5 WWE Finishers that lost its effect

A unique finisher is the first thing that a professional wrestler or a WWE Superstar needs to have to distinguish himself. Despite how much Kevin Owens tries, the Stunner would always be considered as Stone Cold Steve Austin's finishing move. While an iconic move like the Stone Cold Stunner ensured that Austin never had to consider adding another finisher to his move-set, that has not been the case with various other WWE Superstars.

Owens' pop-up powerbomb no longer gets the great reaction that it once did. Or, take Chris Jericho's Lionsault as another example. Y2J used his Walls of Jericho submission alongside the Lionsault as his primary finishers during his WCW and early WWE days. However, the deficiency of not having a pinfall inducing finisher led Jericho to brainstorm another move.

While the Lionsault was an effective move during his initial days, soon it was overtaken by the Breakdown - an uglier original version of the Skull Crushing Finale.

This Breakdown was soon phased out and in 2005, Jericho introduced the running enzuigiri. It never got over as a finisher and during his second run in the company, Y2J finally found a solution in the Codebreaker. The Judas Effect has now been added as another finisher, with the Lionsault being used rarely. If it does get used, it is usually as a transitional move.

This has downgraded the prestige of the once unique move. So, let's have a look at five five WWE finishers that have been pushed down the pecking order by Superstars in favour of more suitable alternatives?

---

#5 Angle Slam - Kurt Angle

Kurt Angle prefers his Ankle Lock to finish matches instead of the Angle Slam

Kurt Angle might just be the best athlete to ever step foot inside a pro-wrestling ring and his wrestling repertoire screamed of his amateur roots. Fans rightly consider the Ankle Lock to be Angle's finishing move, with the hold earning him numerous high-profile victories over the likes of Steve Austin, The Rock, John Cena and even Hulk Hogan.

However, up until Wrestlemania 20 in 2004, Angle's Angle Slam held equal footing with the Ankle Lock as his finishing move. In fact, Angle beat Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship at Vengeance 2003 with the Angle Slam. The move was so protected that it was rare for his opponents to kick out of the Angle Slam under normal circumstances.

That changed when Angle made his in-ring return following neck surgery to battle Eddie Guerrero. Guerrero would start the trend of Angle's opponents routinely kicking out of the Angle Slam. Angle would proceed to beat Guerrero multiple times using the Ankle Lock. All of his future high-profile wins, including one over Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania 21, would be courtesy of the Ankle Lock.

The Angle Slam would be devalued as a move with Angle executing it as a transitional move than as a finisher. Even the top rope Angle Slam that would end matches for Angle pre-2004 would be relegated to a 2-count maneuver.

The trend would remain the same even when Angle left WWE to join TNA; Abyss kicked out of the Angle Slam in Angle's debut TV match, before submitting to the Ankle Lock. It later came to be considered an honour for up-and-coming wrestlers to lose to Angle via the Ankle Lock whereas the Angle Slam never regained its lost status.

#2. Edgecution - Edge

Edge has used a number of finishing moves throughout his career

Edge was one of the first wrestlers in North America to popularise the Spear as a finishing move. While it is the most iconic move associated with Edge, it is also interesting to note that Edge has used at least three more finishers during his career.

His first notable finishing move was the Unprettier, which was used frequently during his tag team days with Christian. Christian would eventually use it as his finisher after the duo split up, with Edge progressing to the Spear. While the Unprettier wasn't really protected as a strong finisher, the Edgecution was.

Edgecution was Edge's version of the lifting DDT, which looked devastating and was truly worthy of being a finisher. Edge used the Edgecution alongside the Spear as his primary moves in 2002 before an injury saw him miss most of 2003.

When he returned in 2004, Edge hardly used the Edgecution. Instead, he focussed on the Spear which was the better move to build anticipation before its delivery. The rare occasions that Edge did use the move, JR called it as an 'elevated DDT' on commentary, completely rendering the Edgecution worthless.

Additionally, Edge also pulled out a submission move called the Edgecator in 2004, which was basically an inverted sharp shooter. It didn't stick either, with the Spear being his weapon of choice, so much so that his entire Wrestlemania 26 World Heavyweight title feud with Chris Jericho was based on the move.

