The Wrestler's Arsenal #2: The Dropkick

Hey there readers! Spurred on by the positive reception of the first of this series, its another addition to 'The Wrestler's Arsenal'; the dropkick. If you thought the last one was crammed with gifs, get a load of this!

The dropkick is a move you are sure to see and good handful of times on a show, and to varying levels of success and beauty. Last time we looked at the lariat, and the visual appeal of that is very different to the dropkick. The lariat is a much more visceral action, and whilst dropkicks can be just as brutal to witness, the athleticism needed to pull one off adds a layer of poetic spectacle to it. Don't get me wrong, there's a fair few downright ugly dropkicks out in the world, but seeing someone leave their feet always has an air of excitement to it.

Following on from the point of the setup of the move, this also allows for a whole lot of variation and innovation. Again using the comparison to the lariat, that move essentially requires you to be on the same level, but with the dropkick, you can be on an entirely different plane of existence and still connect with the bastard.

Personally, my favourite dropkicks are always emphasised with height; a point made even cooler by the fact it gains the term 'missile' as a descriptor. 

Neville's are especially beautiful - the hang time is just graceful and the slight popping of the kick right before connection makes the impact shine and the move on a whole look much more effective. Springboards in general really add a lot to the dropkick. I cannot fathom how difficult it is to get the balance to steady yourself on the ropes, let alone pulling off a dropkick from it.

With that in mind, seeing what Gran Metalik can do to prime himself for one is insane. 

'King of the Ropes' is a well earned moniker. 

So, those are the flashier examples of what a dropkick can be, having both a pageantry to them, as well as being used as efficient and effective weapons of squared circle warfare. Changing pace a bit though, there lies within the essence of the dropkick the ability to be used for pure destruction. 

That's Conquest, War, Famine and Death all in one. With this, the devastation for me comes from both the connection of the kick and the victim being pinned down. In that one above, Honma is stuck between a rock and a hard pair of feet flying at his fucking face, not a lot of give there I don't think. As horrific as that is, probably a more vicious variety of dropkick comes when the victim is sent flying into something. 

You don't have to look too much further than the audience in that clip to see the sort of reaction that generates. It must really fucking suck to be hit with that; not only does Balor properly knock him back, that connection of the head and turnbuckle is not a pretty sight. They don't come much nastier than that.

Looking across the modern world of wrestling, as well as the above examples, there are some performers out there with some stellar dropkicks, and few get me more hyped than Braun Strowman's;

Those fan-dangled dropkicks ain't just for cruiserweights, brother. Even with a silent gif I can vividly hear Braun screaming at Mark with every loop.

Making it 2-for-2 in the shoutouts for this series, Kazuchika Okada also lays claim to one of wrestling's best dropkicks, mixing height and connection to create a jaw-jacking manoeuvre to put down any bastard that just so happens to be hurtling towards him.

Gedo's little cheer at ringside is probably my favourite part of that gif.

Doing my research for this, I like to have a look at who Wikipedia cites as popularising and innovating the moves. Okada was up there for the standing dropkick, but there was another name alongside him, one that caught me off guard. I knew this guy was awesome, and I guess its probably down to limited viewing of his work, but goddamn looking it up made me see the truth.

Ladies and gentlemen, Hardcore Holly. 

However, with money riding on it and in spite of Okada's majesty, I would say that the best dropkick in wrestling today goes to 'The Phenomenal One', AJ Styles.

Everything about it is beautiful, but for me, its the leap and the landing that makes it. AJ's not the tallest of lads, and for him to get the verticality needed to nail his opponent in the face is, well...phenomenal. On top of that, the landing at the end is slick as anything, essentially making the move more of a dropsault variation.

In conclusion, the dropkick is a thing of beauty. Whether you're dropping out of the sky, barrelling down at a poor fucker sat in the corner or laying in wait for perfect interception, connecting with two feet is an ideal way to rock some heads. With a lot of strikes, there's a general feeling of 'I could do that', but a dropkick is something to aspire to. I can't tell you how many times I've jumped on my bed going for a dropkick, but I can assure you each time they've looked like pure shit. So with that in mind, the next time you see a dropkick in action, look beyond the common spot it's become, and appreciate the athleticism needed to perform such a feat.

Well that's gonna do it from me for this time folks. I hope you've enjoyed this part of The Wrestler's Arsenal, and if you've any requests on what should be covered next, please do let me know, and whenever that may be, I'll see you guys there!

The Wrestler's Arsenal #1: The Lariat

In an ever continuing movements of me coming up with new ideas for series, I call this 'The Wrestler's Arsenal', where we look at moves that have become a standard in modern day pro wrestling, looking at the overall impact and coolness of these moves. Starting us off, its a beast of a move; the lariat.

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 

To conclude, the lariat is a wonderful thing. 

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!