The 50 Greatest Finishing Moves in WWE History DVD Review

Every WWE Superstar has a finishing maneuver that usually results in victory. WWE Home Video has created a countdown of these moves and then selected a variety of matches featuring the Superstars that had their moves listed. 

Review and Recommendation

Format of the DVD: This set is available as both a 2-disc Blu-ray set and a 3-disc DVD set. This review is for the 3-disc DVD set. Disc one features a countdown of 50 greatest finishing moves while discs two and three feature 16 matches.

Packaging Issue: There is no chapter listing provided in this set. While a partial listing would make sense if WWE Home Video wanted to keep the packaging spoiler free, it is still inexcusable not to have a chapter listing for the last two discs in the set.

Rating: This set is rated TV-PG.

The List: If you want to see the list before buying this DVD, I have put it on the following page.  Unlike the joke of a list WWE Home Video made for The Top 50 Superstars of All Time, this one makes sense and can be used in a serious debate on the topic.

Thoughts on Disc One: I hated it. Watching a variation of the same thing 50 times gets tedious very quickly. Each segment features the move shown at least a dozen times with a few Superstars saying how much they admired the move and at least one person giving a kayfabe explanation for the move being devastating. I really wish they would change up these styles of discs.

Instead of having a panel say variations of the same thing over and over again, put them all together in a room and have a great debate on the topic, similar to the Legends of Wrestling set that came out a few years ago.

Match Selections on Discs Two and Three: I'm convinced that the producers of this set stopped caring after disc two and decided for disc three and the Blu-ray extras to just find random multi-man matches so they could include as many big names on this set as possible.

Overall Recommendation: This is a rare dud for a multi-disc set from WWE Home Video. The main programming is massively repetitive and there are no matches on this disc that you really need to spend money on. If you are a fan of countdowns, I recommend checking out OMG! instead of this set.

Matches and Segments on This DVD Set

For matches that are available on other compilation DVDs, I will note the DVD it is also available on in parenthesis and italics.

Disc Two

• World Wide Wrestling 12/10/81: Sgt. Slaughter demonstrates the cobra clutch on Tony Anthony
• MSG 10/24/88: DDT vs. Rude Awakening - Jake Roberts vs. Rick Rude (Jake Roberts: Pick your Poison)
• Dayton 1/13/91: Intercontinental Champion Curt Hennig vs. Kerry Von Erich
• Superstars 7/30/94: WWE Champion Bret Hart vs. Bob Backlund
• Superbrawl VII: WCW Tag Team Champions Kevin Nash & Scott Hall vs. The Giant & Lex Luger
• King of the Ring 1997: Semi-final Match - Mankind vs. Jerry Lawler
• Living Dangerously 1998: Rob Van Dam vs. 2 Cold Scorpio
• Spring Stampede 1999: Randy Savage is Special Guest Referee - WCW World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs. Dallas Page vs. Hollywood Hogan vs. Sting

Disc Three

• SmackDown 11/15/01: Chris Jericho & The Rock vs. Kurt Angle & Steve Austin

• RAW 6/3/02: Rob Van Dam & Bubba Ray Dudley vs. Brock Lesnar & Eddie Guerrero
• RAW 2/17/03: No Disqualification Match - Shawn Michaels & Jeff Hardy vs. Chris Jericho & Christian (Jeff Hardy: My Life, My Rules)
• Backlash 2003: The Rock vs. Goldberg
• RAW 7/14/03: Elimination Tag Team Match - Bubba Ray, D-Von & Spike Dudley vs. Triple H, Ric Flair & Randy Orton
• RAW 12/6/04: Women's Champion Trish Stratus vs. Lita (Viva Las Divas; Wrestling's Highest Flyers)
• RAW 12/29/08: #1 Contender's (World Heavyweight Championship) Elimination Match - Shawn Michaels vs. Randy Orton vs. JBL vs. Chris Jericho
• Bragging Rights 2009: World Heavyweight Champion Undertaker vs. Batista vs. Rey Mysterio vs. CM Punk
• Night of Champions 2010: Elimination Match - WWE Champion Sheamus vs. John Cena vs. Randy Orton vs. Chris Jericho vs. Edge vs. Wade Barrett

Blu-ray Exclusives 

• SmackDown 2/6/09: Triple H & Undertaker vs. Big Show & Edge
• RAW 6/22/09: Rey Mysterio, Jeff Hardy & The Great Khali vs. Edge, Dolph Ziggler & Chris Jericho
• RAW 8/24/09: No Disqualification Match - Mr. McMahon, Shawn Michaels & Triple H vs. Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase
• Survivor Series 2010: Elimination Match - Rey Mysterio, Big Show, Chris Masters, Kofi Kingston, & MVP vs. Alberto Del Rio, Cody Rhodes, Jack Swagger, Drew McIntyre, & Tyler Reks
• RAW 5/23/11: Bret Hart is the Referee - John Cena & Rey Mysterio vs. CM Punk & R-Truth

The following is the ranking of the top 50 finishing moves WWE history according to the WWE Home Video release The 50 Greatest Finishing Moves in WWE History. My review of this 3-disc DVD set is on the previous page.

50 - JBL: Clothesline
49 - Vader: Vader Bomb
48 - Dusty Rhodes: Bionic Elbow
47 - Ted DiBiase: Million Dollar Dream
46 - Kerry Von Erich: Iron Claw
45 - Rick Rude: Rude Awakening
44 - Lex Luger: Torture Rack
43 - Dudley Boyz: 3-D
42 - Bam Bam Bigelow: Moonsault
41 - Diamond Dallas Page: Diamond Cutter
40 - Mankind: Mandible Claw/Socko
39 - Honky Tonk Man: Shake Rattle and Roll
38 - Yokozuna: Bonzai Drop
37 - Flash Funk: 450 Splash
36 - Sting: Scorpion Lock
35 - Lita: Moonsault
34 - Kevin Nash: Jackknife
33 - Jerry Lawler: Piledriver
32 - Rob Van Dam: Five-Star Frog Splash
31 - Big Show: Chokeslam
30 - CM Punk: Go to Sleep
29 - Brock Lesnar: F-5
28 - Bob Backlund: Chicken Wing
27 - Batista: Batista Bomb
26 - Curt Hennig: Perfect Plex
25 - Kurt Angle: Ankle Lock
24 - Chris Jericho: Lion Tamer/Walls of Jericho
23 - Edge: Spear
22 - Iron Sheik: Camel Clutch
21 - John Cena: Attitude Adjustment
20 - Scott Hall: Razor's Edge
19 - Goldberg: Jackhammer
18 - Rey Mysterio: 619
17 - Road Warriors: Doomsday Device
16 - Bruno Sammartino: Bearhug
15 - Sgt.

Slaughter: Cobra Clutch
14 - Jeff Hardy: Swanton Bomb
13 - Eddie Guerrero: Frog Splash
12 - Randy Savage: Elbow off Top Rope
11 - Randy Orton: RKO
10 - Bret Hart: Sharpshooter
9 - Jimmy Snuka: Superfly Splash
8 - Ric Flair: Figure Four Leg Lock
7 - Hulk Hogan: Leg Drop
6 - Shawn Michaels: Sweet Chin Music
5 - Jake Roberts: DDT
4 - The Rock: Rock Bottom/People's Elbow
3 - Triple H: Pedigree
2 - Undertaker: Tombstone Piledriver
1 - Steve Austin: Stunner

Disclosure: A review copy was provided by the publisher. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.