Ranking What Was Really The Best Wrestling Finisher Every Year 1990-2020

14. 2007 - Backdrop Driver

Best Finishers
Pro Wrestling NOAH

2007 was the year in which Takeshi Morishima was in such remarkable form as the uncrowned sixth Pillar that it was thought to be the first phase of an all-time great career. That's not how it unfolded, but just because it didn't should not diminish how awesome he was at his peak.

A level below the Pillars is still by some magnitude many levels above most, and as ROH World Champion, Morishima enjoyed the luxury of spiking far smaller and all too willing men directly into their heads with a sickening tribute to Jumbo Tsuruta's Backdrop Driver, thus getting himself over as the immovable object.

Never the most charismatic of performers, Morishima's eerie, expressionless face worked in synergy with the callous angle of the move. He held the wellbeing of these outmatched opponents in such little regard that he plunged them to their doom without even registering them.

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 current Undisputed WWE 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!