In the world of wrestling, finishers are often as iconic as the wrestlers who use them. The Macho Man’s Big Elbow, Dusty’s Bionic One, the Sharpshooter, the Figure Four, the list is nearly endless and usually, once it’s applied, the end of a thrilling match is near. Sometimes though, as JR might say “you gotta go off and learn a new hold.” Stone Cold had several finishers like the Stun Gun and the Million Dollar Dream before the Stone Cold Stunner helped propel him to glory.
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Every so often, superstars feel the need to change things up for a variety of reasons. Sometimes the switch takes off like KO using the Stunner or Sting’s Scorpion Death Drop, sometimes not so much - Seth Rollins using the Pedigree. These are the cases of a new one being quickly abandoned.
10 Brock Lesnar - Brock Lock
Whether you like how he is booked or not, when Brock Lesnar makes an appearance, something very dangerous is going to happen. When the Beast grabs hold of you, you need to do all you can to escape or expect to be eviscerated. When he was just "The Next Big Thing," Lesnar would show off his raw power and stretch his opponent's legs in the Brock Lock. It was a move so simple in execution, he would take your leg across his massive neck and shoulders, stand up and wrench for all he’s worth. In case you didn’t know - Lesnar is worth a lot!
9 Shawn Michaels - Teardrop Suplex
As one half of the Rockers, Shawn Michaels was either using a fist off the turnbuckles or the famed Superkick, along with Marty Jannetty. After Marty tried to run away from the team via the Barbershop window, HBK went it alone as a singles star.
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He would still utilize the Superkick, but then Shawn for a time felt the need to pick his opponents back up and hit them with the Teardrop Suplex. Wrestlers don’t get paid by the hour though. When the Superkick already put opponents down for the count, scraping them off the mat for one more move was overkill.
8 Undertaker - Taker Care Of Business
You’re not reading the name of that move wrong. For a brief time, Deadman Inc. was Taker Care Of Business (every day!). When the Deadman tried to shed every bit of fan support from his character and become a heel he did everything in the Heel Playbook to a tee. He changed his look, kicked the tar out JR in Oklahoma and quit using the Tombstone. Instead, the MMA fan started using a Dragon Sleeper. But instead of keeping that cool name, someone thought "Booger Red" should call it Taker Care Of Business.
7 Dolph Ziggler - Sleeper Hold
With so much of the fan base once believing Dolph Ziggler to be the in-ring lovechild of HBK and Mr. Perfect, one would hope he is getting paid unspeakable gobs of money for toiling around the mid-card and not leaving to reign supreme someplace else. Ziggler has been using the Zig Zag for a large part of his career. But for a time, he tried to bring his ridiculous overselling to use the Sleeper Hold. Much like the rest of his career, it was a lackluster switch at best.
6 Natalya - Discus Clothesline
In 1991, Bret Hart adopted the Sharpshooter for a new submission move. From that point on, it has been the calling card of nearly every Canadian superstar, but in particular, his niece, Natalya.
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The stalwart of the women’s division and currently the only brick in the Hart Foundation has been using the Sharpshooter since her first match in WWE. After her father passed though, Nattie tried to honor the Anvil’s legacy too by using a Discus Clothesline. While she still breaks out the move, Nattie quickly opted to go back to the Sharpshooter.
5 Seth Rollins - Ripcord Knee
The WWE rightfully declares to the WWE Universe “Don’t Try This At Home.” At some point, someone decided that the fans might try to do a move like the Curb Stomp at home, which could severely hurt someone in real life (so could diving off your couch like Macho Man!). The Stomp found itself on the banned list, leaving Seth Rollins without a finishing move. For a while, he started using the Pedigree. But once he was a babyface again, Rollins began using the Ripcord Knee for a short time before the ban got lifted.
4 Dean Ambrose - Dirty Deeds*
The asterisk for this entry is because the name of the former Dean Ambrose’s finishing move did change, but the execution of it was slightly different at first. The Double Underhook DDT would become synonymous with the "Lunatic Fringe." But the first iteration of the move was what looked like a reverse face plant Bulldog. Ambrose used it to defeat Kofi Kingston for the "Dreadlocked Dynamo’s" US Title.
3 Batista - Batista Bite
When you're as big, as powerful and as imposing as the "Animal" Batista, just about any move you utilize is a powerful and devastating one. Big Dave seldom had to try and make anyone tap during his career since the Batista Bomb ended everyone he ever got in the ring with. But as he was gearing up for an I Quit Match against John Cena at Over The Limit 2010, the soon to be Hall Of Famer learned a new hold. To try and get Cena to say those two little words, he started using the Rings Of Saturn, which he called the Batista Bite.
2 Kane - The Face Claw
When Kane returned wearing a welding mask over his regular, everyday mask, he also returned using a variation of the old school dreaded Von Erich Claw.
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As the "Big Red Machine" attempted to get John Cena to “Embrace The Hate,” he would use a full-face version of the hold in order to try and put Cena down and once again become the scariest guy in the WWE. It didn’t work, and Kane went back to using his tried and true move set.
1 Goldberg - Rolling Knee Bar
Despite being greener than green, Bill Goldberg took what little he knew how to do, tried to do it well and parlayed it into a memorable career (minus sending Bret Hart’s head into the stratosphere and ending his career). But he would, on occasion, try to learn something else besides a Spear and a Jackhammer. He would utilize an MMA style takedown/kneebar combination move for a few matches, most notably against Randy Orton on Raw.
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