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Top 7 Tag Team Finishing Moves

September 19, 2022 | Posted by Steve Cook
Road Warriors Animal Legion of Doom, Road Warrior Animal Image Credit: WWE/Peacock

If you’ve been keeping track of the Top 7 column since I took over, you know that tag team wrestling is something I love. We ranked tag teams of every decade that we could. It was one of the things that brought Larry Csonka & I together back in the day, as he was also a fan of that particular style of wrestling. Tag teams are freaking awesome. It’s tough to find a good partner, as I’ve learned through the years.

Today, we’re going to look at something that makes a decent tag team good, a good tag team great and a great tag team legendary. The finishing move! Here are the seven most magnificent tag team finishing moves.

7. Big Rig

If you took a poll of wrestling experts on who the best tag team is in the Year of Our Lord 2022, I’d wager that FTR would top the list. Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler have pretty much killed it every time they’ve gotten into the ring. They hold almost every tag team championship that matters or isn’t part of the Bloodline gimmick. It’s been a heck of a ride for these boys that have delivered wherever they’ve gone.

In NXT, the move was called the Shatter Machine. It’s an assisted Codebreaker, which they wanted to use because Chris Jericho was one of their many inspirations. Once they left WWE, they changed the name to the Goodnight Express as a shoutout to the Midnight Express, another one of their inspirations. After their friend Brodie Lee passed away, they changed the name to the Big Rig as a nod to Brodie’s nickname on the indies before he got signed by WWE. Once they got out of the NXT bubble where everything was just a two count, it was a murderdeathkill move for them.

6. Rocket Launcher

The Midnight Express is universally considered one of the best tag teams of all time. Whether one loves or hates Jim Cornette & his impact on wrestling in recent years, few will sell short the contributions of Loverboy Dennis, Beautiful Bobby & Sweet Stan in tag team wrestling. The MX set a standard for doubleteam moves that few tag teams have been able to match, and had a number of ways to finish other teams off. The most popular would have to be the Rocket Launcher, which was just another way to showcase the ridiculous hops of Bobby Eaton.

Few men the size of Eaton could claim to have his aerial ability. He spent much of his career coming off of the top rope to deliver some form of punishment to his opponents. That was his thing, and he was the best in the world at what he did. This particular move involved his partner giving him a boost off of the top rope, which would launch him higher into the air into the Superfly Splash. Many tag teams afterward imitated it, but they couldn’t quite duplicate it.

5. Hart Attack

Bret Hart & Jim Neidhart set the standard for technician/powerhouse tag teams. The Hitman had all the pretty moves, and the Anvil would just run people over. The Hart Foundation had everything going for them, and they had the perfect move to finish opponents off. Neidhart would lift his opponents up in a bearhug type of position, and Hart would run off the ropes and hit a clothesline to take the man’s head off.

There’s been some debate over the years over whether or not the move was actually named the “Hart Attack” while Bret & Jim were working together. Does it matter? People will remember this move as the “Hart Attack” long after we’re all gone.

4. Total Elimination

The legsweep/high kick combo also known as the High-Low in more recent years was popularized by John Kronus & Perry Saturn during their stint in Extreme Championship Wrestling as the Eliminators. At the time, a good amount of people thought that the Eliminators were the best tag team in the business. After Saturn left for WCW, people realized that the Eliminators had one ridiculously strong link. All due respect to Kronus, but he didn’t get much done after Saturn moved up in the world.

A ton of credit needs to be given to Joey Styles for the popularity of the move. It’s a shame that Styles’ post-ECW work happened, as Joey Styles within the confines of ECW was one of the best wrestling announcers that ever lived. His shrieking of “TOTAL ELIMINATION” amplified the fact that the person taking the move had just been eliminated from the match.

3. 3D

The Dudley Death Drop. D-Von Dudley would lift an opponent up, then Bubba Ray Dudley would connect with a Cutter. It led the Dudley Boyz to a record number of ECW Tag Team Championships, then led them to many WWE Tag Team Championships. Then Team 3D became their team name once they left WWE. 3D broke Beulah McGillicutty’s neck.

Bubba Ray & D-Von won tag team championships wherever they went. A record number from what I hear. They needed a killer finisher to do such a thing, and 3D was exactly that. And yes, this move needed to be number three on the list due to the name. I’m cute like that.

2. Powerplex

Power was Hercules. Glory was Paul Roma. If you’ve watched as many singles matches featuring Hercules & Paul Roma as I have, you wouldn’t expect much from them as a tag team. Two wrestlers that were mediocre on their best days. However, there was something that clicked once they were put together. Power & Glory ended up being a pretty good tag team during their time together, though the timing probably wasn’t the best for them since the Legion of Doom showed up pretty early in their tenure.

Their finisher, though. A Superplex by Hercules immediately followed by a Superfly Splash by Roma within seconds? That’s the definition of “chef’s kiss”. Nobody should ever kick out of that, and from what I’ve seen out of Power & Glory matches, nobody did. I’m sure people did many years later in indy matches with teams doing the move, but we try to ignore things like that.

1. Doomsday Device

There isn’t a tag team that made a bigger impact on the wrestling business than the Legion of Doom, the Road Warriors. We might have our own personal favorites that had matches with higher star ratings. Hawk & Animal were the coolest people that kids during the 1980s & 90s ever saw. The crazy haircuts, face paint & spiked shoulderpads made them untouchable. If you’ve watched pro wrestling as long as I have and you say you didn’t grow up worshipping Hawk & Animal…you a lie, as Tony Schiavone would say.

Of course, they had a tremendous finisher. Animal would get an opponent into the Electric Chair Drop position, then Hawk would come off the top rope with a clothesline. Sometimes Animal would come down with the person, but usually it ended up with the person doing an involuntary backflip off of Animal’s shoulders. Doomsday personified.

What’s your favorite tag team finishing move? Let us know down in the comment section, and hit me up on social media with thoughts, concerns and fantasy football questions.

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