13 Most Controversial Finishers In Wrestling History

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Professional wrestling is not an easier career path to choose. The athletes performing in front of fans constantly have to deal with the wear and tear that wrestling puts on their bodies. Now while a finishing move can be controversial for the possible accident that can happen, some moves are controversial for totally other reasons. Here are some of those moves that go down in history with a bad reputation.

In pro wrestling, a finisher is not just a given wrestler’s signature method of putting away an opponent. More than just a wrestler’s go-to, a good finisher is usually physically impressive and impactful, be it a body slam, strike, or aerial maneuver. However, there are also many finishers throughout wrestling history that have been a source of controversy among fans, wrestlers, and others.

Some moves end up being controversial because of how dangerous they look, while others have been points of contention for philosophical or aesthetic reasons. So let’s take a look at 10 of the most controversial finishers in the history of wrestling, some of which have shown up in WWE.

UPDATE: 2023/08/21 07:30 EST BY ETHAN SCHLABAUGH

Professional wrestling is not an easier career path to choose. The athletes performing in front of fans constantly have to deal with the wear and tear that wrestling puts on their bodies. Now while a finishing move can be controversial for the possible accident that can happen, some moves are controversial for totally other reasons. Here are some of those moves that go down in history with a bad reputation.

13 Styles Clash

Given what a beloved veteran AJ Styles is, fans may be surprised to find out that his finishing move was a source of controversy. Before coming to WWE and relying on the Phenomenal Forearm, Styles utilized the Styles Clash as his match-ending maneuver.

In the years between Impact Wrestling and WWE, Styles’ move ended up seriously injuring several wrestlers, including former WWE star Yoshi Tatsu in New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Debate raged about whether Styles should use it at all, but once he arrived in WWE it’s mostly been used as a signature rather than a finisher.

12 Shooting Star Press

Brock Lesnar attempts a Shooting Star Press

Innovated by junior heavyweight legend Jushin Thunder Liger, the Shooting Star Press has been a frequent favorite finishing move for many a high-flyer over the years.

However, fans have seen this impressive top-rope maneuver go wrong in several infamous instances, including when Brock Lesnar pulled it out and nearly broke his neck at WrestleMania 19. At one point, it was even banned by WWE until Evan Bourne (a.k.a. Matt Sydal) convinced management that he could safely perform the SSP multiple times.

11 Heart Punch

While the Heart Punch was used by various wrestlers including Crush and former WWE Champion Stan Stasiak, who innovated the move, it was most famously employed by the iconic Ox Baker, who wrestled from the 1960s until the late 1980s. While used by Baker, it was reported to have killed at least two men.

These deaths, both of which followed matches with Ox Baker, were coincidental, but promoters couldn’t help but attribute it to the Heart Punch. However, in 1974 his use of the move caused a riot in Minnesota when Ox Baker delivered multiple Heart Punches to the beloved “Big Cat” Ernie Ladd.

10 Go To Sleep

It’s not uncommon for wrestlers to borrow moves from other performers, just look at Ox Baker with the Heart Punch, but CM Punk’s use of his popular Go To Sleep finisher is actually a point of contention.

It was KENTA who innovated the move back in his Pro Wrestling NOAH days and used the same name, but Punk popularized it during his WWE run. Since leaving WWE, KENTA has been vocal about his disapproval of CM Punk’s use of the move to the point where he’s actually claimed to want royalties from Punk over it.

9 Punt Kick

Randy Orton's infamous Punt Kick was taken off television for quite some time after an accident with Vince McMahon happened in 2009. Orton admitted that he was too excited and forgot to take care of the person receiving the move.

It did get brought out sparingly in matches and quite a bit during his 2020 feud with multiple legends. Vince let Randy revive the move as he was able to do it safely with their main concern now being fans replicating the move.

8 Curb Stomp

Much like the Punt Kick before it, Seth Rollins faced a similar fate with his Curb Stomp finisher. The WWE got really worried about the effects of the move and anyone trying to replicate it, so it was taken off-screen for a while.

