10 Wrestlers With Better Signatures Than Finishers

9. Cesaro

Better Than This
WWE.com

The finisher:

The Gotch-Style Neutraliser is bad. Any move that isn't high-risk - yet looks like a right bastard on the knees - is bad. The impact is non-precise; it's a simple slam to all of the body, the impact of which is distributed and thus minimised. It's rendered annoying, too, by the mandated WWE Hard Camera posing. That thing Cesaro does to signal it is weird, distracting, and total pointless. It doesn't evoke any sort of response. It doesn't, like Sweet Chin Music, boast a theatrical call-and-response element. Thousands of WWE fans don't weirdly crank their neck a bit in rapt anticipation of it.

The better signature:

It's a pick 'em, because Cesaro is ace. Cesaro is a phenomenal, gifted aberration of human form. By rights, were this real, he'd be an undefeated WWE Champion because what he can do in that ring, when he is untethered, is so astonishing that it's hardly fair. He wins every tale of the tape. To settle on one, his springboard lariat should be his finish because the flair, propulsion and impact combination is an intoxicating thrill he gets told not to elicit too much, per former WWE Producer Arn Anderson, because you might like it.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!