Wrestling’s 20 Greatest Finishers of All Time

1. The (Original) Burning Hammer

This is the best wrestling finisher of all time. It combines the elements of strength, technical precision, and extreme danger, all into one, nasty move. The Burning Hammer was popularized by Japanese wrestling legend Kenta Kobashi, who used it as his ‘super-finisher’.

This wasn’t just his ordinary go-to match-ending maneuver; he saved this move for his biggest and most important matches. In fact, he only used the move seven times between 1997 and 2006.

It isn’t hard to see why. This is ultra-dangerous move (which was brought to WWE recently in the Cruiserweight Classic) is extremely difficult to pull off safely. The poor soul taking the move has little means of absorbing the damage safely, taking most of the damage directly on the neck or upper shoulders.

When Kobashi first used the move, there was genuine shock from the commentators because the move looked like it could genuinely cripple someone.

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But the reason why this move is No. 1 is because it’s 100% successful. No one has ever kicked out of the Burning Hammer (when Kobashi used it). Each time he used it he won the match with it, making it the purest definition of a finisher in pro wrestling.