Seth Rollins would then need to find a new finisher and tested a few things out before settling on using his storyline mentor, Triple H's Pedigree. After a bit of time passed, the move was able to be brought back and has helped Rollins win countless matches since.

7 Tiger Driver

Mitsuharu Misawa Vs. Toshiaki Kawada - AJPW Super Power Series 1994

Mitsuharu Misawa and the rest of the four pillars of All Japan Pro Wrestling were famous for the insane moves they would do to each other and their opponents. Misawa often used a move called the Tiger Driver where he would plant someone right on the back of their neck with their legs high in the air.

While the move has always been brutal, the recent match between Will Ospreay and Kenny Omega at Forbidden Door caused the move to regain popularity. Many people including Stevie Richards have broken down the effects of this move on YouTube.

6 Superkick

While Shawn Michaels made the Superkick a massively popular finisher under the name Sweet Chin Music, the move actually comes from British wrestler Chris Adams, who utilized it in the 1980s.

Since its use by “The Heartbreak Kid,” countless wrestlers who grew up watching his matches have added it to their repertoire, including The Young Bucks, who use it to a hilarious, trolling degree. This has made the Superkick a surprisingly controversial move, especially when coupled with Vince McMahon’s reported ban on thigh slaps in 2021.

5 Vertebreaker

In his days in WCW, Shane Helms — otherwise known as Gregory Helms or The Hurricane — utilized a move called The Vertebreaker, a dangerous looking back-to-back piledriver named after a character from the Spawn comic books.

Also used by Homicide as the Cop Killer or Gringo Killer, the move looks like it could go wrong fairly easily and drop a dude on his neck. In fact, WWE banned the move when Helms arrived in the company in 2001 — which Helms himself had no problem with, as most WWE wrestlers were too large for him to pick up.

4 Burning Hammer

In 1998, Japanese legend Kenta Kobashi pulled out a new maneuver to put away rival Mitsuharu Misawa in a match: an inverted Death Valley Driver called the Burning Hammer. A nuclear option super finisher, Kobashi only used the move seven times in his career, but it’s been a source of controversy for a couple of reasons.

For some, the Burning Hammer is one of many head-drop maneuvers that made the All Japan Pro Wrestling matches of the day more dangerous than they perhaps needed to be. Others, however, just see younger wrestlers’ use of the move as cheapening something that was once special.

3 Ganso Bomb

Like the Burning Hammer above, the Ganso Bomb — sometimes called the Kawada Driver — was also used rarely as a “super finisher” and added additional fuel for the AJPW head-drop controversy, but it also has a unique position in that it was innovated entirely by accident.

In 1999, while wrestling Mitsuharu Misawa, Toshiaki Kawada broke his arm during the course of the match, which interfered with his ability to deliver his signature Powerbomb to put Misawa away. Kawada tried anyway and ended up dumping Misawa on his head, creating a shockingly dangerous-looking new move in the process.

2 Canadian Destroyer

Petey Williams hits the Canadian Destroyer

Credited to Petey Williams but originally innovated by Amazing Red, the Canadian Destroyer is a front-flip piledriver that has been a huge source of controversy in recent years.

Once considered an incredibly dangerous move in most hands, over the past decade or so it’s been more common, going from a move that wrestlers surprisingly pull off to being a not-uncommon maneuver in both AEW and WWE. Besides the ever-present debate about safety, many also decry the move’s overuse cheapening its value as a finisher, not unlike the Burning Hammer and the Superkick.

1 Powerbomb

Ever since Lou Thesz accidentally introduced it to the world, the Powerbomb has been an increased presence in the squared circle, with noted users of the move including Kevin Nash, Sid Vicious, and Batista.

However, the move isn’t without its detractors, including Bob Backlund, who hated taking Kevin Nash’s Powerbomb so much that he refused to ever take it again. More recently, Seth Rollins’ use of the Buckle Bomb (a Powerbomb into the turnbuckle) caused a lot of debate among fans and experts when it injured several wrestlers, including Sting.