Quoting the truest of internet sources, Wikipedia, the lariat is 'often confused' with the clothesline. According to that treasure of a website, the clothesline is done with a straight, outstretched arm whereas the lariat is done with a swinging arm, plus it looks a whole lot cooler. In effect, the clothesline is done to takedown, and the lariat is done to attempt murder.
It's such a visceral and carnal strike, using a limb and throwing it at another person's head, and it adds a touch of anger and tenacity that always lends to building a lovely bit of drama into your graps.
Now, whenever I see lariats used in rotation of a moveset, when executed well, they became more of a statement than anything else. The action and motion of a lariat just screams 'raw power', either coming from a position of dominance and reasserting the power dynamic, or coming from the back foot to re-shift the battlefield and make us question the progression of that match-up. A proper lariat can act as a high spot all on its own, a turning point that can change the trajectory of a wrestler's plight, or in some instances, finish the war.
The challenge of pro wrestling is making the combat look like a legitimate contest, which with strikes is a very unique problem. Safety should always be at the forefront of the mind when wrestling, and luckily the lariat being targeted at the upper chest allows for some room for stiffness. And by some room, I mean you get some people throwing them like a fastball at the World Series (I assume that's a relevant metaphor I am British remember), hard and stiff as a wooden corpse. In regards to this, making him the undisputed king of this is probably the man known as Stan 'The Lariat' Hansen; it's his goddamn nickname he's that good. I suppose being partly blind gave the man the ability to leave his fucks at the door.
The slight adjustment of the elbow pad makes it for me. Here's another, and make sure to shout 'BAM' or any interchangeable illegible scream when it connects;
And just to really hammer this point home, just take a gander at this one, the epitome of telling someone to 'fuck off entirely'.
Even the bloody ref feels the energy being exerted.
In today's landscape of pro-wres, there are some top class throwers of lariats around the world. Probably the most renowned and kayfabe powerful in the business today must be the Rainmaker Lariat thrown by the ace of New Japan, Kazuchika Okada. It's a match ender, a tool of chaos and the move that has protected his lengthy title reigns over hundreds of days, flooring any bastard that steps up to face the man.
One that is perhaps a touch underrated may be that of Luke Harper, throwing a rotation in there to make his Discus Lariat a weapon of wrath capable of forest clearing.
And whilst we're here talking about lariats the equivalent of a 12 gauge to the sternum and turning a man into a ragdoll, Satoshi Kojima's name is readily available for nomination
Need to stop a man in his tracks? Throw a lariat.
Need to level the playing field? Throw a lariat.
Need to remind your opponent who the fuck you are? Throw a lariat.
Need to kill a man? Throw a lariat.
If you have a mean lariat and you're not afraid to throw it out there, you're definitely gonna make an impact in your match, on both your opponent and the audience. Such a simple motion of swinging an arm can have cataclysmic effect, and 29,000 times out of 29,001, it's cool as shit.
That's gonna do it from me for this one folks, thank you for supporting me in my more relaxed approach to wrestling writing. Let me know what you think of the premise of this series, I just thought it was a nice little fun something I can whip up and share with you guys. Plus, watching wrestling gifs is always a joy. See you all in the next one!
No comments:
Post a Comment