The AEW roster is quite deep with talented performers from top to bottom. A combination of established names like Chris Jericho and Jon Moxley, credible top stars to create the company like the Young Bucks and Kenny Omega, and the rising young stars like the Lucha Brothers and Darby Allin provide an ideal roster of great talents. Everyone has their own finisher with the hopes of theirs being the most feared in the promotion.
We will break down the ten best finishers from the wrestlers in AEW. The finishers in question all deliver an impressive visual leading to the crowd responding huge to the move and usually the end of the match. Each move has a different intent in terms of how it hurts the opposing wrestler. Find out just which stands at the top with the ten most lethal finishers in AEW.
10 Chris Jericho's The Judas Effect
The bold move of Chris Jericho to completely change finishers saw him add a new way to end matches to his library. Jericho was known for the Walls of Jericho submission, Lionsault and Codebreaker as his three main finishers in WWE.
The Judas Effect is a back elbow that has been heavily protected since debuting in AEW. Jericho clearly has gotten it over since fans react with a huge pop whenever he does hit it. This one isn’t as pretty as his other finishers, but an elbow to the face hurts everyone the same.
9 Private Party's Gin and Juice
Private Party has become one of the top new acts for AEW despite having little exposure before signing. The duo of Marq Quen and Isiah Kassidy are quite young with a short history in wrestling. AEW discovered them and pushed them hard right away.
The Young Bucks would lose cleanly to Private Party in the first round of the tag team title tournament essentially making them stars right away. Fans love the Gin and Juice finisher of Private hitting a hurricanrana into a stunner for a wild new move.
8 Cody Rhodes' Crossroads
One of the few wrestling finishers used in AEW to get established on national television is Cody Rhodes’ Crossroads move. The finisher scored Rhodes many victories on WWE television including Intercontinental and Tag Team Championship gold.
Cody has continued using the move as his main finisher while adding others to the rotation. The pop is always huge when Cody even just teases the Crossroads. This is one finisher that should not be changed any time soon since it’s working to great success.
7 Britt Baker's Lockjaw
Britt Baker is one of the main faces of the women’s division as AEW tries to build a credible one. The backstory of Baker working as a dentist in between her wrestling matches show the success story of living your dream in two different worlds.
Baker added a new submission finisher to her matches that ties them together. Lockjaw features Britt using the version of a crossface with the addition of her placing her hand in the mouth of her opponent sort of like a mandible claw. Hopefully the patients of Baker feel less pain when she works with their teeth.
6 The Young Bucks' Meltzer Driver
Matt and Nick Jackson have done a good job at establishing many different moves. The superkick has become associated with the Young Bucks in recent years since they use so many. More Bang for Your Buck is their main finisher, but they added a few others as well.
The Meltzer Driver was named after wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer with a unique twist on the tombstone piledriver. Matt holds the opponent in the tombstone position as Nick leaps to the top rope and does a twist in the air before spiking the opposing wrestler on their head.
5 PAC's Black Arrow/Brutalizer
PAC had a solid run in WWE as Neville, but we are finally getting to see his real potential fulfilled in AEW. The outstanding heel character work has PAC as one of the top performers in the company due to his victories over Kenny Omega and Adam Page.
PAC is known for some of the most beautiful aerial moves in wrestling today. The Black Arrow is an incredible top rope move that features his body spinning in shocking fashion before landing with huge impact. AEW matches have seen PAC transition into the brutalizer submission to add a more vicious way to end matches.
4 Jon Moxley's Paradigm Shift
The double underhook DDT has been Jon Moxley’s finisher since his time in WWE as Dean Ambrose. However, a few changes have been made to the move since Moxley started the next chapter of his career in AEW and NJPW.
Moxley changed the name of the move to the Paradigm Shift in AEW and it’s called the Death Rider in NJPW. The elevation of the opponent sees him picking them up higher to make it land with more impact. Wrestling fans used to view the DDT as an intense move, and Moxley is helping bring that back with the Paradigm Shift.
3 Darby Allin's Coffin Drop
Darby Allin has been a breakout star for AEW after having a few great performances, specifically a world title shot against Chris Jericho. The Coffin Drop finisher has become the calling card for Allin showcasing his lack of care for risks and his desire to put it all on the line.
One devastating aspect of the Coffin Drop is that it will hurt regardless of success or failure. Either Darby will fall with his entire weight and momentum on another person or he will be the one to land hard on his back and feel the pain. The Coffin Drop is one of the most over moves in AEW today.
2 Pentagon's Package Piledriver
Kevin Owens popularized the package piledriver finisher during his time in Ring of Honor and PWG. WWE unofficially bans all variations of the piledriver which prevented him from using it in many years. Pentagon has become the wrestler now most popular for using the move.
The finisher sees Pentagon having the opponent folded into a piledriver motion before dropping them on their heads. Fans always watch in awe at the vicious visual. The most lethal instance of the package piledriver in AEW came when Pentagon delivered it to Matt Jackson in the All Out Ladder match.
1 Kenny Omega's V-Trigger/One-Winged Angel
The combination of finishers helped make Kenny Omega one of the top wrestlers in the world today. Omega can do just about anything in the ring which puts more pressure on his finishers delivering. The V-Trigger is the first half of Omega’s finisher that he uses on its own a few times kneeing his opponent in the face.
Omega however ends the matches with his One-Winged Angel finisher. The move sees him lifting an opponent about his head before flipping them mid air to drop them on their necks. Omega has won titles all over the world and will likely win gold in AEW one day with it.