10 WWE Finishers Leftover From Old Gimmicks

3. Adam Cole - The Last Shot/Panama Sunrise

Bray Wyatt Fiend Sister Abigail
WWE

Adam Cole is many things on the black-and-gold brand.

He's the leader of The Undisputed Era, the former and longest-reigning NXT Champion, and a vintage heel that has refined an awesome legacy on the independent scene to become a performer seemingly impervious to some of the WWE system's ills.

In fact, he's almost everything her ever was and more, apart from the personality traits attached to his most devastating moves.

If he's not finishing opponents with The Last Shot, he's trying to put them away with his Panama Sunrise Canadian Destroyer variant, yet neither of these boozy notes reflect the man he's become since arriving in NXT in 2017. He's cocky, confident and full of love for his own legacy of sh*thousery, but he's not 'The Panama City Playboy'. The names evoke feelings of a life that seemingly couldn't be further away from the one he appears to live today.

This is perhaps not really a complaint - Cole has done well to stick around on NXT this long. A move to either Raw or SmackDown could well see the moves given wackier labels, or worse, his personality changed to suit them. Remember the name Panama Pete Cole - you'll be crying Shorty G-sized tears about it later.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett