10 Most Heavily Protected Wrestling Finishers Ever
5. The Punt (Randy Orton)
Randy Orton has mastered the pro wrestling finisher game, as his two most impactful match-enders stand out in completely different ways.
The RKO is an all-timer. Orton's ability to hit it Out Of Nowhere™ turned it into a meme years ago - and rightly so. That he's able to nail the move in dozens of different situations and as a counter to some of his opponents' biggest moves, from the Curb Stomp to a Chokeslam, means Randy has infinite crowd-popping potential. It helps, too, that it's one of the snappiest and most fluid executions of a Cutter the sport has ever seen.
But the RKO can be kicked out of. Spectacular as it is, its level of protection, while significant (the RKO is nowhere near as burned-out as, say, a Superkick), isn't on the same level as The Punt.
This is Orton's MDK move. No more than a running soccer kick to the head, it inflicts pure, concussive trauma on the opponent, and is particularly effective when the future Hall of Famer is on a psychotic break. Rising to prominence during Randy's McMahon-slaughtering build-up to facing Triple H at WrestleMania 25, it was brought back to great effect in 2020.