Best and Worst Strikes

[DR Ackermann]

When it comes to putting on an enjoyable match, wrestlers with good-looking and hard hitting strikes go a long way for me. Matches and wrestlers with good strikes just engage me a lot more than matches and wrestlers with soft or weak-looking strikes do.

 

Personally I think Stan Hansen has some of the best. I could watch him just lay into people all day. On the other hand I can't stand to see Sid Vicious throw a "punch." It takes me right out of the match. I really love the Mind Games match between Mankind and Shawn Michaels but Sid Vicious' horribly awkward punches in the aisle after the match stand out in my mind as much as the match itself.

 

Who are the wrestlers whose strikes really stand out to you, for better or worse?

[MikeCampbell]

Jerry Lawler is one of the best.

[BrickHithouse]

Never cared for Lex Luger's punches (though I like Luger overall for the most part).

 

Worst I've seen lately, or maybe ever, is Capt. Lou Albano.

[silverwidow]

Kawada's knife edge chops were always my favorite. Brutal.

 

KENTA's kicks were fantastic last time I watched one of his matches.

[Death From Above]

Every time *the* Kobashi/Hansen match comes up I just end up pointing to my review which is basically all praising Hansen's strikes looking great.

 

On the other end, Lance Storm's punches are... um... I'm sure there are worse, but most of those are "people that never mattered" or "people that aren't real workers". Storm was in a position to know better.

[Blehschmidt]

Arn Anderson's punches with added "toush" sound effect are my all time favorite.

[DR Ackermann]

Every time *the* Kobashi/Hansen match comes up I just end up pointing to my review which is basically all praising Hansen's strikes looking great.

Is *the* Kobashi/Hansen match the one from 7/29/93? If so, that's the one I was watching earlier today that inspired this post.

[Death From Above]

Yes.

[Kostka]

Best - Lawler, Vader, Jumbo, Funk

 

Worst - Lance Storm, Kofi Kingston, RVD, Abyss

[whendreamsweep]

The Undertaker. He is the best pure striker in the WWE.

 

How were Ken Shamrock's strikes? I don't really recall.

[Kevin Ridge]

Worst:

 

Abe "Knuckleball" Schwartz

[Log]

I'm really loving young Curt Hennig's strikes. Dude really laid em in. He was just such a great brawler in his AWA time.

[anarchistxx]

Mysterio was always one of the worst for me. His kick flurries he started to do in the last few years look very weak, possibly just because of his size. I don't think he should be looking to compete on strikes, he already had a good range of unique offence.

 

Low Ki remains a personal favourite, unsurprising since he was stiffing the fuck out of everyone. Samoa Joe too always looked violent with his kicks and forearms in early ROH. 90s AJPW is obviously a hotbed for good (e.g. stiff) strikes.

 

As an isolated incident the punches Steve Austin hit on Kurt Angle when he was leaning bloody against the apron at Summerslam 2001 are amongst the most brutal I've seen. I loved super vicious/slightly deranged heel Austin.

[JerryvonKramer]

Guys not mentioned in this thread: Flair, Steamboat, Garvin, Wahoo, Tenryu.

 

Really like some of Bock's gut punches.

 

Teddy Long has kicks that are as bad as Albano's.

[WingedEagle]

Second the Austin pick and also throw out a call for MiSu.

[soup23]

Really want to pinpoint when Austins strikes improved. In 1990-1991 they were average at best. I cant really recall in the 1994 yearbook what they looked like but by where I'm at in 1997 right now, they are really good.

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

Conversely, Austin's flurry of punches from the mount position were some of the most embarrassing in wrestling history. Hogan's punches were generally pretty shitty. Sid may have had the worst.

 

Benoit probably had the best reverse knife edges. He just snapped those fuckers off so hard. I like a good thrust, and Kane probably has the best. I like Rock's open hand shots too. Anything that makes a good sound, really.

 

Bret had a really good punch, and Inoki sure could lay them in when he wanted to.

 

Can anyone touch Regal on the forearm uppercut front?

 

Vader's meathooks might be my all-time favourite strikes though.

[whendreamsweep]

Wonder if Stan Hansen had worn contacts, would his strikes have been as good as they were?

The reason he laid in so much, was because he couldn't see.

[Death From Above]

Guys not mentioned in this thread: Flair, Steamboat, Garvin, Wahoo, Tenryu.

 

Really like some of Bock's gut punches.

 

Teddy Long has kicks that are as bad as Albano's.

The problem with Tenryu is as great as his chops are, he has a pretty terrible enzuigiri he liked to break out pretty often.

 

This is kind of splitting hairs though. I'm not about to knock Tenryu, on the whole. Quite an entertaining guy to watch in general.

[Loss]

I thought Hogan had bad punches until wrestlers just completely gave up on trying to throw them and started throwing forearms instead. Now I miss Hogan punches. This sucks because the forearm trading that takes place in slugfests is usually no sold. This is in my mind one of the worst things about the wrestling style now. Only Regal and Finlay should be allowed to throw forearms. Everyone else should be banned.

[goodhelmet]

Lawler.. .Dundee... Murdoch

[The Chief]

I always thought Matt Hardy had a nice snap to his punches.

[goc]

I always thought Matt Hardy had a nice snap to his punches.

Agree with this and also throwing Scott Hall into the mix for best punches.

 

I remember RVD throwing some really terrible punches in his match with Jericho a few weeks ago.

[victory]

I always thought Harley Race threw a good punch. It wasn't quick, just looked very crisp. He also threw it different, more from the top with a downward slice.

 

I have to agree about Lawler as well.

[Sidebottom]

Lawler is still an amazing puncher. Bret Hart used to look like he was swinging for the fences every time and it was utterly believable.