The Worst WWE Finisher Every Year Of The 1990s

Generally speaking, in the nineties, when a WWE wrestler delivered their finishing move once and maybe twice, the match would be over. Even if the finisher was as lame as some of these are. That was once the easy, elegant beauty of the finisher. A wrestler hit it, and that was, as Jake Roberts once said in regards to the DDT, “The End.”

As WWE pulled the nose up out of The New Generation and throughout The Attitude Era, plenty of members of the roster had less than stellar finishing moves. But somehow, they were all effective in getting them to the ol’ “pay window.”

1990: The Texas Tornado’s Tornado Punch

No Iron Claw For The Most Famous Von Erich

• Career highlight: defeated Ric Flair for the NWA Title.
• Texas Tornado won the WWE Intercontinental Title from Mr. Perfect at SummerSlam 1990.
• He was part of The Ultimate Warrior’s team at Survivor Series.

Thanks in large part to the widespread release of The Iron Claw film, The Von Erich family are getting their just due. As massive territory stars, Kerry ‘The Texas Tornado’ Von Erich was the only one to head “up north”. But instead of giving Kerry the family’s Iron Claw as a finisher, WWE had him use it as a set-up move. His big finish was a Spinning Tornado Punch. Because somehow turning around as you punch a guy is better than a normal punch (or squeezing their brains until they pass out).

1991: IRS’s The Audit

Always Pay Your Taxes

• Career highlight: WWE Tag Team Champion with Ted DiBiase and Barry Windham.
• He was inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame in 2024.
• IRS is the father of Bray Wyatt and Bo Dallas.

Only a tough-as-nails collegiate shooter like Mike Rotunda take a doofus gimmick like IRS and make it work. He wrestled in a suspenders, slacks, and a tie!

But it was because of his in-ring ability that was able to get him over as a nasty heel. That, and who was ever going to like a Taxman? The old school wrestler actually had an old school finisher. The Audit was similar to Tatanka’s End Of The Trail. IRS would occasionally add an Airplane Spin to his move, though.

1992: Tatanka’s End Of The Trail

The Lumbee Tribesman Was A Huge Star During The New Generation Era

• Career highlight: opened WrestleMania 9 against Shawn Michaels.
• Tatanka was undefeated for over a year.
• Tatanka made his WrestleMania debut in 1992.

Before Jade Cargill, Asuka, Ryback and even Goldberg, there was Tatanka. The barrel-chested Native American ran roughshod over the WWE for a little over a year. He would eventually fall victim to Ludvig Borga. Oddly enough, his finisher wasn’t much to be desired. The End Of The Trail was nothing but a Fall Away Slam. Even by New Generation Era standards, it was still just a simple slam. Tatanka, however, would use it his entire career, even when he made cameos in TNA.

1993: Doink’s Whoopie Cushion

The Clown Had A Not-So-Funny Way Of Winning Matches

• Career highlight: wrestled Bret Hart in an underrated match at SummerSlam 1993.
• Matt Borne had previously appeared at WrestleMania; losing to Ricky Steamboat in the first edition.
• Doink also used the devastating Stump Puller submission hold.

One of the main reasons Matt Borne as Doink worked so well was because underneath all of the grease paint, Bourne was a very accomplished technician. While he would occasionally break out a nasty stretch called the Stump Puller, more often than not he’d use a big top rope move called The Whoopie Cushion (what else?). Doink would basically leap from the top to sit on his opponent. It just didn’t look as flashy as the second generation star wasn’t that much of an aerial artist.

1994: Bastion Booger’s Trip To The Batcave

The Grossest WWE Wrestler Ever Has One Of The Worst Finishers Ever

• Career highlight: working in Stampede Wrestling as Makhan Singh against the likes of Owen Hart and Brian Pillman.
• He made a cameo on the Raw 15th Anniversary show (2007).
• Bastion Booger only won 21.4% of his WWE matches in 1994.

