10 Wrestling Finishers That Haven't Worked In Years
If you get hit by these wrestling finishers any time soon... you're probably going to be just fine.
Wrestling is a constantly evolving game.
What once ignited a crowd with ease can quickly grow stale in next to no time at all, leaving a company or performer with no choice but to move on and try something new.
However, it isn't just a lack of crowd reaction that has been known to utterly nerf a trademark move's effectiveness and force a wrestler to change up their go-to match-ender.
Everything from Father Time catching up to some of the most notable names in the business, to a star's chosen employer not being too keen on the move in question, have proven to be the catalyst for significant change, with a once-devastating finisher quickly becoming little more than a transitional beat in the battle.
In fact, you may not even have realised that some of the most impactful finishers ever to be unleashed in a squared-circle haven't actually sealed the deal in an age!
From bone-breaking submissions not producing a tap in some time, to the birth of a far superior signature acting as the final nail in a finisher's coffin, these are those once-prolific moves that no longer get the job done.
10. Sami Zayn - Braiiiiinbustaaaa
In the time before El Generico mysteriously disappeared, and right before the ultimate underdog known as Sami Zayn rocked up in NXT, that masked sensation could regularly be found dropping folks on their brains in order to come away with that all important "W".
But it was Zayn's arrival on the black and gold show that seemed to all but end his usage of the terrifically executed modified suplex, with the one-time independent darling instead reverting to his equally effective Helluva Kick in the years that would follow his 2013 NXT debut.
Now sure, Zayn has still been known to pull out the "Braaaaainbustaaaah!" on occasion - ish - most notably pulverising Kevin Owens and Daniel Bryan on the apron with variations at Battleground 2016 and on a 2020 edition of SmackDown, respectively. However, the move hasn't earned him a victory in nearly a decade!
In fact, Generico's last recorded use of the top-rope variation of the iconic move came in a match teaming alongside pal Kevin Steen against The Young Bucks in early 2013. But it still couldn't get the job done then as the pair fell to the now All Elite duo at PWG DDT4.