In pro-wrestling, a finishing maneuver is most often the best part of a match and obviously the wrestler’s most iconic and important move. It can even make or break a wrestler’s career. Some finishers make the crowd go crazy (case in point, the People’s Elbow). Some wrestlers become synonymous with their finishers. For some, their finishing move becomes their legacy.
But no wrestler was born perfect, they’ve all had to change their finishers as the old didn’t quite work as well as they’d expected, whether it was with the wrestler himself, his opponents or the crowd. Read on to know about the old finishers of these 6 wrestlers.
CM Punk- Most Recent Finisher – GTS (Go To Sleep)
CM Punk, the sixth longest reigning WWE Champion in history used the Go To Sleep (which was Hideo Itami’s finisher in NJPW, although he did use the GTS on Tyler Breeze in an NXT live event match) in the WWE. A fireman’s carry which ended with a knee to the victim’s face after dropping him. However, before joining the WWE, Punk made his name in the indy circuits, wrestling in promotions like Ring of Honor. In ROH, Punk’s finisher was the Pepsi Plunge, which is a pedigree from the turnbuckles. WWE probably didn’t allow him to use the move as it’s too dangerous. (Triple H did make changes in his pedigree, not holding the opponent’s arms all the way to minimize damage.)
Triple H – Current Finisher – Pedigree
Triple H, perhaps the most influential pro-wrestler today made his WWE debut more than twenty-one years ago. His finisher, the Pedigree is one of the best finishers of all time. However, his finisher wasn’t always the Pedigree. In his first few matches, the Cerebral Assassin used the Pedigree Pandemonium, you’d probably know it as the RKO (Randy Orton’s finisher) or the Diamond Cutter (Diamond Dallas Page’s finisher). His execution of the move wasn’t as good as Orton’s or Page’s, but that probably wasn’t the only reason why he changed his finisher to the Pedigree.
Shawn Michaels – Before Retiring – Sweet Chin Music
The Showstopper made it a point to tune up the band before landing that foot on the side of his opponent’s face. In his initial wrestling days as amazing as he was, Michaels didn’t really tune up any band. His finisher before the Sweet Chin Music was the Teardrop Suplex. Also known as the Leg-hook Saito Suplex, the attacker lifts the opponent, holding the waist and and the near leg and falls backwards whilst driving him down. He has used this against Bret Hart too.
The Rock – Current Finisher(s) – The Rock Botton/People’s Elbow
The Rock wasn’t the most electrifying man in sports entertainment when he made his WWE debut way back in 1996. Back then he was billed as Rocky Maivia. It wasn’t until much later when he turned heel and joined the Nation when he actually started gaining with favor the crowds. His old finisher was not the most electrifying move in sports entertainment, nor was it the Rock Bottom. It was the running shoulderbreaker. It is a modification of the running powerslam, where Rocky would drop the opponent shoulder-first on his knee before putting him on the ring.
Goldust – Current Finisher(s) Shattered Dreams/ Final Cut
Goldust, a veteran and still an entertaining worker, has been wrestling in the WWE for over twenty one years, having made his debut way back in October 1995 against former Rocker Marty Janetty in a WWE In Your House match. In his first few matches however, the Bizarre Goldust didn’t really have a set finisher. He later started the Curtain Call, where he would hold his opponent in a reverse headlock, lift him up, and slam him down onto the ring.
Edge – Before Retiring – Spear
The erstwhile Rated-R Superstar made his WWE debut way back in June 1998 against Jose Estrada. Since then, he has used quite a few finishers, namely- Edgecator, Edgecution, and of course, the Spear. However, his oldest finisher was the Downward Spiral, which is a reverse STO (Space Tornado Ogawa), where Edge would hold his opponent’s neck with his arm and fall backwards making him fall face first on to the ring.
