The finisher. A move to end all moves. There are so many things that can make a finisher great: like the power of the spear, the brutality of the F5 or the pop that the move gives the audience like the people’s elbow. These sort of finishers are the type we will never get tired of seeing, however, some finishers can be terrible and sap the life out of a whole arena in an instant, so it’s time to rank the 5 superstars on the current roster (excluding NXT) who really need a fresh new way to end a match. It should be noted that I don’t think these are the worst current finishers, that prize would likely go to the comedy kings Santino or Khali, it is instead a list of fighters who need an updated final manoeuvre.

5. Wade Barrett/Bad News Barrett

First and foremost Wade Barrett needs to get back to actually wrestling. In my opinion he is a highly talented individual who isn’t being utilised to the best of his ability, I love his Bad News Barrett persona but what’s the point in freshening him up to simply have him gain some cheap heat from the crowd and never step foot in the ring? Anyway, if WWE finally get their heads together and put the bare knuckle boxing champion into feud he could do with a new finishing move; first he had wasteland that always looked clunky and then he got the bull hammer elbow, which while brutal looking, didn’t have the feel of a finisher for a man of his size. I hope when the time does come for the Englishman to return to the ring they utilise his strength and height and give him the vicious and impressive finisher he deserves.

4. Dolph Ziggler

Here’s another superstar with top card potential that the WWE are wasting. Last year Dolph Ziggler had arguably the best moment of anyone in 2013 when he cashed in Money in the Bank to an insane pop from every single attendee the night after Wrestlemania 29, since then Dolph has undergone some of the worst booking imaginable and moved from World Heavyweight Champion to jobbing on Main Event. The damage that has been done to his career may now be irreversible but a new finishing move could help get him back some credibility as the zig-zag has become stale and the sleeperhold is far too scarcely used nowadays to been seen as a legitimate submission winner. I wish he would use the superkick more, not only can Dolph pull it off perfectly but anything that shines back to HBK gets a massive tick in my book.

3. Alberto Del Rio

Though it hasn’t been quite as big a slip down the WWE mountain for him as Dolph, Alberto has fallen massively in the space of a few months; he had strong championship reigns during the last calendar year but now he looks set to job to Batista at the Elimination Chamber PPV and whether he will even appear at Mania this year remains a mystery. The problem for Del Rio is that even though he is a fantastic technical wrestler he has become rather boring and mundane ever since he lost Ricardo Rodriguez as his right-hand man, not bringing him back to Del Rio’s side was a decision that has always massively perplexed me and with there being zero possibility of Ricardo becoming the Mexican Aristocrat’s wingman again maybe a new finisher can rejuvenate the former champion because the cross arm breaker has been ridiculously overused. Alberto is another candidate who could utilise the infamous superkick, with a very kick-based moveset already cemented why not add it as his finishing move as it would slip in fantastically and re-elevate the entertainment factor of Albertooooooo Del Rioooooo.

2. Damien Sandow

Yet again we have to talk of a superstar on this list who has fell from grace during the latter part of last year; Damien Sandow won the WHC ladder match to become Mr. Money in the Bank. Following this a feud with Cody Rhodes, whom he screwed out of the briefcase, looked very promising but was dropped with seemingly no warning or explanation, then John Cena returned to the company and Sandow cashed in the briefcase but in typical fashion ‘Super Cena’ pulled it out the bag, throwing Sandow back into the abyss of irrelevance. Now Sandow is floundering, and his terrible ‘You’re Welcome’ (A Full Nelson Slam) finisher isn’t helping at all, watching Sandow both in and out of the ring is a real pleasure but I don’t know what to suggest for him, I’ll let the company take the lead on this one and hope beyond hope that they give him a new move and get him in a serious feud where he could shine as a top heel.

1. Big E

The man who has recently dropped the ‘Langston’ part from his name juxtaposes all of the other candidates on this list in the sense that he is actually having a very successful time in WWE right now and is quickly becoming the most credible Intercontinental Champion the company has had for years since winning the belt from Cutis Axel a few months back. Big E has everything it takes to be a mega-star for years to come, he is gigantic, has boundless power and speed and if you’ve seen his Instagram you’ll know he is hilarious and full of personality which makes you wonder why creative isn’t giving him mic time every week to show this factor off to the universe. But Big E has one enormous problem, the big ending. Slamming your opponent on top of you not only seems like a weak attack but it also looks ridiculous. Surely it would hurt him too? I would love to see Big E take on a powerbomb, coming from someone that muscly the move would look awesome. This would not only help give a better finale to his matches but it would also be a move we could watch Big E win the best titles in the business with time and again, which I for one would massively look forward to.

All of these superstars then could do with change of finisher, be it to reinvent themselves like Ziggler, add excitement to their matches like Del Rio or promote them to the next level of their wrestling careers like Big E. Should the WWE make amendments to these superstars’ arsenals we could be in for some incredible new ways to end matches which I’m sure we can all agree, is certainly best for business, the wrestlers and most importantly, the universe.