Wrestling’s 20 Greatest Finishers of All Time

19. Kenta/CM Punk: GTS

In 2006, KENTA looked at the wrestling landscape and thought, ‘if I’m going to make an impact, I need to come up with something new’. What he did was he took his gimmick of being a stiffer-than-necessary striker, and add that to his finisher.

Thus was born the GTS, an insanely stiff knee lift to an opponent being dropped from a fireman’s carry position. KENTA, being a kicking specialist, got this move over big time because people knew he was hitting as hard as he could when delivering the move.

Meanwhile, CM Punk saw the move and adopted it as his own in WWE. Since few people watching WWE knew of KENTA at the time, they thought Punk came up with something novel. Regardless of who came up with it first, the GTS remains a highly popular finishing move.

That said, this is one move that does require considerable precision to avoid serious injury. Mistiming the knee lift can lead to a concussion, broken orbital bone, or worse. That makes it both a more dangerous move and a more exciting one, as some people get a thrill out of wondering if a match will resort to the most dangerous moves being busted out.