Best and Worst Strikes

[BrickHithouse]

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.

To me it always looked like Harley was trying to get hardway juice with those angled shots of his.

[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.

To me it always looked like Harley was trying to get hardway juice with those angled shots of his.

 

I can agree with that. He did seem to be aiming at the brow.

[cheapshot]

Just conversed with Rip Rogers on Twitter, and he seems to think Lanny Poffo had the best punch of all time.

 

"To perfect in wrestling- watch Lanny Poffo punch on u tube- best right hand I ever saw!!! Learn to chop overhand and regular- learn jabs -"

 

When I quizzed him asking what about Bret and Lawler his response was:

 

"Bret hart had a slide off the head punch - punch on the top of the head was phony - u hurt ur own hand, Lawler has great punch - not as good as Lannys - don't confuse projection or being a star as being good."

 

I have never noticed Poffo's punches as been amazing or anything, I may need to re-watch some of his stuff and see if I pick up on his punches. He did, to be fair raise a good point about Bret hitting the top of the head.

[JerryvonKramer]

That's more reasoned out that you'd expect.

 

From more recent viewing, I think DiBiase threw very good punches. Punching was kind of ingrained into his black glove gimmick. On a good day, I even wonder if they were better than Terry Funk's. He seems to have learned his punching style from him.

 

On another note: who threw the meanest european uppercut? Dory? Regal? Rotunda?

[Kil]

Billy Gunn's goofy wrist-to-the-forehead punches come to mind as some of the worst.

[Big Rob]

Chuck Palumbo had pretty great punches, I seem to remember a pretty nifty discus punch that he used to do. Goldust's strikes are a given, he throws a great right hand. Big fan of Christian's slaps too.

[ohtani's jacket]

That's more reasoned out that you'd expect.

 

From more recent viewing, I think DiBiase threw very good punches. Punching was kind of ingrained into his black glove gimmick. On a good day, I even wonder if they were better than Terry Funk's. He seems to have learned his punching style from him.

 

On another note: who threw the meanest european uppercut? Dory? Regal? Rotunda?

Pretty much everyone threw decent European uppercuts *in* Europe, but Rudge, Roberts, Steele, Singh, Roach, Kilby and Finlay could have formed a nice forearm smash club.

[Dylan Waco]

Nishimura has an excellent forearm/uppercut strike

[Badlittlekitten]

Check out Zeus and his deadly strikes . .

 

 

The best punches in the world today belong to Luke Gallow's.

[Zenjo]

I just dislike punches in general. For a start the closed fist is an illegal move. You can't safely follow through with it like you can with a chop, forearm or kick. So very often the punch is making barely any contact at all and appears phony. A match reliant on two guys throwing weak looking right hands is a huge turn off to me. Stylistically it's one of the things I dislike most about a lot of US wrestling. No stiffness, no skill and no artistry.

[Big Rob]

I just dislike punches in general. For a start the closed fist is an illegal move. You can't safely follow through with it like you can with a chop, forearm or kick. So very often the punch is making barely any contact at all and appears phony. A match reliant on two guys throwing weak looking right hands is a huge turn off to me. Stylistically it's one of the things I dislike most about a lot of US wrestling. No stiffness, no skill and no artistry.

Surely the skill (and art, if you want to go that far), is in making it look good without it actually being too stiff?

[Zenjo]

Surely the skill (and art, if you want to go that far), is in making it look good without it actually being too stiff?

Stiffness is all about appearance to me as a viewer. How safe and painful the move actually is, that's an issue between the wrestlers.

 

My issue with punches is that it's hard to make them appear stiff. For a strike based match to engage me then the moves need to appear like they might hurt. Watching so much historic puroresu has set my perceptions as a viewer for this. You rarely see punches because they look weak compared with other forms of striking. A lot of US wrestling over the years just has guys using some weak strikes and a few signature moves. It's such a lazy, shallow, limiting style.

[ohtani's jacket]

The flip side to that is that Japanese workers do too many moves.

[jm29195]

That's more reasoned out that you'd expect.

 

From more recent viewing, I think DiBiase threw very good punches. Punching was kind of ingrained into his black glove gimmick. On a good day, I even wonder if they were better than Terry Funk's. He seems to have learned his punching style from him.

 

On another note: who threw the meanest european uppercut? Dory? Regal? Rotunda?

Pretty much everyone threw decent European uppercuts *in* Europe, but Rudge, Roberts, Steele, Singh, Roach, Kilby and Finlay could have formed a nice forearm smash club.

 

I always thought Dave Taylor threw the best European Uppercuts from that bunch, they always really stood out in his matches.

[Microstatistics]

Kicks - Kiyoshi Tamura, Shinya Hashimoto

Punches - El Satanico

Palm Strikes - Jushin Liger, Volk Han

Elbows/Forearm Strikes - Mitsuharu Misawa

Headbutts - Yoshiaki Fujiwara

Chops - Genichiro Tenryu, Kenta Kobashi

Stomps - Negro Casas, Jumbo Tsuruta

Knee Strikes - Jun Akiyama

[Tenese Sarwieh]

I always loved Bobby Eaton’s punches. So soft but looked stiff.

 

El Hijo del Santo stomps were just vicious and really made me believe that he hated whoever he was facing and actually wanted to killed them.

[Laz]

I love Sami Callihan's kicks. He puts the right body language behind them so they look vicious.

 

EYFBO (LAX v3) have some great fire when they throw strikes, particularly Ortiz.

[cad]

Emilio Charles' right hand. Negro Casas' right hand and dropkick. Is a kneedrop a strike? I thought Lizmark had a great kneedrop.

[G. Badger]

I love Sami Callihan's kicks. He puts the right body language behind them so they look vicious.

Yeah, just watched him in PWG BOLA '12 and his face kicks are absolutely brutal. Really all of his strikes are on point because of how he puts his whole body into them...genuinely looks like he's trying for a KO.

 

On another point, I always thought Jumbo's stomps were pretty great. And am a big fan of Nigel's throat thrust & SUWAMA's double hand chop. Those are something you don't see everyday.

[Rah]

I love Sami's strikes. He has such a snap and awareness of his body that he masks them not connecting very well. Loved this from last year

 

https://imgur.com/fNwk0wR

[EricR]

I think El Samurai had really great stomps

[Boss Rock]

Stomps: Jumbo

Kicks: Hashimoto

Chops: Tenryu and Kobashi

Punches: Lawler

[SteveJRogers]

Where would MMA era Taker rank on anyones list?

 

As annoying as JBL/Coles pushing the phrase was, I wonder if there was a kernel of truth in that kayfabe?

 

Too be fair, it made some sense that someone who had a program with Undertaker recently would make such statements on commentary.

[Edwin]

Anyone with obvious thigh slapping immediately is my nomination for worst striking.

 

Michael Elgin - would take my vote. Talk about obvious thigh slapping.

[peachchaos]

idk Tajiri is an obvious slapper but has some of the best kicks