It's called a 'clothesline' - same as in (western) football. I know exactly what you mean. It's all become hype and posturing. When I was a kid, it wasn't quite such big business and while they still hit each other with chairs, etc, there was still more actual fake wrestling, if you can forgive the oxymoron.

>{g} "Don't believe the hype!"
>
>I don't know if back in the day US wrestling was like in the UK but I find the modern satellite televised US wrestling rather disturbing, what with these croaky-voiced man-monsters strutting, posturing and snarling to the mike, and issuing "chalenges" to their "cowardly" arch-adversaries. What's more, all the finesse has gone out of it: no more do I hear of a "Boston crab", "Grapevine", "half nelson", "full nelson", et al. It all seems to be smashing into each other, and a generation of kids growing up witnessing (and seeing as normal) the extremely dangerous practice of taking someone out via an outstretched arm across the throat (forget the analogous name).
>
>>When I was a kid, we used to go to the matches at Maple Leaf Gardens. They were taped on Thursday evening and televised on Saturday afternoons. We went to a match one Thursday in which 'Bulldog' Brower was wrestling. He was the bad guy, natch. Anyway, we were Bryan, Alan T. and me. Alan (The other Alan) brought a sign that said, "Bulldog Brower wears pink jockey shorts!" When the wrestlers came down the aisle before the match, Brower spotted the sign and rushed over, grabbed it out of Alan's hand, and snarling and drooling, tore it up. We were Watching him tear it, so didn't notice Alan. On Saturday when we watched it on TV, the camera picked it all up, and there was Alan, almost centre screen, one hand on each side of his face, eyes wide, mouth in a giant 'O', rocking his head from side to side. Bryan and I fell on the floor, and I'm sure I couldn't breathe for about an hour.
>>
>>>I once went to wrestling with some mates. It was such a hoot. There was this bout between a "pretty boy" with long flowing golden locks (although in his 40s!) and a fat monster with shaven head and a huge studded belt. The pretty boy complained to the ref about the belt but the ref let it go (surprise!). I barracked the pretty boy (for a laugh) and got a stream of abuse from the females around me. I even ran up and poked the bad guy (with the women) when they were down on the canvass. We were near wetting ourselves with the fun of it all.
>>>
>>>>< g > Reminds me of the time when I was working at another company about 20 years ago or so. There was a woman in the office who was a true rasslin' fan (let's call her Shirl). She was really into it. Anyway, one day someone else and I were talking, and I don't recall how we got on the topic, but we were discussing how much rehearsal a rasslin' match might need. Little did I know that Shirl was standing behind me, and she was angry. She snarled at me, "Telling me that wrestling is fake is like telling a kid there's no Santa Claus." I said, "No, Shirl, telling you wrestling is fake is like telling a 30 year old there's no Santa Claus."
>>>>
>>>>>You mean John Wayne wasn't really a cowboy war hero and cop ! . I'm gutted.
>>>>>
>>>>>Nick
>>>>>>I wonder whose biography they think it is. It's like the history channel running old John Wayne movies.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>>Originally it was PBS but now it is on the Biography channel - I think they may all be reruns though...
>>>
>>>...