The Lariat - Who Did It Best?

The Lariat is one of the most popular and devastating wrestling moves ever. It’s also one of the most simplistic, consisting of a very hard strike to your opponent’s head, neck or chest with your arm.

However, a lot of people confuse the term ‘lariat’ with ‘clothesline’, especially since these are two different moves. A clothesline involves a wrestler sticking their arm out straight and hitting someone with the said extended arm. A lariat is different; the wrestler hitting it bends their arm and throws it, striking with considerably more force than with a standard clothesline.

Because of the relatively easy way to set up the move, a lot of wrestlers have used the lariat as either a signature or finishing move. But only a handful of wrestlers became so good at throwing lariats that they’ve become immortalized for doing so.

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#7 Hulk Hogan

Yes, Hogan actually had another finisher that wasn't the leg drop...

Contrary to popular belief, Hogan could wrestle quite well when he needed to. And when he wrestled in Japan, he really needed to, which is why he traded his weak leg drop for a more believable finisher in the Ax Bomber, which is a crooked-arm lariat.

To end his matches, Hogan would swing his arm forward like a regular lariat but said arm would already be crooked instead of straightened out. This allowed Hogan to remain a believable wrestler in Japan, which was a country that appreciated in-ring work much more than the theatrics Hogan was famous for in the United States.

Ironically, this move would’ve actually been better for Hogan’s long-term health than the leg drop was. Although the leg drop was much safer for his opponents, it took an immense toll on Hogan’s body (especially his hips, back and spine). No matter how tough you are, jumping and landing hard in a sitting position isn’t good for you.

If Hogan used the Ax Bomber as his regular finisher instead of the Leg Drop Of Doom, he wouldn’t’ve had so many back problems in his later years, and he would’ve been taken more seriously by wrestling purists that saw his leg drop as a prime example of wrestling being ‘phony’.

#6 Nigel McGuinness

Before becoming a commentator for NXT, McGuinness was an excellent wrestler with a powerful finisher

This is a bit of a controversial entry, thanks in part to Dean Ambrose and WWE’s commentary. You see, long before Ambrose used this lariat as a transitional move, Nigel McGuinness was ending matches with it.

When hitting his rebound Lariat, McGuinness would put all of his strength into his arm and swing it as hard as possible. Over time, the move became popular and respected as a finisher, despite the weird theatrics of the rebound through the ropes. When McGuinness would hit the move, he would rebound and gain momentum while his opponent was either running or looking away from him. That way, when they turned around, they got a face full of lariat.

Ambrose, on the other hand, does both the slow rebound and the lariat with his opponent looking straight at him for the entire execution of the move. Them just standing around not only ma, but also makes the wrestling overly-rehearsed, which only makes it less exciting.

Finally, WWE’s commentators get mentioned here for calling that move ‘the Wacky Line’. Of all the names, calling a move ‘the wacky line’ downplayed the impact of it altogether. Instead, they could have made Ambrose’s character into a Cactus Jack or Steve Austin-like unhinged badass with a better name in place.

It’s no wonder fans turned on Ambrose in 2016; he was shoehorned into playing a character that had so much potential but was instead a watered-down kid-friendly gimmick that missed the mark, thanks in part to his ‘Wacky Line’.

#5 Satoshi Kojima

Kojima, seen here, cleaving someone's head off with his lariat

AJPW and NJPW alumnus Satoshi ‘Strong Arm’ Kojima has one of the most brutal lariats of all time. Like his fellow Japanese wrestlers, Kojima would run at his opponents and swing his arm with murderous intent.

But unlike most of them, Kojima didn’t always swing for the upper chest; he often angled his lariat upwards, striking his opponents right in the face and chest. If you watch closely, he looks like he’s actually hitting them right in the head and then wrapping his arm around their heads and smashing them to the mat.

This brutal execution of the lariat brought Kojima considerable success. He became a top star in AJPW during the 2000s and became the first person to ever hold AJPW’s Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship an NJPW’s IWGP Heavyweight Championship at the same time. An important factor in this success was Kojima’s lariat: fans loved it because it was a believable and respected move, and his opponents suffered intense pain after taking it.

