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| source// wwe.com |
Keep your shooting star presses, triple moonsaults and Red Arrows. I’ll trade them all for a good punch.
A punch is a part of every wrestler’s arsenal. Some like the Big Show have turned their powerful fists into finishing moves, while others simply use the punch as a break between moves or a tool to take the fight to the outside. Regardless of the motivation behind it, the basic punch is a vital building block for every single match.
For as common as the punch is, though, not all are created equally. While some wrestlers are content with throwing a simple punch out there and calling it a day, others have worked to turn their punch into an artform. Their simple strikes accomplish more than a year’s worth of high-flying highlights ever could.
These wrestlers may have much more than a punch in their arsenal, but with punches this good they often didn’t need anything else.
10. Big Van Vader
Considering he is one of the most feared and respected big man wrestlers of all-time, it should be no surprise to see Big Van Vader on this list.
What is surprising is just how devastating his punches truly are. While Vader would occasionally mix in the straight jab or hook, his go-to punch was actually more of a clubbing maneuver that gave off the distinct impression of a bear mauling his prey. While you may think it would be safer to keep the massive fists of Vader away from his opponent’s faces, these devastating forearm shots are simply terrifying. When Mick Foley devotes a sizeable chunk of his best-selling novel to conveying the pain of a Vader punch, you know that they’re good.
Brock Lesnar does an incredible job of carrying over the Vader style of punching to the modern day, but you’ve got to show respect to the man himself.
9. Stone Cold Steve Austin
While some will always lament the fact that Austin’s early career injuries forced him to gradually move away from his ring technician style, Stone Cold was able to transition easily into a brawler thanks to his rapid fire punches.
Standing face to face with his opponents, Stone Cold had a pretty good jab that’s definitely inspired by the Terry Funk school of knuckle sandwich making. Where Austin’s punches truly shine, though, is when he takes down his opponent with his classic version of the Thesz Press and begins to simply unload on them with a rapid series of punches that never fail to look like they are connecting.
Stone Cold’s unhinged character and demeanour certainly helped add to the violence of his punches, but based purely on technique there have been few better in wrestling history at smothering their opponent with shots.
8. Scott Hall
Given the turn his career and personal life took, it is easy to forget that for a long time Scott Hall was considered to be one the best ring workers and natural athletes in all of wrestling. He also just may be the most underrated puncher in wrestling history.
What made Hall’s strikes so exceptional was his lanky frame. His extended reach allowed him to keep opponents at bay with his jabs and hooks, but where Hall really shined in the punch category is when he chose to step into his hits. By closing the considerable distance Hall could keep his opponents at with his lighting quick hooks, Scott Hall could turn the simplest strike into the most devastating maneuver in the match.
Even when Hall lost a step late in his run or stopped working against the same caliber of opponents, he could still carry his end of a match with little more than his long, rapid punches.
7. Macho Man Randy Savage
Sometimes it feels impossible to come up with a “best of” wrestling list and not include Macho Man Randy Savage. From his backstage interviews to his post-match beatdowns, everything Randy Savage did quickly turned into the gold standard.
He was also a pretty accomplished puncher as well. The great thing about a Macho Man punch was that it always came out of nowhere. As one of the best pure heels ever to work a wrestling ring, Macho Man was the master of throwing in cheap jabs to frustrate his opponent and was able to generate real power behind his blows with little set-up required. Meanwhile, his modified strikes such as his famous double ax-handle were just things of beauty.
Macho Man punched like your create-a-wrestler in WWE 2K that you gave the quickest, cheapest moves just to infuriate your friends.
6. Ox Baker
There have been some truly great punchers in wrestling history, but few men have ever been able to build their reputation of the strength of their punch quite like Ox Baker.
One of the most physically frightening wrestlers of the golden era, Ox Baker quickly became infamous for his snarling promos and his devastating heart punch finishing move. The heart punch was already one of the most feared and devastating strikes in all of wrestling long before the real-life deaths of two wrestlers were attributed to the finisher, but after that it became a thing of legend. In fact, in 1974 when Baker refused to stop heart punching a wrestler after a match he caused a legitimate riot to occur in the arena.
