Posted April 17, 20169 yr comment_5744703 I will leave people to make lists. I will simply picture some contenders here.
April 17, 20169 yr comment_5744705 I don't really like chop wrestlers, never have. I make exceptions for Indians like Wahoo. Big Show's is great though, because he does like two and it destroys everyone. Much prefer European uppercuts, punches and kicks.
April 17, 20169 yr Author comment_5744707 Much prefer European uppercuts And yet you still hate on Dory who throws such a fucking swank one.
April 17, 20169 yr comment_5744711 Much prefer European uppercuts And yet you still hate on Dory who throws such a fucking swank one. To be fair my Dory viewing is limited and he was next on my list to watch after WoS and Shoot Stye and Little Tokyo for GWE.
April 17, 20169 yr comment_5744723 Here's a compilation of Chris Benoit chops. Hardcore Holly had a helluva chop, too. I remember him, Eddie, and Benoit absolutely killing Daniel Puder with chops in the Royal Rumble, but don't remember which one.
April 17, 20169 yr comment_5744732 I need to think about this more. Only american boy I would consider is Stan Hansen. Wahoo I haven't watched enough to properly judge but yeah he's good. Prime Joe is a good call. Steamboat and Flair aren't really any better at chopping than Roderick Strong in my book. Lucha folks I have no idea how to judge really. I mean I have no idea how hard RUSH hits but his chops look awesome. I actually wouldn't consider Hash because Kesagiri Chops are a different beast in my book. But two handed chest chops and chest slaps (you know what I'm talking about) still count. One japanese guy I want to give a shout-out to before I come back with a huge list is Naomichi Marufuji. I've seen him bloody up someone's chest with those things like three times by now, you can talk shit about him as a worked all you want but he can chop, especially since he made chops the focus of his striking and dropped his weak-ass elbows in 2012-2013.
April 17, 20169 yr comment_5744736 After thinking about it, I can't really come up with lucha guys other than Rush and Perro Aguayo. I have to be sleeping on someone. Lots of guys like Casas that have good looking chops but don't stand out that much. Some Jap guys that come to mind now: Kenta Kobashi Go Shiozaki Kensuke Sasaki Shinjiro Ohtani Genichiro Tenryu Yuji Okabayashi Daisuke Sekimoto Yoshihito Sasaki Suwama (by two handed chops I meant the SUWAMA-style chops, not the Tenzan/Killer Khan Mongolian Chops) Toshiaki Kawada Tomohiro Ishii Tomoaki Honma Tatsuhito Takaiwa Masato Tanaka Hiroshi Hase also had neat chops I'm editing him in Lots of guys who have chops that look really good but don't rely on them that much so I don't know what to do with them (Omori, Kohei Sato/Shuji Ishikawa, Minoru Suzuki etc.) Pretty much anyone who worked Big Japan in recent years knows how to throw some hands. For US Indy guys other than Roddy and I'd also mention Low Ki. And Super Dragon.
April 17, 20169 yr comment_5744738 Absolutely love a great chop and even morseso when it's smartly incorporated into a match. Flair probably wins it for me, but also a big fan of Joe and Kobashi on this list. Ron agar in another great one. Not a fan of when it's thrown after a huge setup with tons of lag time like WWE often falls prey to. Don't see how that's any different than the floppy junior spots that are criticized for being too contrived. Not quite related, but in the same hemisphere enough that it feels relevant is the best lariat. Always defaulted to Hansen here but after going back over some prime work from both I think Jumbo actually takes the lariat crown.
April 17, 20169 yr Author comment_5744742 Not quite related, but in the same hemisphere enough that it feels relevant is the best lariat. Always defaulted to Hansen here but after going back over some prime work from both I think Jumbo actually takes the lariat crown. Believe it or not, I'd want to bring Lex Luger into this conversation. His just looks so damn perfect. Sexy Lexy.
April 17, 20169 yr comment_5744743 The entire BJ Strong Style crew murders each other with their chops, some of them have already been named. Ron Garvin had that nice overhand chop/slap.
