10 Wrestling Finishers That Were Successfully Used In Pro MMA Fights

Legends like Jerry 'The King' Lawler and Harley Race used the piledriver to finish off several opponents over the course of their Hall of Fame careers.

A piledriver involves holding an opponent upside down, with their head between one's legs, and falling (often in a seated position) toward the canvas. The move can be quite dangerous and was banned from WWE in 2000 unless a wrestler (i.e. The Undertaker) is granted special permission to use it.

Technically, piledrivers are illegal in MMA, though the move is rarely used. That being said there have been a few fighters who have decided to use the piledriver as a form of takedown defense and were not penalized for doing so.

Former UFC standouts like Nate Marquart and Alan Belcher have used the move somewhat effectively during their fights with Thales Leites and Patrick Cote respectively.

More recently, at a 2015 World Series of Fighting event, Chris Foster pulled off a well-executed piledriver to try and thwart his opponent Chris Foster's takedown attempt.

Though it shouldn't be used, the old school pro wrestling hold has made an appearance in multiple MMA bouts.