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

25. 1996 - Dangerous Brainbuster

Best Finishers
NJPW

A grim mythology surrounds the terrifying finishers and super-finishers with which All Japan Pro Wrestling generated unprecedented critical acclaim in the 1990s, but this danger was prevalent across the puro industry.

It was a trend fans were drawn to inexorably because it enhanced the epic main event matches with a sense of intoxicating drama. These were incredibly tough and skilled men sacrificing their bodies to win support, acclaim and glory.

Shinya Hashimoto, one of the biggest draws in wrestling's most popular decade, aggregated globally, put himself over as the legit badass killer he was with his disturbing - but sorry, glorious - Dangerous Brainbuster.

The drama, the credibility, is all in that slow descent. It took an age, one that deepened the sense of peril, for him to drive his opponents skull-first to the mat. This wasn't immaculate sleight of hand, the last-millisecond shift to the upper back.

This was head trauma.

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!