The Lariat - Who Did It Best?

#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’.