Best on Offense

[dawho5]

I have to agree with Benoit as a an all-time best offense guy. Mostly because watching him, Guerrero and the cruiserweights got me into wrestling in the first place and there's got to be something to that. Benoit was always the #1 highlight of any WCW programming for me. By extension, would that put Dynamite on this list also?

 

I will second the majority of the names I have read and mention Regal, Volk Han and the 7 AJPW natives mentioned so far as big ones for me. Bryan as well because he's great in every setting I've seen him in. Fuchi is amazing during the early 90s. hansen and Vader are obvious choices, as is Blackwell.

 

I think Danny Kroffat deserves a mention here because the guy has a wide variety of offense that he generally delivers very well.

 

Adrian Street is a not obvious choice, but he could bring a lot of pain both with strikes and stretching his opponents out.

 

If you've watched any of WoS, Jon Cortez is a guy that springs to mind. To me he was what WCW wished Dean Malenko could be. Just a straight-on technical wizard who was all about winning every match he was in. He'd get fired up when you wanted him to, play dirty just enough to make you believe he didn't exactly have morals and had a lot of things he could do on offense.

[Dylan Waco]

I knew Parv would mention Yatsu, but he really is an excellent offensive wrestler. To me it's not so much that he has bombs, so much as it is that he has signature offense that he executes very well, times very well, and stands out in the context of 80's All Japan. It is distinct, properly placed in his matches, and done well, which is really the perfect combination when I think of great offensive wrestlers.

 

Santo probably has the best go to formula of any truly great offensive worker so that should be noted.

 

In my mind the best offensive wrestlers in the world right now are Sheamus and Cesaro because they combine working snug, with nice variety, but that variety is confined within the logic of who they are. Both guys change their approach somewhat depending on if they are a face or a heel which I also really like.

 

I agree with a ton of the other people named here, but I think my favorite offensive wrestler is Scorpio. The thing about Scorpio was that he was a brilliant and yes innovative (eh) flyer, but his spots were both smooth and violent as hell looking, which is incredible rare. On top of that he was a good mat worker, had an awesome variety of strikes, and would bust out other high impact spots that were surprising and dynamic without being absurd or out of place. The biggest knock on him was that on occasion he could be sloppy, but that sloppiness had a tendency to come out when paired off against other extremely sloppy guys (Sabu for example).

 

I would also add that while I'm not really sure I'd call him an all time great offensive wrestler, Arn Anderson probably is my all time favorite guy when it comes to executing his two quick strike finishes. I think he probably has the best DDT ever, and has the best spinebuster ever by far.

[Migs]

Have to mention the Steiners - rewatching some '89 WCW and their offense is super.

[JerryvonKramer]

I agree with a ton of the other people named here, but I think my favorite offensive wrestler is Scorpio. The thing about Scorpio was that he was a brilliant and yes innovative (eh) flyer, but his spots were both smooth and violent as hell looking, which is incredible rare. On top of that he was a good mat worker, had an awesome variety of strikes, and would bust out other high impact spots that were surprising and dynamic without being absurd or out of place. The biggest knock on him was that on occasion he could be sloppy, but that sloppiness had a tendency to come out when paired off against other extremely sloppy guys (Sabu for example).

Something that may surprise people is that I am really predisposed to like Scorpio and he's someone I plan on revisiting before the final ballot.

 

I absolutely loved him in the early 90s WCW setting back when I was a kid, I was pretty much a Bagwell and Scorpio mark, rare because of course I was mostly a heel guy. So I'd totally be up for watching his ECW stuff. Will take this to GWE.

 

But, yeah, Scorpio is someone who might be legit top 10 for offense if I really thought about it.

[ohtani's jacket]

Of the original guys mentioned, Robinson strikes me as the best.

 

Great offensive wrestlers to me are all about execution and not moveset. Finlay and Marty Jones were awesome offensive workers in the early 80s because their offence looked so good. Keith Haward was a wrestling machine. Even a guy like Breaks, when he'd wrestle, his stuff looked so good. Navarro is a beast. Hokuto had amazing execution. A lot of guys can have rollicking offence without great execution like Hashimoto or Tenryu, but everything Dynamite Kid did, for example, looked great even if his matches weren't perfect.

