In professional wrestling, a lot of the focus tends to be placed on the flashy moves that wrestlers can pull out, from their finishers to being able to dive outside the ring. However, the fundamentals are crucial in professional wrestling, and one of those is being able to throw a punch, which is a key part of a wrestling match.
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This happens in every single encounter, and some wrestlers unfortunately do throw sloppy punches, which don’t always look great. However, others across WWE and WCW have known how to make a punch look realistic, appearing as physical as possible to grip fans from the basics alone.
UPDATE: 2024/05/15 12:21 EST BY BENJAMIN VIEIRA
While some moves in professional wrestling are far more basic than others, they still need to look good and strong. Everything in professional wrestling revolves around making moves look as realistic as possible to the fans in attendance. While some wrestlers are sloppy with these basics, others knew how to make them look legit. One of these moves is the punch, which when executed right, can look truly devastating and take an opponent off their feet. Below are some professional wrestlers who knew exactly what to do when it comes to delivering this move.
10 Steve Austin Stomped Mudholes
He Was A Brawler
- Austin is one of the best of all-time.
- He was a hard-hitting wrestler.
- Austin always wanted his punches to look good.
Steve Austin is one of the greatest wrestlers of all time, and while he started as quite technical with his style, things adapted throughout his career as he became a brawler. That led to some great matches over the years, and his hard-hitting ability did get him over massively with crowds.
While Austin would stomp a mudhole into his opponents regularly, he would also throw some fantastic punches that always looked snug. “The Texas Rattlesnake” prided himself in making sure whatever he did looked great, and that included the smaller details such as his punches.
9 Bret “The Hitman” Hart Ventured Outside His Comfort Zone
He Was Known For His Technical Abilities
- Hart was mostly a technical wrestler.
- He held himself to high standards.
- “The Hitman” wanted his punches to look real.
Bret Hart was certainly known as a technical wrestler, which is why many people consider him to be the best wrestler of all time. However, while he could work submissions better than anybody, he was also one of the best punchers in the business as well.
Hart took pride in making sure everything he did looked fantastic as he holds himself to an extremely high standard. That is why Hart would always throw some of the best punches around, ensuring they always looked as realistic as possible.
8 Jerry Lawler Did This Basic Move Well
He Was A Big Name In Memphis
- Lawler always made his punches look realistic.
- The punch is a not a very hyped up move.
- Lawler won numerous titles during his career.
Something that Jerry Lawler has always been well known for is his ability to throw fantastic, realistic-looking punches. While he might not get as much hype nowadays as modern wrestling has moved at a much faster pace than he worked, The King is a great talent.
Everything Lawler did looked fantastic, and his hard-hitting work helped to make his matches very entertaining. A big part of that has been through his punches, with this basic skill being something that Lawler did better than any other wrestler.
7 Scott Hall Had Great Punches
He Used Variety In His Moveset
- Hall possessed a lot of strength.
- He often towered over his opponents.
- He knew how to use his height advantage.
Scott Hall was able to do a lot of things very well inside the wrestling ring, and his punches were a big part of that. They were something that worked as the foundation of everything he did, and they would always look brilliant, particularly due to his size and strength.
He would throw a variety of punches from different distances, and he really knew how to dominate with his height advantage to make them look good.
6 Dustin Rhodes Strikes Hard
His Brother Has Adopted Some Of His Moves
- Rhodes has wrestled for numerous promotions over his career.
- He was known as Goldust in WWE.
- He has a major size advantage.
Dustin Rhodes is likely underrated for what he can provide in terms of his punching ability, as that was a massive quality of his. He is a wrestler that has developed over time with his in-ring work, but being able to throw punches is something that he has always done well.
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Rhodes would add plenty of theater into his punches as well, which meant that not only did they look good, but they also entertained people. His uppercut which would often drop his opponent to the mat was a particular highlight that he has often featured throughout his career.
5 Brock Lesnar Has An MMA Background
He Was Legit In The Ring
- Lesnar often utilizes his MMA background in matches.
- He is a former champion in UFC.
- He uses a combination of body shots and strikes.
Brock Lesnar may often just be thought of as the guy who hits German suplexes, but that isn’t all “The Beast” can do. He has a variety of styles with what he can do inside the ring, and throwing punches to be as aggressive as possible is one of them, which is something fans can believe in.
Because of Lesnar’s MMA background, it is easy to take everything he does very seriously, and that is helped by the fact that he is extremely aggressive inside the ring. Lesnar blends a variety of punches from body shots to small jabs and huge uppercuts, and that mixture helps to make his punches look great.
4 Terry Funk Had An Old School Touch
He Made A Basic Move Look Great
- Funk always wanted his moves to look real.
- Fans would give tremendous reactions to his punches.
- He was very physical in the ring.
Terry Funk is an old-school wrestler who lived up to those values throughout his entire career by making sure that everything looked as realistic as possible, especially through his punches. Funk was aggressive inside the ring, and when he threw a punch, fans would know about it.
There would be an instant reaction from the audience to Funk’s punches, and that is all you can ask for when providing a basic move to the fans. He made things look great, and he would throw plenty of power behind each one, helping to make his encounters look physical.
3 The Undertaker Was Known For His Hits
He Was Known As WWE’s Best Pure Striker
- He often executed fast-paced punches.
- He is a big fan of MMA.
- His size was a tremendous advantage to him.
The Undertaker put a lot of focus on his punching, with this being a key part of his in-ring work over the years. “The Deadman” is known for being a big MMA fan, therefore seeing him get into matches in this manner and wanting to use punches as much as possible made sense.
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He would often throw fast-paced punches in the corner which would always get audiences excited because it was something that looked great. Being a man of his size “The Deadman” could also put a lot of power behind things that he did, which also helped to make them look fantastic.
2 Vader Was A Stiff Worker
He Was A Great Big Man
- Vader worked a very hard-hitting style.
- He had a lot of size and power behind him.
- Fans loved seeing him work.
Vader is one of the stiffest workers in wrestling history, and that is something that continued into his work throughout WWE. The big man might have been athletic for a person of his size and power, but the reason people loved watching him is down to how intense everything he did was.
His punches would look incredible every single time, and many of his opponents have stated that he was one of the most physical people to share the ring with. That worked out in his favor over the years as fans loved seeing that, and it became something that he was notorious for.
1 Sheamus Is A Brawler Through And Through
He Loves To Fight
- Sheamus has been one of WWE’s most physical workers.
- He never holds back in the ring.
- One of his signature moves is the Beats of the Bodhran.
Sheamus is one of the most physical wrestlers in the business, and everything that he does looks stiff inside the ring. He doesn’t hold back in his matches, which is one of the reasons his encounters are so good to watch because he likes to make things look like a true fight.
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He is the type of wrestler that tends to throw a lot of punches throughout his matches. Therefore, they must look good, which is a box that he can tick. His opponents often say he is physical inside the ring, and that’s a skill that serves him well.
