It's all about the power!!

[Cookie14]

We have seen several very impressive feats of strenght over the years, from Hogan body slamming Andre or Luger slamming Yokozuna to Goldberg giving The Giant a Jackhammer.

I want to know what you think is the greatest feat of strenght you've seen in wrestling?
Also, who do you think is the strongest pound-for-pound guy in wrestling history?

 

[Sub-Xero]

As impressive as Goldberg Jackhammering the Giant was, my vote has to go to Brock Lesnar giving an even BIGGER Paul Wight (Big Show) the F5.

It's much harder to generate the torque needed to not have your opponent land directly on top of you as you're rotating him around your own body. With the Jackhammer, you simply need to drop your opponent in the right direction, and the momentum will carry you over him. With the F5, if you can't get enough rotation, you'd better get the hell out of the way.

 

[Rip]

I don't know, it's all kind of crap shoot. You have to remember to forget the mark in you.

Yeah Goldberg Jackhammering Show and Brock F5ing Show was impressive, but you have to remember that the opponent assists them. Yeah Cena got Edge and Show on his shoulders, but that was from them being on the top rope in the first place. It's not like they lift dead weight from off the ground. Same with body slams from Hogan and Luger to Andre and Yokozuna. It's all very deceptive, which is the point of a wrestling match to begin with. Off the top of my head, some of the military presses I've seen from Steiner, Brock and Goldberg have been pretty damned impressive.

 

[RicoLen]

I think my favorite was watching Mr. Perfect give the Perfect Plex to The Big Show.

As for the strongest guys I've seen. Warlord always impressed me as a kid. Davey Boy Smith was pretty damned massive for a time, as was Rick & Scott Steiner. Brock always looked more like he was big-boned rather than massively muscled.

 

[robbo316]

Try back in the early-60's. Bruno Sammartino vs Haystacks Calhoun. Calhoun was (legitimately) around 640lbs, and Sammartino picked him up, admittedly not a slam, but very much the same as Lex Luger "slamming" Yokozuna. I think it was sometime around 1961.

 

[King Patrick Star]

If lifting Andre the Giant or Yokozuna or any Super Heavyweight is impressive, then John Cena FUing the Big Show and Edge at the same time at the 25th Grandest Stage Of Them All has to be the most impressive...right??

 

[RicoLen]

Try back in the early-60's. Bruno Sammartino vs Haystacks Calhoun. Calhoun was (legitimately) around 640lbs, and Sammartino picked him up, admittedly not a slam, but very much the same as Lex Luger "slamming" Yokozuna. I think it was sometime around 1961.

Geez Haystacks Calhoun, there's a name from my childhood. I remember back when I was little calling a kid haystacks was akin to calling him a fat tub of lard. I remember seeing some old match with him on TV when I was little, like 5 or 6, and I'm pretty sure it was already a pretty old match when I saw it.

I don't remember who it was, it might have been Bruno Sammartino, because I remember seeing him slam Haystacks and I was thinking he must be the strongest man I'd ever seen.

Man I remember cartoons, and TV shows calling fat people Haystacks too. I wonder if Calhoun was the guy that originated that name or if he was called Haystacks as a result of some earlier reference?

EDIT: Actually I remember the fat kid from Stephen King's "It" was called affectionately Haystack. That was a reference to Calhoun.

 

[S.J. Maximus]

Cena didn't FU (or AA) Big Show and Edge at the same time at WrestleMania 25. He picked them both up but Edge rolled off of Big Show seconds after Cena picked them up and then it turned into another FU (or AA) on the Big Show so that doesn't get my vote. I'd say Lesnar superplexing Big Show and causing the whole damn ring to collapse was a pretty amazing feat. It didn't do too much for me to believe Brock's strength but it was still amazing to see 2 superheavyweights fly in the air and bring the whole ring down.

 

[Lewis617]

All of the above are good examples, but one that hasn't been mentioned yet that I'll throw out there is when John Cena gave Vicera the FU. Body slamming Yokozuna, yea give luger props, but do I think luger could have fireman carried yoko then flipped hom over on his back.........hell no

 

[robbo316]

Geez Haystacks Calhoun, there's a name from my childhood. I remember back when I was little calling a kid haystacks was akin to calling him a fat tub of lard. I remember seeing some old match with him on TV when I was little, like 5 or 6, and I'm pretty sure it was already a pretty old match when I saw it.

I don't remember who it was, it might have been Bruno Sammartino, because I remember seeing him slam Haystacks and I was thinking he must be the strongest man I'd ever seen.

Man I remember cartoons, and TV shows calling fat people Haystacks too. I wonder if Calhoun was the guy that originated that name or if he was called Haystacks as a result of some earlier reference?

EDIT: Actually I remember the fat kid from Stephen King's "It" was called affectionately Haystack. That was a reference to Calhoun.

