10 Wrestlers With Better Signatures Than Finishers

8. Goldberg

Better Than This
WWE.com

The finisher:

A once-great finish Goldberg can no longer execute in his twilight years, there is a reason beyond the artistic for him to retire it: he almost paralysed the Undertaker with the Jackhammer at Super Show-Down 2019. Knocked loopy by...himself, Goldberg didn't have it in him to land 'Taker safely, much less register the old, powerful sight of the man holding even the most gigantic of opponents in the air at his will. The Fiend was always going to emerge from Super Show-Down 2020 as a more symbolic corpse, but Goldberg's piss-poor Jackhammer didn't help. At all. It looked pathetic. It looked gentle. But even at his peak, the Jackhammer wasn't so much a finisher as an exclamation point. There was no coming back from...

The better signature:

The Spear is such a phenomenal, industry-changing move that several of its adopters (Edge, Christian) no-sold its psychology. They just want to get their sh*t in - this sh*t specifically - because it's so great. Goldberg was the original, and for all the deserved criticism, remains the best. It is a damn skeleton extractor of a move with a ferocious snap so visceral in its thrill that it elevated the sinking ship that was WCW for a calendar year.

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 surefire Undisputed WWE Universal 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!