For nearly twenty years, John Cena and his dreaded and bemoaned “Five Moves Of Doom” have caught a lot of flack from his detractors. However, that’s not a fair criticism. Every popular wrestler, no matter how amazing their matches are, have big time sequences of moves that get put together to pop the crowd and get them back into the match as the babyface makes their big comeback.
While some people might be upset about the fact that it’s repetitive, don’t most fans want to see their favorite band play the classics instead of the new songs? Ric Flair once said he’d feel cheated if he didn’t see his favorite wrestler, Ray Stevens, do the flip over bump that The Nature Boy would years later borrow and make his own. It’s all part of structuring a match.
10 John Cena
Perhaps the grand reason that Cena gets dinged for his sequence more than any other wrestler is that he openly called out the 5 Moves Of Doom in one of his promos. Or perhaps it’s also because not since Hogan has a star been able to instantly comeback, deliver the moves and win the match.
Cena’s go-to set generally involves a Flying Shoulder Block, a Hip Toss, a Spinning Powerbomb, and either the AA or the STF, for what is almost always a John Cena victory.
9 The Rock
If fickle fans can’t stand John Cena, then they quickly forgot about the flurry of offense delivered by The Great One. Even The Rock had an electrifying move combination. Several big punches to the mush, followed up by a big time slap with some spit on it, followed by a Ron Simmons-inspired Spinebuster.
After that, Rocky would deliver "The Most Electrifying Move In Sports Entertainment" - The People’s Elbow. Sometimes that was enough to secure victory, but if not, The Rock always had The Rock Bottom in his arsenal to ensure the win.
8 Stone Cold Steve Austin
After the horrendous accident that broke Steve Austin’s neck and nearly ended Stone Cold’s career, the once technically gifted star had to change his game up immensely. The new brawling style would lead to a non-stop barrage of his own five move sequence.
Austin would deliver a quick succession of punches, knocking his opponent into the corner, where he’d stomp a mudhole into them and walk it dry before delivering an elbow coming off the turnbuckle. The Rattlesnake would follow it all up with a kick to the gut and The Stunner.
7 The Undertaker
Even the mythical Undertaker had a big time move set to make a comeback against his opponents. After smashing his opponent in the corner with quick strikes, The Phenom would then nail a clothesline in the corner, hoist his opponent up and drop them on their face for Snake Eyes.
As they were reeling, he’d put his big boot in their face before nailing a Chokeslam. The future Hall Of Famer would then deliver The Tombstone or The Hell’s Gate to send his opponents to hell.
6 Kane
When those Five Moves of Doom are coming from a monster like The Big Red Machine, then those moves definitely inspire dread in Kane’s opponents. After a couple of thrusts to the throat, he’d toss his opponents into the ropes for a clothesline and deliver a sidewalk slam.
As his opponent recovers, Kane would ascend to the top rope for a humungous clothesline. Just like his older brother, it was then time for a Chokeslam and The Tombstone Piledriver to defeat his opponents.
5 Randy Orton
Randy Orton is one of those wrestlers that is so good at being a heel, you almost forget that he’s also a really good babyface! While the RKO is really all Orton actually needs to win a match, he did utilize a move set that was wholly his own.
During his run as a face, Orton used several Short Arm Clotheslines, before delivering a crisp Powerslam and his own patented inverted headlock takedown. Orton would use any combination of those moves before utilizing the hanging DDT, and then the RKO. Depending on the opponent, he’d add the punt to the head for good measure.
4 Roman Reigns
Despite his Samoan heritage, Roman Reigns is a product of The Performance Center through and through. He learned “the WWE way” of putting on a match and therefore always had a big doom set.
As The Big Dog would gain momentum in the match, he’d deliver a series of stiff uppercuts or punches. From there, he nails the boot to the face called the Drive-By before adding either a powerbomb or the Samoan Drop before decking his opponent with The Superman Punch and the big spear to stand on the mountaintop.
3 Sting
When mounting his big comeback, Sting delivered a similar move set every night. After beating his chest in defiance to his opponent, The Stinger would unload with a series of chops and punches, hurtling his opponent into a corner.
The Vigilante would then nail his patented Stinger Splash. As the opponent would stumble out of the corner, he’d hit the one-handed running bulldog. Toss in an atomic drop for good measure before The Scorpion Death Drop or The Deathlock and Sting would get to the pay window.
2 Bret Hart
To so many fans, even twenty years since his career was cut short, they still believe that Bret Hart is the greatest of all time. But even The Hitman had a doom sequence that he stuck to during pretty much every comeback - atomic drop, Russian Leg Sweep, back breaker, elbow from the second rope, and then The Sharpshooter.
Nearly every time, at least four of those moves were done in succession.
1 Shawn Michaels
One of the other superstars considered to be amongst the greatest of all time had an exciting doom series to win matches and send the crowd home happy. Good ol’ HBK would deliver a quick Manhattan Drop Suplex and a scoop slam. Then, he’d follow that up with the flying forearm and a nip up to bring the crowd to its feet.
That’s where they would stay as he ascended to the top rope to deliver a flying elbow. The crowd would then help Shawn tune up the band to deliver Sweet Chin Music.