7. RKO
When he first started using the RKO as his finisher, Randy Orton didn’t have much going for him. Sure, the move looked cool. But it was already in the company of similar moves like the Twist of Fate and the Diamond and Bubba Cutters. It wasn’t until the internet did its thing and took something relatively bland and turn it into something hilarious that the RKO really got over as a finisher.
A few years ago, Vines and GIFs spread like wildfire through across the web. In them, a superimposed Randy Orton would RKO someone who was falling, giving off the impression that he was the one that caused them to fall. These hilarious and ludicrous videos were, more often than not, accompanied by Michael Cole screaming ‘RKO OUTTA NOWHERE’, leading to the meme’s birth.
It was through this organic movement that the RKO really became an incredibly popular move. The catchphrase ‘RKO outta nowhere’ likewise spread like wildfire, and soon people would cheer Randy on just to see him hit the RKO. Having a move that could be executed literally out of nowhere onto an unsuspecting victim makes this one of the greatest finishers of all time.