WWE: Four iconic wrestling finishers that don’t hold up in 2019

2. Ultimate Warrior’s Gorilla Press Drop/Running Splash

One of the qualifications was that it could not be a signature move, so having the gorilla press drop listed might seem to go against those rules. However, Ultimate Warrior’s often times performed these moves in direct order as part of a finishing sequence, so we will count it.

Either way, with or without the gorilla press drop, Ultimate Warrior’s finishing move would never hold up in WWE in 2019 and it would be incredibly hard for anyone to take it seriously as a move that could legitimately down an opponent for three seconds.

I mean, just look at his running splash. He bounces off the ropes and dives on his opponent. That is it. It is not from the top rope, the second turnbuckle, or even includes a sharp bone – like an elbow – going into someone else’s body. It is a move in which he is jumping on someone like he is ready to give them a hug.

This might work if you are wrestling with your eight-year-old cousin and he cannot push you off of him but this move would never work in a practical sense. The only way it would be believable to hurt an opponent would be if you knocked the wind out of them, but in theory, you would knock the wind out of yourself too.

At least with the gorilla press drop, the opponent is falling from seven or so feet off the ground. But even in modern-day WWE, that move would be ridiculous as a finisher as well.

It was Ultimate Warrior’s energy and charisma that made him so popular and that is why this move was effective. That is why he is one of the greatest of all-time, but quite frankly, Hornswoggle’s Tadpole Splash probably would do more damage.