The Spear is one of the most basic of wrestling moves. A carry-over from football, every version of the Spear—regardless of who delivers it—would be illegal in rugby and Australian rules football.
Well, all versions except for our first and third entry as we look at the three most dangerous versions of the Spear in WWE history.
Rhino/Rhyno: The Gore
At the top of this list is the Gore, used by Rhino since the late-90s, this was a tackle in the purest sense. Rhino—who was built like his namesake—delivered the most legal tackle on the list but also the most vicious.
If Rhino hit some with the Gore, he wasn’t trying to put them back-first on the mat, he was trying to send them back-first through. the turnbuckles, through the ring post, and hopefully to the arena floor!
Also, of everyone on this list, the commentators—particularly Paul Heyman—sold Rhino’s Gore the best. It’s a visually appealing move since it looked like raw power in motion each time.
By the time Rhino arrived in WWE and even on his return, the Gore still packed a punch.
Goldberg: The Spear
Rhino’s version of the Spear never really caught on in wrestling. What did catch on was Goldberg’s version. A running tackle with a double-leg takedown is recognized as a dump tackle or even a spear tackle in rugby and Aussie football.
His Spear had a ton of power behind it but visually, it didn’t look as vicious as the Gore to me. It looked like he definitely steamrolled a guy with sometimes with him getting a little ahead of himself after planting his opponent.
Mind you, this was the Spear in WCW when he was still ridiculously raw as a talent. In WWE, it wasn’t the most destructive Spear you’d see.
Then again, his Spear did cause more injuries than the others on this list.
Big Show
Yes, Edge, Lashley, and Beth Phoenix had cleaner, more dynamic-looking spears however, Big Show’s Spear was a sleeper. It was literally a slow-moving, unavoidable glacier plowing into someone.
Now, I’d never seen a slow-motion Spear before Big Show did it and actually, it’s very avoidable. I’m guessing the action of a giant actually running towards their torso to split them like Jean-Claude Van Damme is enough to make an opponent freeze up instead of step to the side.
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