[Childs]

Have to agree about Dynamite. He got over quickly wherever he went in part because his shit looked so good.

[goodhelmet]

I know Raven has a rep as a sharp wrestling mind but given a choice between watching his brand of work and Benoit's, I'll take Benoit's every time. In fact, Benoit dragged Raven to one of his best matches if I recall correctly. That's not a shot at you for bringing it up Chief. I'm just not a Raven fan.

 

this sounds so weird coming from you. Read that last sentence.

[subatomic_elbow]

Arn Anderson. I could watch his cruel, vicious offense any day of the week.

[Childs]

 

I know Raven has a rep as a sharp wrestling mind but given a choice between watching his brand of work and Benoit's, I'll take Benoit's every time. In fact, Benoit dragged Raven to one of his best matches if I recall correctly. That's not a shot at you for bringing it up Chief. I'm just not a Raven fan.

 

this sounds so weird coming from you. Read that last sentence.

 

Well, I'm not a Raven "fan." I cover the team.

[concrete1992]

I think 2 Cold is maybe an obvious pick. More so that he's been mentioned a bunch. I got to see him live for the first time this year and my lord was it lovely. Thought he was going to bust CJ Parker's nose.

 

Also, I'm mentioning Necro and you can't stop me. He's not just bumps, he's also HAMFISTS!

 

Oh and prime Samoa Joe is prime offense.

 

Virus is someone who consistently leads to me going "Ah fuck" when he's hitting that mat. Heck, even when he's busting out a highspot. Such a lovely meatball of a man.

[jcmmnx]

The first name that popped in my head was Barry Windham. I think everything he did just looked smooth and awesome as hell. I loved his Lone Wolf heel run when he was using the implant ddt as a finish. Loved his punches, dropkicks, suplexes, lariats, powerslams, ddts, hell I even liked the way he did side headlock takeovers where he would kind of lift the guy off the mat before going over.

[victory]

Have to mention the Steiners - rewatching some '89 WCW and their offense is super.

This is who I immediately thought of. Especially Scott,he had some wicked offense in the early 90's.

[jdw]

I know Raven has a rep as a sharp wrestling mind but given a choice between watching his brand of work and Benoit's, I'll take Benoit's every time. In fact, Benoit dragged Raven to one of his best matches if I recall correctly. That's not a shot at you for bringing it up Chief. I'm just not a Raven fan.

 

Their Souled Out match is on DM. It's pretty funny to see Benoit letting stuff "breathe" every bit as much, if not more, than Scottie. Just watch the big transition spot in the middle of the match where Benoit sells the prior damage far longer and far harder than say Toyota or Kobashi would. He lets the whole home stretch "breathe" rather than being in go-go-go mode.

 

First Benoit match that I've watched this decade. Two things strike me:

 

#1 - Benoit was a very good worker. That seems to be written out of history for the obvious reasons: largely the murders, but also the long counter movement away from his old God Of Work rep. There's not getting away from the first of those - it's why I don't watch his stuff. But the second... perhaps he was on a high alter, but we write him off as not being a very good worker. This is a pedestrian match with a pedestrian opponent who needs a major prop to be able to do much of anything. Benoit's performance is very good: the selling is spot on, the transitions are not only sharp but he also sells his ass of in them even when going onto offense. He makes Scottie look good, which he didn't really have to at this level. So, yeah... he was a very good worker.

 

#2 - I still hate Raven. I could list a number of things, but I'll stick with one. This reminded me that Scottie was one of the worst "calling spots" guys ever. He's always leaning in to his opponent in overly obvious ways to tell them what's coming next. Just a lazy fuck about it rather than trying to be subtle.

[JerryvonKramer]

Should have mentioned that the Jim Breaks special is probably the most painful looking move in all of wrestling.

[NotJayTabb]

Want to throw out a mention for Kevin von Erich. Was almost always the smallest man in the Von Erich/Freebird matches, but you wouldn't know it from the way he fights. Everything feels natural, like in the Badstreet match vs Gordy/Roberts, where he rolls away from some offence, whilst simulataneously removing his boot so he can leap back into battle using his boot on his fist as a weapon. Really great brawler.