10 WWE Finishers That Were Quickly Dropped

I'm going to start this with a statement that may have been considered controversial, at least before Lance Storm came out and essentially said the same sort of thing. Do you know what is dumb in pro wrestling? The concept of the finishing move, that's what. I'm not just talking about the use of them in the flow of a match, I'm talking about the furore that surrounds them, the criticism that some wrestlers get for their choice in a fatality.

With that out the way, establishing a strong finishing move remains an integral part of any pro wrestler's career, conditioning the audience to get excited about the prospect of a particular move being hit. All of the greats came with moves that were synonymous with the man utilising them, from Sweet Chin Music to the Tombstone Piledriver.

A surprisingly large amount of experimentation goes into establishing a finishing move. Wrestlers go through periods of trial and error, trying out new moves and seeing how they fit in the context of a match, how the audience responds, whether there is any longevity in the move as a finisher. That leads to plenty of moves coming and going in the blink of an eye, as moves are jettisoned as soon as it seems like all momentum is lost. Even the greats go through this process, some doing so more than once.

Trial and error, guys, trial and error.

Early-WWE monopoly Kane was awesome. The Big Red Machine might not have a litany of tremendous matches that stick long in the memory, but for a period between 2001 and 2002 he was one of the most consistent performers on the show, having under the radar bangers with opponents as varied as Albert, Rhyno and X-Pac. Hairy, wide or small, Kane was bringing his working boots to the ring every single week.

Was it entirely coincidental that this was also the time he started using a falling powerbomb as a finisher? I'll leave you to answer that. Kane's powerbomb was a vicious thing of beauty, arguably the best non-Sid division powerbomb in the history of WWE. The Big Red Bugger would hoist his opponents up before violently hurtling them to the ground, bringing himself to his knees along the way. It was simple, it was effective, it was fantastic.

The move didn't last too long as a finisher for some reason, eventually being phased out as the chokeslam returned. That chance also coincided with Kane returning to the land of wacky storylines (Shane McMahon's b*llocks want a word) and lumbering matches.

Still, we'll always have 2001 Kane. 2001 Kane was awesome.