Apparently, he was given the name Haystacks, because of his appearance on a show that Art Linkletter did, where he was shown throwing....haystacks into a hayloft!
Just doing a bit of checking into Calhoun, he slammed a guy who was bigger than he was - Happy Humphrey, he weighed around 750lbs. He varied in weight between 700lbs to 800lbs. He retired in 1962, weighing 860lb. He went to the Medical College of Georgia, as a test case. He lost 630lbs! As an aside it was as his driver, that Harley Race got his break in the business in 1960.
But Pro Wrestling seems to have had more than it's fair share of huge, and I do mean HUGE men in the ring, men who would make Andre look small!
A few an examples:
Benny Mcguire 814 lbs
Happy Humphrey 800 lbs
Billy Mcguire 784 lbs
Yokozuna 700 lbs
Giant haystacks 686 lbs
Haystacks Calhoun 640 lbs
Kinda makes me feel small, I'm about 6'3" and a shade under 300lbs.

 

[frostbite2819]

What no british bulldog love?
anytime he would lift someone moderately big in one of those suplexes where he would let go with one arm and just hold them in the air for a time, that was amazing to me, i always marked out for that move.

 

[Cookie14]

What no british bulldog love?
anytime he would lift someone moderately big in one of those suplexes where he would let go with one arm and just hold them in the air for a time, that was amazing to me, i always marked out for that move.

Personally, I think Davey Boy is the strongest pound for pound wrestler in history. The reason I didn't mention him is that I couldn't think of any specific examples of his strength, although he probably was the best wrestler at performing brainbusters, he could hold anyone up for ages.

 

[LegendKiller716]

One of the more impressive feats of strength I've seen was John Cena giving Big Show and Edge the FU at the same time. I'm not a Cena fan by any means, but that was impressive.

The strongest guy in Wrestling history has to be Mark Henry. He is indeed the worlds strongest man, and in a radio interview Randy Orton said he was like the third strongest man ever. He's a beast.

 

[Cookie14]

One of the more impressive feats of strength I've seen was John Cena giving Big Show and Edge the FU at the same time. I'm not a Cena fan by any means, but that was impressive.

The strongest guy in Wrestling history has to be Mark Henry. He is indeed the worlds strongest man, and in a radio interview Randy Orton said he was like the third strongest man ever. He's a beast.

How do you come to the conculsion that he's the worlds strongest man? He competed as a weightlifter at the 1992 Olympic Games, but finished in 10th place, and won a silver medel at the 1995 Pan-American Games. He has never won any strong-man competitions. Met-Rx (sponsors of the Worlds Stonrgest Man competition) voted Henry as the second strongest man behind Mariusz Pudzianowski (5x Worlds Strongest Man competition winner)

Even beyond that, I asked for the strongest POUND-FOR-POUND guy, not the strongest overall.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

But Pro Wrestling seems to have had more than it's fair share of huge, and I do mean HUGE men in the ring, men who would make Andre look small!

A few an examples:
Benny Mcguire 814 lbs
Happy Humphrey 800 lbs
Billy Mcguire 784 lbs
Yokozuna 700 lbs
Giant haystacks 686 lbs
Haystacks Calhoun 640 lbs
Kinda makes me feel small, I'm about 6'3" and a shade under 300lbs.

Have a read of this, I just looked up Happy Humphrey on the internet, and this is what I found:

William J. Cobb
Ring name(s) Happy Humphrey
Height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight 1,000 lb (450 kg)[1]
Born July 16, 1926
Died March 14, 1989(1989-03-14) (aged 62)
Debut 1953
Retired 1962

William J. Cobb (July 16, 1926 - March 14, 1989), best known by his ring and screen names of Happy Humphrey and "Squasher" Humphrey, was one of the heaviest professional wrestlers of all time. His most active period was in the 1950s and 1960s when he billed himself as "the world's largest wrestler". Humphrey averaged 750 lb (340 kg) during his career.[3] Several times, he weighed in at over 800 lb (360 kg), and on one occasion he weighed over 1,000 lb (450 kg)

Humphrey's promoters had a 1951 Pontiac heavily modified to carry the wrestler around: seats were removed and extra shocks were installed to support Humphrey's enormous weight (and also as a gimmick). In addition, he was usually weighed before matches on meat scales at rendering facilities.

And read this, and try not to be disturbed for the mental image....

In 1960, Humphrey met future multiple NWA World Campion Harley Race, who was only 17 at the time. Race, who was just beginning his own career, was hired as Humphrey's driver and he also wrestled Humphrey on multiple occasions. Race earned $5 per day, plus room and board, for driving Humphrey, and $25 for each match he wrestled with Humphrey.[1] According to Race, Humphrey was so large that normal showers could not accommodate him. As a result, Humphrey was obliged to lie naked on the ground while Race would apply liquid soap to his body, scrub him with a mop and then rinse him off with a garden hose

How the hell does anyone let themselves get so fat?! I am guessing Humphrey was incredibly strong, but you lose so much mobility being that size its not worth it. Not surprisingly he died at a pretty young age.

