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About This Quiz
Business was booming for professional wrestling in the 1990s, with three significant promotions going strong: the WWF (now the WWE), WCW, and ECW all going strong. Favorite veterans like Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, and Rowdy Roddy Piper were still going strong, but newcomers like Stone Cold Steve Austin, Triple H, and Chyna were on their way up. And we can't forget the ones who were just plain odd, like "Man of Three Faces" Mick Foley and his friend Al Snow.ÂÂ
With so many wrestlers competing for glory and fan support, they all needed a solid finishing move. The old staples, like the clothesline, the sleeper hold, or the suplex wouldn't cut it anymore, although some finishers were flashy, updated variations on these old chestnuts.ÂÂ
It's been a while since the glory days of the 90s -- but if you're a true wrestling fan, you haven't forgotten your favorites and their match-ending moves. For example, do you remember who used the "People's Elbow"? Or the "Pedigree"? Surely, you can't have forgotten the "Sharpshooter" and the legend who used it.ÂÂ
So join us for a nostalgic trip back in time. Pour yourself a Jolt or a Crystal Pepsi, and take our quiz on the best finishing moves from the 1990s. Some of them were real stunners!
Stone Cold Steve Austin:
Figure-Four Leg Lock
Liontamer
Sharpshooter
Stunner
Austin was one of the most popular wrestlers of the 1990s, alongside The Rock. He liked to finish off opponents with this three-quarter facelock move.
Triple H:
The Five Star Frog Splash
The Crippler Crossface
The Pedigree
Triple H's name comes from the longer "Hunter Hearst Helmsley," a character who was a Connecticut snob. In that guise, he'd take out opponents with his "Pedigree."
The Fisherman's Suplex
Diamond Dallas Page:
The Diamond Cutter
Diamond Dallas Page worked for three major wrestling promotions, the WWF, WCW and TNA. He is now partly-retired and does some motivational speaking.
The Diamond Choker
The Dallas-Fort Worth Interchange
The Texas Cloverleaf
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Hulk Hogan:
Five-Star Frog Splash
Leg Drop
Simplicity is the ultimate style! Especially as practiced by Hulk Hogan, the legendary wrestler who took out opponents with a basic but high-flying leg drop.
Tombstone Piledriver
Shooting Star Press
The Undertaker:
Choke Slam
Boston Crab
Tombstone Piledriver
Both #1 and #3
The nearly 7-foot tall Undertaker was known for two moves. He could choke slam two opponents at once!
Randy Savage:
Clothesline
Flying Elbow Drop
The "Macho Man" was in and out of the ring in the 1990s, sometimes working as a commentator, other times donning tights and wrestling greats like Ric Flair or Steve Austin. His favored a flashy version of the simple elbow drop as his finisher.
Moonsault
Hurricanrana
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Shawn Michaels:
Flying Elbow Drop
Texas Piledriver
Spear
Sweet Chin Music
While Michaels had a long career in the WWE, long enough to have more than one finisher, he's mostly associated with this flashy head kick that connected at chin level. Ouch!
Bret Hart:
Downward Spiral
Frog Splash
Moonsault
Sharpshooter
Bret Hart is one of 12 children of famous trainer Stu Hart, and the most successful. He was one of Stone Cold Steve Austin's chief rivals in the 1990s.
Mr. Perfect:
Elbow Drop
Fisherman's Suplex
Hennig, who used this fairly basic wrestling move, was the middle link in three generations of wrestlers. Both his father and his son entered the squared circle.
Perfect Storm
Three-Quarter Crossface
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The Rock:
The People's Elbow
The Rock Bottom
The Maivia Bomb
Both #1 and #2
Both these moves are named for Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. He was "the People's Champion," so his elbow drop was "the People's Elbow." The "Rock Bottom," of course, is named for his ring moniker.
Chris Benoit:
The Crippler Crossface
Benoit was a powerful, capable wrestler trained by the legendary Stu Hart. Mental health issues led to his death in a murder-suicide in 2007.
The Shooting Star Press
The Liontamer
The Swanton Bomb
Cactus Jack:
The Cactus Crossface
The Cactus Elbow
Mick Foley had several 1990s incarnations, including "Cactus Jack." (You'll see one of his other incarnations and that finisher elsewhere in this quiz).
The Prickler Press
The Saguaro Slam
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Chris Jericho:
The Fall of Jericho
The Battle of Jericho
The Walls of Jericho
Chris Jericho used this version of the "Boston crab" as his finishing move. A likable on-camera presence, Jericho has moved on from wrestling to host a game show and compete on "Dancing With the Stars."
The Jericho Crossface
Ted DiBiase:
The Five-Star Frog Splash
The Millionaire Moonsault
The Million Dollar Dream
Ted DiBiase wrestled as "the Million Dollar Man." Therefore, his sleeper hold was "the Million Dollar Dream." (Sounds almost pleasant!)
The Sexy Suplex
Ric Flair:
Figure Four Leg Lock
Nowadays, many wrestlers do a Figure Four, but it's linked to Ric "Nature Boy" Flair. Many of Flair's '90s opponents tapped out after being trapped in this one.
