they're having pointless Superkick parties in the middle of the ring by hitting it on an opponent multiple times only to see them kick out of it. The need for longer matches and high-risk displays played a major part in iconic moves like the Superkick losing its value over the years, and it's safe to say that the damage is beyond repair at this point.
