The Nine Coolest Finishing Moves in Wrestling

We count down the signature moves that have made us laugh, cry and cringe in horror.

9. The Leg Drop
Wrestler: Hulk Hogan
How it worked: After a bit of flexing, the Hulkster would bounce off the ropes and drop onto his ass, slapping his leg across the victim's neck and chest.
Why it was awesome: The move itself was kind of lame, but it represented everything that makes wrestling great. The fact that the Hulk could make such a low-impact maneuver look so devastating was a testament to just how good he was at what he did. To this day, seeing footage of the leg drop makes us want to tear our shirts off, grow a mustache, overdose on vitamins and slap the Rock for thinking the People's Elbow was anywhere near as cool.

8. The Million Dollar Dream
Wrestler: Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase
How it worked: Sometimes known as the cobra clutch, the beauty of this modified half-nelson was that it used the victim's own arm to do the choking.
Why it was awesome: Adding to the mystique of the hold was the fact that Million Dollar Man could pull it off without messing up his meticulously feathered hair. While it did look like it hurt, we wouldn't mind being subjected to it if we got to keep the $100 bill he traditionally crammed into the unconscious victim's mouth. We need the money—these pay-per-views aren't getting any cheaper.

7. The Mandible Claw
Wrestler: Mankind
How it worked: Mick Foley's creepy alter ego stuck two of his grubby fingers as far down the other guy's throat as possible.
Why it was awesome: Not only should it have been incredibly illegal, but it elicited some of the grossest and most hilarious reactions from those it was applied to. Out of the nine moves on the list, this is the one we'd want to experience the least—plus, it gets bonus points for penetration.

6. The Tombstone
Wrestler: The Undertaker
How it worked: The man in black got his enemy up in a completely hetero standing 69 position and then dropped to his knees, plowing the top of his head into the mat.
Why it was awesome: Not only was it all kinds of erotic, but it was also dangerous as hell. The fact that the Undertaker performed it as many times as he did without completely vegetable-izing someone is pretty impressive. Our favorite memory of this move, though, was watching that tubby bitch Paul Bearer get his already chin-covered neck shortened by it.

5. The Doomsday Device
Wrestler: The Legion of Doom
How it worked: Road Warrior Animal would hold the opponent up on his shoulders like a frat boy would his breast-flashing girlfriend at a Poison concert, while Road Warrior Hawk executed a jumping clothesline from the top rope.
Why it was awesome: The only tag team move to make the list, the LOD gets credit for incorporating high-flying showmanship with old-fashioned mat-pounding. While it would have been better had they left their spiky shoulder pads on, we have to hand it to Hawk for sporting the best bald spot in the sport.

4. The Sharpshooter
Wrestler: Bret "Hitman" Hart
How it worked: Even though it was simpler than the next-to-impossible figure four leg lock, the Sharpshooter still required some practice. Hitman would step between his downed opponent's legs and then proceed to twist them awkwardly around his own leg. We're not quite sure how it worked, but it sure looked like it hurt.
Why it was awesome: Some people think it was Bret Hart's lack of strength that kept him from using a more flamboyant signature move, but we like to think it was a combination of a vast wrestling knowledge base and his trademark Canadian classiness.

3. The Earthquake
Wrestler: Earthquake
How it worked: A helplessly beaten opponent would lie in the corner of the ring as the big man dropped all 400-plus pounds of his heft (ass-first) onto his chest.
Why it was awesome: There's something heartwarming about seeing an incredibly obese man in a very sweaty blue unitard plop his huge ass on another man's chest. While horribly painful for the person receiving the move, there was probably some novelty in being face-to-face with the bulge of a man who we're guessing hadn't seen his own penis in years. Neat!

2. The Top-Rope Splash
Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka
How it worked: Jimmy would get his opponent lying on his back in the middle of the ring, climb to the top of the turnbuckles and jump, doing a belly flop onto the other guy's torso.
Why it was awesome: Sure, nowadays moves from the top rope are about as common as mullets at a wrestling event, but no one has been able to match the style with which Superfly did it. There were no flips, twists or any of that other stuff that belongs on the Olympic gymnastics floor, just two seconds of pure, barefoot-flying brutality.

1. The Stone Cold Stunner
Wrestler: Stone Cold Steve Austin
How it worked: He'd stand in front of his opponent, facing the same direction, grab his head over his shoulder and drop to his knees, effectively obliterating the other guy's jaw and pearly whites.
Why it was awesome: In his prime, Stone Cold would drop this tooth-smashing maneuver on anyone and everyone who pissed him off. Traditionally preceded by a kick to the midsection, the Stunner was simple enough for misguided youths (such as ourselves) to reenact and yet devastating enough to put the toughest competitors down for the three-count. We salute you, Stone Cold, and your complete disregard for the dental welfare of wrestlers and America's youth alike.

Credits - Thanks to StuffMagazine