A finisher is the most important move in a wrestler's arsenal. In every high-profile match, it all comes down to a superstar's finisher that decides whether or not they will walk out victorious.
During the Ruthless Aggression Era, Triple H's Pedigree and The Undertaker's Tombstone were two of the most protected finishers. In the Attitude Era, almost no one kicked out of a Pedigree and Undertaker's Tombstone remained the most protected finisher in WWE for many years. But things are a little different in the PG Era, some popular finishers are not as protected anymore, while a few new ones always almost result in a wrestler's victory.
20 Protected: Armbar
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Even though Ronda Rousey wrestled only for a year in WWE, she was the most protected female star during her run. Ronda used the Armbar move to win her matches and this submission move kept her undefeated until WrestleMania 35.
The Rowdy One almost won that WrestleMania as well when she locked Charlotte into the Armbar but Becky Lynch broke the submission and went on to become win both Raw and SmackDown Women's Championships.
18 Useless: Attitude Adjustment
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John Cena is one of the most successful wrestlers of WWE. His finisher was previously called the FU but after WWE turned PG, Cena renamed the finisher as the Attitude Adjustment.
Although Cena has won multiple WWE Championships with the help of this move, an Attitude Adjustment isn't effective in this era anymore. Multiple wrestlers such as Kevin Owens and AJ Styles have kicked out of multiple Attitude Adjustments. It's also not uncommon for some wrestlers to kick out of a Super Attitude Adjustment.
16 Protected: The Cobra
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Santino Marella's The Cobra wasn't a dangerous move, but it worked for him. Marella just had to wear his cobra-themed arm-sleeve and give a sharp tap to the chest/throat of his opponent for the pinfall.
Interestingly enough, The Cobra was also a protected finisher of its time. Only two wrestlers have ever kicked out of The Cobra and they were Daniel Bryan and Sheamus. This record could've been different if that one time Marella had worn his arm-sleeves when he used the move on Sheamus because that probably make the move more effective.
14 Useless: F5
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Brock Lesnar is one of the most protected wrestlers in WWE, but the same can't be said about his finisher. There was a time when no one kicked out of an F5. But these days, it typically takes five to six F5s to win a high-profile match to Lesnar. Just last year, Drew McIntyre kicked out of the F5 three times with one of them happening on the first count.
However, this doesn't mean that Lesnar has a weak finisher. It's just that in the past few years, he has started to spam this move in almost every match and because of that, F5 doesn't seem like a deadly move at all.
12 Protected: Claymore
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Back in the days, Drew McIntyre's Claymore didn't result in a lot of pinfall victories. At that time, Drew was also not a huge superstar and it made sense why he couldn't defeat tougher guys.
But in today's time, McIntyre's Claymore has become a highly-protected wrestling move. Only two wrestlers have kicked out of a Claymore since Drew's return, Brock Lesnar and Goldberg, but even then he still defeated them.
10 Useless: Zig Zag
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Dolph Ziggler's Zig Zag is probably the most buried move in all of WWE. Even though Ziggler can execute this move almost instantly, it never seems to lead to a pinfall victory.
While looking at stats, Ziggle has rarely won his matches with this finisher. The Zig Zag has now come to a point where if somehow, Dolph wins a match using it, fans would be more surprised.
8 Protected: End Of Days
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Baron Corbin has the most protected finishing move in all of WWE, right now. No wrestler has been able to kick out of the End Of Days, including Roman Reigns.
Some time ago, Corbin said during an interview that he doesn't want anyone to kick out of his finisher ever. Only time will tell if something like that would ever be possible but as of now, Baron's End Of Days has a 100% winning rate.
6 Useless: Saxtonation
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Most fans never understood how Bryan Saxton's Saxtonation ever worked. It looked like a combination of a half-nelson facebuster and a neck breaker.
Saxtonation looked like a dumb wrestling move, and fortunately, fans didn't get to see it for a long time. Saxton retired from wrestling and took on a commentary role. Even when he used to wrestle, his finisher rarely won him a match.
4 Protected: Red Arrow
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Neville used a high-flying move called the Red Arrow as his finisher. Even when he was in NXT, no wrestler kicked out of the move.
Some say Luke Harper once kicked out of Red Arrow during a tag team match, but this wasn't the real truth. Out of the two times he performed the move on Harper, he lost once and the second time, Erick Rowan broke the pin. Even on the main roster, nobody kicked out of the Red Arrow ever.
2 Useless: Skull Crushing Finale
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A decade ago, The Miz's used Skull Crushing Finale to beat Randy Orton to win his first and only WWE Championship. But since then, Miz's finisher hasn't won many high-profile matches with it.
Right now, it seems like Skull Crushing Final does little to no damage to wrestlers. Most wrestlers easily kick out of this finisher and over the years, it has lost almost all of its credibility.