Admit it. When Hulk Hogan planted that leg drop on the enemy’s grill, you cheered. Ditto the wonder that was The Stone-Cold Stunner. And don’t forget about The Ultimate Warrior’s military press, Macho Man’s flying elbow and the pre-Iraq War Camel Clutch.
I could go on. You may have already been sensing that. But that’s because devastating finishers are like a tomahawk dunk and a walk-off home run rolled into one. There is nothing else like it.
Suffice it to say this is one area where I don’t mind MMA taking a page from the pro wrestling playbook.
Here are 10 of MMA’s craziest pro-wrestling-style finishes. In order to qualify, first, a fighter needs to be actively associated with the move in question. No random dudes on YouTube.
Second, the move has to have actually caused a finish—the faster and cleaner the better.
Third, it has to be more than just lightning in a bottle; the fighter has to have pulled it off more than once, or at least stand a realistic shot of doing so.
And fourth, the move has to be able to start with the word The.
Those are the metrics. Now here’s the list.