5 WWE World Champions Who Had Awesome Finishers (& 5 That Sucked)

It takes more than just talent alone to reach the peak of WWE and win a world title in the company, as presentation is hugely important too. Having the full package can make a competitor look like a star and it can lead them to world title glory, and often, a finishing move can help in that. Having an impactful and legit looking finisher is a major plus, and some world champions had brilliant ones.

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However, there are also several wrestlers over the years who had a terrible looking finishing move, but they still managed to get their hands on some world title gold.

10 Awesome Finisher: Brock Lesnar

Brock Lesnar’s F5 is one of the most devastating looking finishers in WWE history. The way his opponents slam into the mat always feels as though it is with so much force. Nowadays there is less spin to the move, but it is still effective nonetheless. Back in the day though, this was even better.

Lesnar made a quick impression when he arrived on the scene, using one of the most perfectly executed examples of this move to beat The Rock at SummerSlam 2002 to win the WWE Championship for the first time, prompting a hugely successful career full of world titles.

9 Finisher That Sucked: Hulk Hogan

With Hulk Hogan, he was an example of where simple is better, doing less but making it more effective. His finisher was plain as day proof of that. Hogan’s finisher was quite simply a Legdrop. Not an elevated one or anything particularly special about.

The only thing that made it special was that Hogan was doing it, and due to the star power he had built up over the years, it made everything he did all the more powerful. There weren’t many who kicked out of the Legdrop, but it still didn’t look good at all. Either way, the move scored him a lot of world title glory.

8 Awesome Finisher: Randy Orton

Randy Orton’s version of the cutter is one of the most notable and famous finishers in WWE history. The impact that Orton gets on the RKO is fantastic, and the way that he can hit it out of nowhere has made it even more effective.

There are compilations of Orton’s best RKOs, as it is a move which can be hit from anywhere. The likes of CM Punk, Seth Rollins, RVD, and Evan Bourne have been on the receiving end of some of the best RKOs of all time. Orton has won countless world titles with this move.

7 Finisher That Sucked: Edge

Edge is no doubt one of the greatest of all time, and his reigns as the WWE and World Heavyweight Champion helped to carry WWE through the early stages of the PG Era and end of the Ruthless Aggression Era in the 2000s.

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Edge won several world titles, but it came with one of the weakest spears ever seen in professional wrestling. The likes of Goldberg and Roman Reigns have fantastic versions of the move, but Edge comes in with a slower pace to the side of the opponent, and most of the time it just didn’t look overly impressive.

6 Awesome Finisher: Triple H

Triple H’s Pedigree finisher is a brutal looking move at times, with it also being one of the most unique of all time too. The double underhook into the powerbomb position, driving his opponent’s head down to the mat has always looked good. Due to causing some injuries though, the move was altered slightly as time went on but it still didn’t fail to impress.

Triple H has become one of the most illustrious world champions of all time using this move, and it was even used by Seth Rollins for a time too (though no one pulled it off quite like Triple H, it has to be said).

5 Finisher That Sucked: Dean Ambrose

Dean Ambrose only won the WWE Championship on one occasion, and he did so with his WWE finisher - the Dirty Deeds. It was basically just a double underhook DDT. In AEW, he has improved this move ten-fold with it looking far more deadly, but in WWE it looked terrible.

It was such a soft move which looked less powerful than just an average DDT. He was given the short straw when it comes to the members of The Shield in more ways than one, and particularly in the finisher department with Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns receiving far better finishing moves.

4 Awesome Finisher: The Undertaker

The Piledriver is one of the most prolific moves in professional wrestling, and The Undertaker’s Tombstone Piledriver is among the best for sure. Fans know that when an opponent is hoisted up in position, they’re very close to losing the match.

Undertaker’s finisher, matched with his iconic pinfall, is an all-timer. He has won countless titles with this move, winning both the WWE Championship and World Heavyweight Championship on more than one occasion.

3 Finisher That Sucked: John Cena

John Cena is the most successful WWE superstar of all time, winning more titles in the company than anyone in history with 16. He may have the most success, but he has one of the worst finishers of all time too.

He holds his opponent up in a fireman’s carry, and simply throws them to the ground. Perhaps if someone else did it, it would look better, but John Cena’s Attitude Adjustment looks so, so weak. It is a tame move that has beaten some of the greats.

2 Awesome Finisher: Steve Austin

“Stone Cold” Steve Austin has one of the best finishers of all time for sure. The fans come unglued when he grabs an opponents’ head and stuns them into oblivion. One of the more fun aspects of this move is the freedom that wrestlers have when it comes to selling it - some of which have been excellent and some have been horrendous.

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Austin won a whole array of titles with this move, beating major stars like Shawn Michaels and The Rock to get his hands on the WWE Championship.

1 Finisher That Sucked: Ultimate Warrior

Similarly to Hulk Hogan, The Ultimate Warrior’s finisher was so plain and basic that it shouldn’t have worked, but due to his larger than life personality, it got over in a big way and fans got on board.

Warrior performed a splash - nothing more and nothing less. Just a basic splash which wasn’t from the top rope or anything else to make it more impactful. He even defeated Hogan with this move to win his first WWE Championship.