10 Most Heavily Protected Wrestling Finishers Ever
9. Heart Punch (Ox Baker)
Being one of the most feared villains in wrestling history requires one of the most feared finishing moves in wrestling history, as was the case with Ox Baker.
A despicable monster who terrorised the territories, Baker's Heart Punch was famed and feared, to the extent that he walked around with a t-shirt reading "The Great Heart Puncher." Adopting it from former WWWF Champion Stan Stasiak, Baker was eventually forced to rename the blow to the Hurt Punch, though the method never changed. Ox punched you really hard in the heart - and you didn't get up.
Three incidents stand out when it comes to the Heart Punch's mystique.
In June 1971, Alberto Torres (who may have been competing with a ruptured pancreas) collapsed while wrestling Baker in Nebraska, passing away a few days later, leading to promoters attributing this to the punch to put heat on Ox to improve his drawing power. The same happened the following year, when Ray Gunkel passed away from heart trauma soon after working Baker. Then, in 1974, Baker incited a riot in Cleveland, Ohio for repeatedly punching Ernie Ladd after their match, forcing even the 440-pound Baker to flee for his life from a knife-wielding mob.
In Baker's hands, the Heart Punch spread real, tangible terror. We will never see its like again.