10 Most Heavily Protected Wrestling Finishers Ever

7. Banzai Drop (Yokozuna)

Randy Orton Shane McMahon
WWE.com

It was an easy move to protect, Yokozuna's Banzai Drop, because who could believably kick out of a man who once tipped the scales at close to 600lbs sitting square on their chest?

But even in Yoko's lighter days, the Banzai was devastating. The former WWE Champion would scale the turnbuckles ominously and often bounce a couple of times for extra spring, before leaping off backwards, his entire bodyweight crashing down upon the opponent's ribcage. As beautifully simple as it was brutally devastating, it would have required a Herculean effort to escape from.

Nothing about the Banzai Drop was contrived. It could believably flatten you. In fact, there were times when it looked like Yoko was legitimately flattening people. It's a good job, then, that several wrestlers, including Bret Hart, have gone on the record to call the big man one of the safest workers they'd ever wrestled, with Yoko's feet taking the brunt of the Banzai Drop's impact.

Nobody ever kicked out of the Banzai in the then-WWF. Not even Hulk Hogan, who was stretchered out of the arena after taking it following his and Yoko's King of the Ring 1993 match.

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Andy has been with WhatCulture for eight years and is currently WhatCulture's Wrestling Channel Manager. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.