Flair Flying Elbow
Pumphandle Slam
Fisherman's Suplex
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Raven:
Clothesline
Evenflow DDT
Raven's DDT was more painful when he unleashed it in unorthodox places. In one case, it put Raven's opponent through a table. Ouch!
Powerbomb
Both #1 and #2
Matt Hardy:
Carolina Piledriver
Flying Elbow Drop
Shooting Star Press
Twist of Fate
Both Matt and Jeff Hardy liked this move, which unlike some of their exploits, didn't originate on a turnbuckle or ladder. Instead, it was a cross between a DDT and Steve Austin's "Stunner."
Buff Bagwell:
Blockbuster
This finishing move involved Bagwell leaping from the turnbuckle, grabbing his opponent's head on the way down, and dropping with them to the mat. (Is it just us, or do some of these moves seem like they should hurt the aggressor as much as the victim?)
Boston Crab
Lionsault
Senton Bomb
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Al Snow:
Boston Crab
Iceman
Snow Plow
Al Snow used this move mostly in his ECW days. There he found success playing a disturbed man who carried a mannequin head that he claimed spoke to him. (This gimmick probably wouldn't fly nowadays, with increased sensitivity to mental health issues!)
Table Smash
Owen Hart:
Deathlock
Shooting Star Press
Sharpshooter
Owen Hart often used his older brother Bret's finisher. Apparently the Harts were a close-knit family who didn't mind sharing!
Tilt-a-Whirl Slam
Jeff Hardy:
Carolina Piledriver
Extreme Clothesline
Showstopper
Swanton Bomb
Matt and Jeff Hardy both performed high-risk moves, earning them the name "Team Xtreme" in the 1990s (along with their friend Lita). The Swanton Bomb was once such finisher, a senton bomb that started out like a swan dive, hence the name.
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Dean Malenko:
Figure-Four Leg Lock
Diamond Cutter
People's Elbow
Texas Cloverleaf
Malenko had a lot of success in the WWE (then WWF) for a guy of his size. He stood 5-foot-10, which is short in pro wrestling, the land of giants.
X-Pac:
Clothesline
Frog Splash
Spinning Heel Kick
Sean Waltman became "X-Pac" during his time with D-Generation X in the 1990s. His finisher, the spinning heel kick, came more from the world of kickboxing than from wrestling.
Senton Bomb
Bradshaw:
Hurricanrana
Diving Stomp
Last Call
Bradshaw sometimes liked to take out his opponents with a simple clothesline. But he is better known for the Last Call, a version of the fallaway slam.
Stratusfaction
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Kane:
Choke Slam
The character of Kane was introduced as the Undertaker's younger brother. Fittingly, he used one of "big brother's" finishers, the Choke Slam.
Curse of Kane
Revenge of Kane
Widow's Peak
Goldberg:
Diving DDT
Jackhammer
Spear
both #2 and #3
This was a one-two punch on the part of the 1990s wrestler Goldberg. He'd start with the Spear, basically a tackle, then pick them up and slam them to the mat (the Jackhammer), then pin them. Lights out!
Mankind:
Boston Crab
Fisherman's Suplex
Mandible Claw
Foley wrestled as three personas in the 1990s: Dude Love, Cactus Jack and Mankind. The latter was perhaps the most memorable, an unkempt crazy guy with a fondness for grabbing opponents by the jaw, as in this signature move.
Moonsault
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Lita:
Frog Splash
Senton Bomb
Moonsault
Amy Dumas, who wrestled as "Lita," called her version of the moonsault the "Litasault." Unlike many "divas" of the '90s, Dumas had very solid wrestling chops, earning her a place in "Team Xtreme" alongside Matt and Jeff Hardy.
Piledriver
Edge:
Senton Bomb
Lionsault
Pumphandle Slam
Spear
This move certainly wasn't unique to Adam "Edge" Copeland. But with his height and flowing blond hair, the ferocious running tackle was a sight to see.
Rob Van Dam:
Five Star Frog Splash
Rob Van Dam was an Extreme Championship Wrestling sensation in the late 1990s. His move was a showy version of the frog splash (so named because the wrestler pulls in his arms and legs like a frog before extending them to bump).
Diving DDT
Jackhammer
Pedigree
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Eddie Guerrero:
Frog Splash
Diving Stomp
Three Amigos
Both #1 and #3
Guerrero, part of a famous wrestling family, sometimes used his "Three Amigos" (a series of three suplexes) before launching the coup de grace, a frog splash.
Big Van Vader:
Compton Crusher
Compton Crossface
Darth Vader
Vader Bomb
Vader named his finisher after himself, not his hometown of Compton, California. (He could have called it "the Darth Vader," but maybe he didn't feel like spending half his life in litigation with Lucasfilm, Ltd.)
Rey Mysterio
The 619
619 is the area code of Mysterio's hometown of San Diego. Despite his lucha-libre-style mask, Mysterio was California grown.
Lionsault
Mysterysault
Swanton Bomb
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Billy Kidman:
Boston Crab
Jackhammer
Muta Lock
Shooting Star Press
Kidman named this move the "Shooting Star" because, he said, it was rare. In fact, it got rarer. The WWE banned it for a while because of the risk of injury that it posed -- and in an organization that allows wrestlers to jump from ladders and spread thumbtacks around the ring, that's saying something.
You Got:
/35
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