April 17, 20169 yr comment_5744744 Chops were so much better when only a handful of guys did them, and when they didn't get the "WHOOO!", which, SHUT UP.
April 17, 20169 yr Author comment_5744749 Chops were so much better when only a handful of guys did them, and when they didn't get the "WHOOO!", which, SHUT UP. I think 00s US choppers should be banned on this basis. Especially Roderick Strong.
April 17, 20169 yr comment_5744750 They are a transitional weak strike in WWE so does it really matter how many guys do them?
April 17, 20169 yr comment_5744751 Someone who follows the in-ring more than me can say if WWE matches were better when Flair was in TNA and they gave the edict to everyone except Yoshi Tatsu to stop doing them.
April 17, 20169 yr Author comment_5744753 I find the way Flair does chops more satisfying than a lot of other guys who do them. He really lets them sink in. I can't remember which pod it was we talked about it, but also the different ways he uses the chop in a match -- psych out, mind game, punishment, humilation, declaration of superiority, mechanism to take breath from opponent, desparation move -- he's the master to me. Probably Kobashi #2 just cos I can watch those youtube clips all bloody day.
April 17, 20169 yr comment_5744754 Their best in ring year in recent memory was 2013 (many will argue it was the best WWE year ever) and that was after the chop ban and everyone was using it.
April 17, 20169 yr comment_5744757 Not quite related, but in the same hemisphere enough that it feels relevant is the best lariat. Always defaulted to Hansen here but after going back over some prime work from both I think Jumbo actually takes the lariat crown. Believe it or not, I'd want to bring Lex Luger into this conversation. His just looks so damn perfect. Sexy Lexy. Sexy indeed! Not quite as violent as the big guns, but he had great form and usually worked up a hell of a running start. Nice sleeper.
April 17, 20169 yr comment_5744760 I find the way Flair does chops more satisfying than a lot of other guys who do them. He really lets them sink in. I can't remember which pod it was we talked about it, but also the different ways he uses the chop in a match -- psych out, mind game, punishment, humilation, declaration of superiority, mechanism to take breath from opponent, desparation move -- he's the master to me. This was exactly what I was talking about. Perhaps not always the strongest or loudest, but always great audio on his and absolutely no one was better at *using* the chop rather than just throwing it out there for the sake of it.
April 17, 20169 yr Author comment_5744763 I find the way Flair does chops more satisfying than a lot of other guys who do them. He really lets them sink in. I can't remember which pod it was we talked about it, but also the different ways he uses the chop in a match -- psych out, mind game, punishment, humilation, declaration of superiority, mechanism to take breath from opponent, desparation move -- he's the master to me. This was exactly what I was talking about. Perhaps not always the strongest or loudest, but always great audio on his and absolutely no one was better at *using* the chop rather than just throwing it out there for the sake of it. Such a brilliantly organic and smart worker. Can throw 10 chops in one match and each one will be in a different context and carry a different meaning. Little 10-year old Low Ki never understood that, I reckon. There's also the one he throws just before the beg off, with the hope draining out of his face. Brilliant spot to feed a babyface comeback.
April 17, 20169 yr comment_5744774 I've never seen any footage of it, but Dragon Gate's King of Chop tournament -- a tournament dedicated to finding out who has the strongest chop -- sounds kind of amazing. Also, Regal should be an honorary mention here at a minimum, if only for using his time on NXT commentary to provide one of the only satisfying kayfabe explanations for why you'd want to chop someone in the first place.
April 18, 20169 yr comment_5744885 Kobashi hands down (pun intended) is one of the top choppers if only for the Samoa Joe match when Joe's chest just turns to....something. It's something along the lines of undone prime rib and ground beef.
April 18, 20169 yr comment_5744905 BTW, that picture wasn't a troll post, I just love the contrast of it compared to the rest of the pictures in the thread. Kairi Hojo does have the best chops currently. I just love how she throws her whole body behind them. It's like watching a baseball player swing a bat.
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