10 best wrestling finishers in the world right now

2. Kazuchika Okada - The Rainmaker

From a storytelling perspective, the Rainmaker is one of the most dangerous finishers in all of wrestling...

There are some people that think that the Rainmaker is a boring finisher. After all, it’s nothing more than a wrist lock transitioned into a seemingly-regular short-range lariat. However, there is much more to the Rainmaker than that.

First, the Rainmaker is incredibly well-protected; few people kick out of it when it connects, and when they do, it’s after much more than three seconds. Okada has felled many great superstars with the Rainmaker and has taken what could’ve otherwise been dismissed as a boring move and turned it into one of the most successful finishers in wrestling today.

Second, Okada’s matches over the past six years have featured some of the most dramatic and suspenseful finishing sequences of all time. Many of these sequences have centered on Okada and his opponents constantly reversing out of each other’s moves, culminating with Okada hitting his trademark Rainmaker.

If you’re wondering why so many of Okada’s matches have been so highly praised, it’s because he manages to structure his matches in such a way that he keeps fans on the edge of their seats with every Rainmaker attempt.

Third, the Rainmaker has actually become a storytelling device for one of his biggest feuds. When Okada faced former archrival Hiroshi Tanahashi at Wrestle Kingdom IX, Okada lost because he wasn’t able to maintain wrist control enough to beat Tanahashi and win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.

In every single big match between them since then, the ‘wrist control’ element needed to set up the Rainmaker has been a central theme in the in-ring story between these two men, which has led to even more unpredictable and dramatic wrestling matches between them.

To think that all of this could come out of a single clothesline speaks volumes to Okada’s ability to put together great stories and matches as a wrestler.