 

[FlairFan2003]

When Luger or The Road Warrior would press slam opponents like Flair or Arn Anderson, that was impressive. Remember, that's dead weight, distributed unevenly, and even though Flair would brace his hands on their shoulders to help maintain balance, you try to repeatedly overhead press 245lbs of unevenly distributed dead weight, not easy - made for great spots in their matches though. I know Sting used to do the press slam move but he didn't repeatedly press them up and down above his head before the slam, he got them up and slammed them down.

 

[Dyno Kid]

Pound for pound I'd go with 3 guys:

Doug Furnas
Bruno Samartino
Steve "Dr.Death" Williams

Feats of strength:

Johnny the Bull press slaming Rikishi n Dr. Death press slaming Big Bubba( Boss Man) 5 times in a row over his head.

 

[Twiztid Rodimus]

My personal favorite, even though it's not the most impressive. Kane eliminating Big show at Royal Rumble 2002. He had him, and walked him directly over the ropes. He didnt have him up for that long, but the way he just held him and dropped over the ropes impressed me.

[youtube]b90gu62tkSc[/youtube]

 

[Paralyzer Z]

Have a read of this, I just looked up Happy Humphrey on the internet, and this is what I found:

William J. Cobb
Ring name(s) Happy Humphrey
Height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight 1,000 lb (450 kg)[1]
Born July 16, 1926
Died March 14, 1989(1989-03-14) (aged 62)
Debut 1953
Retired 1962

William J. Cobb (July 16, 1926 - March 14, 1989), best known by his ring and screen names of Happy Humphrey and "Squasher" Humphrey, was one of the heaviest professional wrestlers of all time. His most active period was in the 1950s and 1960s when he billed himself as "the world's largest wrestler". Humphrey averaged 750 lb (340 kg) during his career.[3] Several times, he weighed in at over 800 lb (360 kg), and on one occasion he weighed over 1,000 lb (450 kg)

Humphrey's promoters had a 1951 Pontiac heavily modified to carry the wrestler around: seats were removed and extra shocks were installed to support Humphrey's enormous weight (and also as a gimmick). In addition, he was usually weighed before matches on meat scales at rendering facilities.

And read this, and try not to be disturbed for the mental image....

In 1960, Humphrey met future multiple NWA World Campion Harley Race, who was only 17 at the time. Race, who was just beginning his own career, was hired as Humphrey's driver and he also wrestled Humphrey on multiple occasions. Race earned $5 per day, plus room and board, for driving Humphrey, and $25 for each match he wrestled with Humphrey.[1] According to Race, Humphrey was so large that normal showers could not accommodate him. As a result, Humphrey was obliged to lie naked on the ground while Race would apply liquid soap to his body, scrub him with a mop and then rinse him off with a garden hose

How the hell does anyone let themselves get so fat?! I am guessing Humphrey was incredibly strong, but you lose so much mobility being that size its not worth it. Not surprisingly he died at a pretty young age.

That........ must take some courage to do. Kudos to you Harley.


Back on topic, the biggest feats of strength I have ever seen were when Batista gave his powerbomb to Umaga. The powerbomb takes some strength to do but to do it too a 300+ lb Umaga is incredible, so much that he botched it. Other ones would include Lesnar's F5 to the big show and Zeke lifting Show up earlier this year. Lex Luger slamming Yokozuna was one that I saw on VHS that was also very impressive. I own a video of the Jackhammer to Big show as well. The one I would pick as the best would be the F5 simply because to rotate a giant in mid air takes some incredible strength.

 

[Davi323]

I have to say, that while it's obvious that the height of the vehicle certainly helped him out in gaining leverage, it's still pretty impressive to see Big Show tip over that jeep on Smackdown...You see guys perform moves on other guys all the time, not every day you see a car get tipped over by a dude.

 

[Dagger Dias]

One of the more impressive feats of strength I've seen was John Cena giving Big Show and Edge the FU at the same time.

This.

I was there live to see it in person and remember being really impressed by it. Cena giving an Attitude Adjustment (FU back then) to Big Show at Wrestlemania would be impressive enough, given how heavy and tall Big Show is.... but this gets my vote because Cena not only hit the move on both guys at the same time but also did it in a way that prevented either from getting hurt. It showed his strength and his confidence. Most guys would have either not been strong enough to do this spot or would have gotten Edge/Show/themselves hurt somehow. As for who is the strongest pound for pound? It's gotta be Cena. Look at the spot I just discussed, that's the kind of spot you'd expect someone to have to be bigger than Lesnar to pull off, yet Cena did it.

 

[HollywoodLuthias]

Personally, I think Dino Bravo is the strongest pound for pound wrestler in history.Dino Bravo was legitimaly strong and able to bench press more than 500 pounds.He did pick up big guys like Abdullah the Butcher