The punch itself was a powerful straight jab delivered by a walking monstrosity, but the heat that Baker built around it remains unmatched.
5. Bret Hart
The best punch there is, the best punch there was and the best punch there ever will be? Not quite, but Bret Hart’s masterful strikes weren’t that far off either.
Trained and raised in the infamous Hart Family dungeon, Bret Hart never really seemed to settle for doing any maneuver – no matter how minor – less than perfect. That’s the only explanation for his textbook punch that always looked as if it started from a place of genuine hatred before landing on the opponent’s face. Given that Hart didn’t really work the more flashy big move style of the WWE, he ended up relying on his punches to fill more match time than most and nearly every single one he threw looked simply painful.
Hart’s intense punches would really find a home when the Hitman made his big heel turn in 1997, as jabs that brutal always seemed to clash with his smiling babyface persona.
4. The Undertaker
Although I’m fairly convinced that if I have to hear The Undertaker referred to as the “Best pure striker in the history of WWE” one more time by the announce team I will have the aneurysm that kills me, it doesn’t mean there isn’t some truth to the statement.
The Undertaker has always been able to take advantage of his considerable size advantage to deliver some good punches, but they really became great when the deadman started to incorporate MMA elements into his ring work. What separates Undertaker’s quick jabs and powerful hooks from a legion of other performers that throw them is the passion he puts into his strikes. When Taker starts teeing off on an opponent, he is better than almost anyone at conveying just how screwed his victim really is.
So long as The Undertaker is able to deliver his deadly blows with such intensity, he’ll be able to keep putting on great WrestleMania matches well into his golden years.
3. The Rock
Are their better punches, tougher punches and more historical punches in wrestling than The Rock’s? Yes, there probably are. But what makes The Rock’s punches so very special is just how charismatic they are.
While the concept of a charismatic punch would sound ridiculous if we were dealing with anyone else, The Rock has always been more charisma than man. His exaggerated, wind-back series of punches that always conclude with that one shot he seemingly draws from the heavens won’t soon confuse fans into believing that they are watching an MMA match, but what they lack in realism they more than make up for in entertainment value.
By the time that The Rock started to deliver his infamous strikes, many wrestling critics worried that fans had grown too used to high-risk maneuvers that would forever ruin the appeal of simple actions. And yet, without fail, The Rock could bring a stadium to its feet with just a few punches.
2. Terry Funk
“I felt like I did when I was eight and my mother came clean about Santa Claus. I had just learned the hidden “secret” of the great Funk left hand. It was so simple …Terry Funk had just punched me as hard as he could in the forehead.” – Mick Foley
Most wrestling punches gain a reputation for looking good because they look real. Terry Funk’s punches had a leg up on the competition because they were often real. While it’s difficult to confirm if Terry Funk threw legitimate haymakers every single time, by the accounts of most of his opponent’s in the “good old days” he most certainly was not opposed to legitimately introducing his fist to someone’s jaw whenever the mood struck. The result of this approach are punches that make most modern strikes look like an attempt to wipe something off a baby’s face.
Oh, and when Mick Foley confronted Terry Funk over the secret to his punches, Funk simply said: “And all this time you just thought I was good.” What a boss.
1. Jerry The King Lawler
The considerable career of Jerry “The King” Lawler should never be boiled down to a single moment, trait or move. And yet, if you were to cut Lawler’s career in half and fill his every match with nothing but The King’s punches, he would still be a hall of fame wrestler.
Whether he was going for that knockout blow, his trademark diving fist drop or delivering a series of quick jabs that could have taken George Foreman off of his feet, there was nobody that was able to perform a punch better or get more out of it in terms of match emotion than Jerry Lawler.
He threw haymakers that you could feel in your soul just as hard as Lawler’s opponents were feeling on their jaws. Oh, and his knee drop, fist-fueled uppercut may be the best uppercut ever.
It’s unlikely that we will ever see another wrestler throw punches quite like Jerry Lawler did. The King indeed.
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