#3. Chokeslam - The Undertaker

Undertaker's Chokeslam is his fourth most preferred finisher

The Undertaker has won WWE Championships with the Chokeslam - so how come it got devalued? The reason is that the Deadman has one of the most stacked move-sets for a wrestling heavyweight and eventually the Chokeslam evolved into being just another spot, building up towards Taker's other more explosive finishers.

Tombstone Piledriver, Hell's Gate and the Last Ride relegated the Chokeslam down the pecking order. The fact that Taker's frequent opponents like Kane and the Big Show used the Chokeslam as their primary finisher made it less special when Taker pulled it out.

The 'Deadman' version of The Undertaker was always associated with the Tombstone, with the WWE's decision to ban all other piledrivers from being used in the company making the move extra special. As far as Taker's 'American Badass' persona was considered, the Last Ride became his new signature which further downgraded the Chokeslam.

The Chokeslam was reserved for opponents whom Taker couldn't lift up for the Last Ride or the Tombstone, but that last remaining sheen vanished when the Hell's Gate was introduced. Super heavyweights like the Great Khali bit the dust under that Triangle Choke.

In recent years, Taker would use the Chokeslam as a set up move for his Tombstone, with even the Snake Eyes earning more of a crowd pop.

#4. S.O.S - Kofi Kingston

Kofi Kingston started out with a Jamaican gimmick

When Kofi Kingston debuted in the WWE with a questionable Jamaican accent and his 'S.O.S' theme song, his finisher was also called S.O.S. The move was impressive to look at, with the side flip leg sweep combo a convincing end to any match. However, by the time he entered into a high-profile feud with Randy Orton in 2009, he had introduced 'Trouble in Paradise' as his finisher.

It isn't clear as to why Kingston chose to discard the S.O.S as his primary finisher considering that the move always got a good pop. One reason might be that Kingston had decided to drop the fake Jamaican accent and had started to be billed from Ghana rather than Jamaica, so he might have felt that a change was in order.

Another rumour is that Kingston simply wasn't the best proponent of the move. While he still did it well and may be more safely, the S.O.S is basically a rip off of a Japanese manoeuvre called The Ranhei, innovated by a Japanese wrestler named Madoka. Madoka executed the move at a faster pace compared to Kofi.

Kingston would come up with his new spinning kick finisher - 'Trouble in Paradise' - which also got a great pop. But Kingston wouldn't remove the S.O.S from his arsenal, eventually relegating the move to a 2-count transitional spot.

#1 Zig Zag - Dolph Ziggler

Ziggler's Zig Zag

Dolph Ziggler's first finishing move in the WWE was the Sleeper hold. Completely unremarkable as a finisher, the Sleeper was actually the move that a heel would traditionally use to slow things down. It also signalled to the fans that the match would take quite a bit of time to enter the final stretch.

While it was unimaginative as best for a worker like Dolph Ziggler, he soon came up with the far better Zig Zag. This move would see Ziggler wrap an arm around the throat of his opponent from behind, throwing them both downwards. While not a truly remarkable move, the fact that it could be executed out of nowhere worked in his favour.

Ziggler would score the biggest victory of his career with that move - the successful Money in the Bank cash-in on Alberto Del Rio the night after Wrestlemania 29, saw the crowd explode. The moment and the pop remains the highlight of Ziggler's career, so it was strange when he decided to relegate the ZigZag in favour of the Super Kick during his later WWE career.

The Super Kick will always be an effective finisher, but Ziggler would draw unflattering comparisons with the retired Shawn Michaels after adopting the move. While Ziggler can compare himself to Michaels as far as selling ability goes, the Heartbreak Kid completely outscores Ziggler in overall charisma as well as achievements.

Ziggler would blatantly copy Michaels' 'tuning up the band' routine, which generated boos for Dolph even when he was a babyface. As Michaels was always around the main event scene and was expected to win any match he wrestled, his Sweet Chin Music was an effective weapon that could be delivered out of nowhere to end the match. But with the WWE rarely pushing Ziggler to win a feud these days, the mystique associated with the Super Kick never quite translated to him.

This, in turn, made the Zig Zag just another accessory to Dolph. The fact that both moves are sudden impact manoeuvres also doesn't favour the Zig Zag. Dolph usually pulls out the Zig Zag as a momentum changing move before setting up the Super Kick later in the match.