The WWE Golden Era was the beginning of the modern era of wrestling. It also was the era of stars like Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, and "Rowdy" Roddy Piper. The Golden Era spans from 1982 to 1993, the same year Raw debuted on television. The Golden Era also added an emphasis on finishing moves.
Although signature and finishing moves existed long before the Golden Era, Vince McMahon Jr., who was now in charge of the WWE, put an increased focus on these moves to help add new dimensions to wrestlers. Along with many classic matches like Andre The Giant vs Hulk Hogan and Ted DiBiase vs Randy Savage, the era also featured some of the greatest finishing moves of all time. This list will examine the 10 best finishers from the Golden Era of the WWE.
10 Rude Awakening
Rick Rude defeating Ultimate Warrior to win the Intercontinental Championship in 1989 was a huge deal and set Rude up for a great run in the WWE. Rude only spent four years with the company and they all took place during the Golden Era.
Although his finisher is often considered a basic neckbreaker today, in the late '80s, it was pretty devastating. It was often showcased as something that would force fans to grit their teeth, hoping that Rude didn't actually break the neck of his opponent.
9 Perfect Plex
Mr. Perfect rose to prominence in the world of wrestling during the WWE's Golden Era. Although he never became WWE Champion, he did receive a fairly big push in the early '90s, where he worked the gimmick of being a "perfect competitor."
His finisher, although very commonplace today, was an athletic move that most wrestling fans hadn't seen before Perfect performed it in the WWE.
8 Figure Four
There are few wrestling finishers as iconic as the Figure Four Leglock. To this day, when wrestlers perform the move they will instantly get "woos" from the audience paying homage to Ric Flair.
Flair spent a few years during the Golden Era in the WWE. Although he wasn't there for long, he did manage to win the WWE Championship twice with the help of his iconic Figure Four Leglock.
7 Camel Clutch
The Iron Sheik started wrestling for the WWE in the late '70s and continued to wrestle for almost a decade at the company. He became the WWE Champion in 1983 and popularized the Camel Clutch. The move is commonplace in wrestling today but was one of the most devastating submission finishers of the Golden Era. Many WWE Hall of Famers fell victim to The Iron Sheik's Camel Clutch.
6 Gorilla Press & Splash
The Ultimate Warrior wasn't well known for his in-ring skillset, but he was still a massive superstar in the Golden Era. Although he had very limited moves in the ring, he was a very strong man that was able to physically lift anybody on the roster.
Most of his matches built up to his Gorilla Press and splash finisher which consisted of him pressing his opponent over his head and then throwing them on the ring and finishing them off with a big splash. WWE audiences would go absolutely crazy for the Gorilla Press even though no one would buy it as a finisher today.
5 Crossface Chicken Wing
Bob Backlund's 2,135 days as WWE Champion ended at the start of the Golden Era. Although he utilized a few different finishing moves in his long wrestling career, he started using the Crossface Chicken Wing during this era.
Back in the '80s, submission moves were mostly hit or miss with audiences, but Backlund managed to perform a move that looked devastating enough to be believable. He was able to twist opponents in an awkward position on the ground. Many fans copied the move at home because it looked funny and seemed to inflict so much pain.
4 Doomsday Device
The Legion Of Doom (Animal & Hawk) revolutionized tag team wrestling. Although they only wrestled in the WWE for a couple of years, they became massive superstars and WWE tag team champions.
One of the biggest ways that they changed tag team wrestling was the addition of tag team moves. The Doomsday Device is a spot that is commonplace for today's tag team wrestling, but it was the precursor to every amazing tag team move audiences see on WWE and AEW television.
3 Million Dollar Dream
Ted DiBiase became a massive superstar during the WWE Golden Era. He introduced the Million Dollar Championship and had classic matches against legends like The Ultimate Warrior, Bret Hart, and Randy Savage. His finisher is also one of the most well-known in wrestling.
The Million Dollar Dream was a submission move that seemed devastating to DiBiase's opponents. It's also an example of a great move built exclusively for a wrestler since not even Steve Austin could make the finisher get over with audiences when he used it.
2 Elbow Drop
Today, there are probably three elbow drops per episode of WWE television. The move has become so commonplace that many fans don't consider it a devastating or risky move. Back in the Golden Era, Randy Savage made the elbow drop feel as devastating as a piledriver.
Shawn Michaels will sometimes get credit for revolutionizing the elbow drop, but it was Randy Savage who truly made the move iconic. During his prime in the WWE, Savage jumped sky high when he performed the elbow drop, making it one of the most entertaining moves. It was also one of the very few high-flying moves of the Golden Era.
1 Leg Drop
There was no bigger star in the Golden Era than Hulk Hogan. Therefore, there was no move more important than the leg drop. The leg drop will forever be synonymous with Hulk Hogan and his rise to the top of the WWE. During the Golden Era, Hogan helped wrestling become a huge staple in popular culture, setting up the success of the Attitude Era on television.
Hulk Hogan's leg drop was a big-time finisher that he used for both good and evil throughout his long career. Interestingly enough, Hogan has said, all these decades later, that the move might have been more devastating to him than it was to his opponents.