When your entire gimmick is based on being a slovenly slob, your finisher isn’t going to be much to write home about. So it goes with Bastion Booger, who seemingly WWE creative got more of a kick out of making fun of the man’s girth than utilizing it as a threat to the roster.

His finishing move, perhaps aptly named The Trip To The Batcave, featured Booger doing a little dance before dropping onto his knees and squashing his opponents’ faces in. A move similar and done far better and menacing by the likes of Yokozuna.

1995: Duke The Dumpster Droese’s Trash Compactor

Cleaning Up The WWE, One Heel At A Time

• Career highlight: beating Triple H for the number 30 spot at the 1996 Royal Rumble.
• Duke was part of the WrestleMania 17 Gimmick Battle Royal.
• Out of all the occupational gimmicks, The Dumpster was actually Duke’s on the indies before WWE.

Perhaps it was just the gimmick that held him back, but WWE fans really seemed to enjoy Duke The Dumpster Droese. But it is hard to picture a sanitation worker at the top of the company (all due respect to the sanitation workers of the world). His finish was actually the weakest aspect of Duke’s game. He would deliver his version of a powerslam, dubbed The Trash Compacter. While he had the strength to get a lot of guys up and over, you need to have a move you can give to anyone. You couldn’t necessarily do that with Duke’s powerslam.

1996: Rocky Maivia’s Shoulder Breaker

It Wouldn’t Be Too Long Before Rocky Ditched This One

• Career highlight: becoming The Rock… the rest was history!
• The Rock made his WWE debut at Survivor Series 1996.
• He became the youngest WWE Champion of all time in 1998.

The Rock debuted way back at the 1996 Survivor Series. Not only was he nowhere near The Brahma Bull we’d come to know and love, he got booed right out of MSG! As he was beginning his climb to the top of the card, he utilized a pretty impactfull looking shoulder breaker as a finisher. But since the move didn’t have any electricity behind it, and was just sort of plain, it wasn’t long before Rocky started using The Rock Bottom and The People’s Elbow to put his foes down.

1997: The Road Dogg’s Doggystyle

Clever Finisher Name, But The Move Itself Wasn’t Impressive

• Career highlight: six-time WWE Tag Team Champion.
• The Road Dogg is part of the legendary Armstrong family.
• Inducted into the Hall Of Fame in 2019 (with DX).

It took some time to find his footing in the industry, but the second generation star, Road Dogg, was able to break “The Armstrong Curse.” He found massive success teaming up with Billy Gunn and representing DX. But his finishing move left little to be desired. While “Doggystyle” was an apropos name, it’s still just a Pump Handle Slam. If we consistently say Rhea Ripley’s Riptide looks silly, it all started with The Road Dogg.

1998: X-Pac’s Bronco Buster

More Humiliating Than Debilitating

• Career highlight: being part of both the nWo and DX.
• X-Pac is a two-time Hall Of Famer (as a member of both factions).
• X-Pac made his WWE return the night after WrestleMania 14.

When X-Pac left WCW for WWE, there was a pretty big shift in tone for DX. Even Bischoff has admitted over the years what a secret weapon Sean Waltman was to both the nWo and DX.

But that was just in the attitude department. His finisher, The Bronco Buster, certainly wasn’t that great of a move. But it did add to the degradation of Pac’s opponents, even if it didn’t win him a lot of matches.

1999: The Rock’s People’s Elbow

A Move Suited For The Attitude Era

• The Worm, The Caterpillar, You Can’t See Me – they all derived from The People’s Elbow.
• The Rock main evented his first WrestleMania in 1999 (against Stone Cold Steve Austin).
• The Rock became a major babyface after leaving The Corporation in 1999.

It started as a joke among the wrestlers during house shows – The Rock’s completely ridiculous looking elbow drop that he would use to put opponents away. But in wrestling, when you can pop the boys, you know you’re onto something. That’s the impetus of The People’s Elbow. But all of The Great One’s machinations, no matter how entertaining, were still just him delivering an elbow to his opponent’s chest. While that would hurt anyone in real life, as far as wrestling goes, that wouldn’t break an egg, much less win matches for The Rock.