#4 Kazuchika Okada

Okada's Rainmaker is one of the most successful finishers in modern wrestling history

Upon his rechristening as ‘The Rainmaker’, Kazuchika Okada adopted a new finisher to go with it. The Rainmaker might not look as flashy or dangerous as those of his fellow Japanese wrestlers. After all, some might dismiss it as just a clothesline. But there’s more to it than that.

Holding his opponent’s other wrist allows Okada to maintain control, and it also shortened the distance between his opponent and himself. By pulling them back towards himself, Okada maximized the impact his lariat had, which is why you often saw his opponents either flip or land on the canvas at a high angle. These elements made Okada’s Rainmaker into a believable and dangerous finisher.

Now, some might think that the Rainmaker is easy to avoid or dodge, and you’re right. But those things make Okada’s matches better because it means a match would continue after he attempts the move.

If Okada always landed it on the first attempt, his matches would get boring because fans could see the end was coming. Instead, many of Okada’s various opponents have found different ways to dodge or reverse the Rainmaker into more clever sequences, which in turn amplified the drama of those matches.

Finally, there’s a storytelling element to Okada’s Rainmaker. In one of his many epic encounters with archrival Hiroshi Tanahashi, Okada failed to maintain wrist control while trying to land the Rainmaker, and that cost him the match. In later rematches, that element of wrist control was not only brought up but became a focal point of the match, which made for a more brilliant in-ring story.

#3 JBL

JBL had a long and storied career of hitting people as hard as humanly possible

John ‘Bradshaw’ Layfield is a controversial figure in WWE history. He was known as a ‘policeman’ in WWE, which is someone who enforces the rules and traditions of the company and punishes transgressors. In his matches, JBL would often wrestle in an intentionally-stiff style, hitting wrestlers as hard as possible.

Though most of his moves were painful-looking, none of them were more so than his Clothesline From Hell (which is actually a lariat and not a clothesline). Like many of his fellow Texans, JBL believed in genuine toughness and hitting people hard, which came through with his vicious finisher.

What made it stand out so much was JBL’s stiffness: unlike most wrestlers in WWE, JBL was said to hit wrestlers as hard as possible, sometimes to see if they had what it took to survive in WWE (and sometimes to punish someone for some previous mistake). Even when he was playing a heel, fans would either cheer or go ‘OOOOHH’ because the strike looked and sounded incredibly painful.

#2 Kenta Kobashi

With arms like those, Kobashi's lariats must've been unimaginably painful

Kenta Kobashi is widely considered to be one of the greatest and most dynamic wrestlers ever. He could pull off virtually any move perfectly and had a big move for almost any situation. For many years, his main finisher was his lariat.

However, Kobashi had two different versions of this same move. The first was a typical running Lariat that looked as powerful as any. But it’s his second version that’s the more badass and devastating.

This move – called the Burning Lariat – involves Kobashi holding his opponent by the hair/head with one arm, pulling his lariat arm back like he’s building up power, and then swinging his arm in short range with enough force to decapitate a lesser man. Kobashi’s Burning Lariat is a monstrous move and must be a nightmare to take for his opponents.

This must be especially true considering Kobashi was one of the strongest and most muscular wrestlers in AJPW and NOAH, and he had built himself a reputation for dishing out as much punishment as he himself absorbed.

#1 Stan Hansen

The golden rule of pro wrestling: you do not mess with Stan Hansen...EVER

Stan Hansen’s Western Lariat is widely regarded as the most vicious striking attack in wrestling history. Due to Hansen’s poor eyesight in the ring, he often threw his lariat with little precision. He swung it with devastating force, seemingly apathetic to his opponent’s well-being.

That aura of danger catapulted Hansen into wrestling legend, as his lariat became known for being more brutal than any other wrestler’s lariat before or since. Taking Hansen’s Western Lariat was considered something of an ultimate test of endurance, and if you survived it, people respected your toughness much more.

Go watch any of Hansen’s old matches. He swings either of his arms with such force that he looks like he’s going to break someone’s neck with it. That brutality is an important factor in Hansen’s legendary reputation, especially in Japan.

With toughness being a huge part of puroresu, taking and surviving one of the most legitimately-painful attacks in history was met with admiration and respect from Japanese wrestling fans and critics.

Even though Hansen played the stereotypical ‘evil foreigner’ for many years, by the end of the late 1990s he was beloved and respected by Japanese wrestling fans because of his toughness and brutality, and especially because of his legendary Western Lariat.