The Western TV genre lends itself to a specific kind of action scene. While Western TV shows are much more varied now than they used to be, gunfights and bar brawls have always been a staple of the classics in the genre. The best TV Westerns of all time now tend to evoke the classics or give audiences something new, and occasionally shocking.

Audiences that like classic Westerns will often love neo-Westerns for their new takes on familiar themes. The genre might occasionally be formulaic, but there’s still a lot to play with. Shows like American Primeval do not shy away from the violence of the frontier, while Justified gives us a new take on The Lone Ranger, with more inventive action sequences.

A Dangerous Arm Wrestling Challenge

Gunsmoke

While there are plenty of large-scale action scenes in Western TV shows, one of the best in the genre is smaller, but no less intense. Gunsmoke is the longest-running Western of all time, so the show’s creators had to get creative over time, and the arm wrestling scene in the episode “Matt Dillon Must Die!” is one of the show’s best action scenes.

In the scene, Matt is challenged to an arm wrestling match by one of the Wakefield Boys. The two set up a table with a knife sticking out of it, so that the loser of the fight will have his hand impaled. While logically, the knife would be more likely to injure both hands, the scene is full of tension, with excellent acting from both.

The Campsite Massacre

American Primeval

The campsite massacre is American Primeval‘s most brutal moment, which is an achievement considering the fact that it is one of the most violent Western TV shows of all time. American Primeval is a modern classic Western, following the journey of the fictional Sara Rowell (Betty Gilpin) as she escapes across the frontier with her son, Devin.

The Mountain Meadows Massacre was a real historical event, and while American Primeval took some creative liberties with characters, much of the violence was accurate. As ordered by the Mormon militia, a group of Mormons disguised as Native Americans attacked a wagon train, killing virtually everyone in their path. While Sara survives, the real massacre only left the children alive.

Little Joe And Harry Starr’s Fight To The Death

Bonanza

Bonanza is a Western that changed television, bringing a new focus to the genre. While most other TV Westerns at the time focused on law enforcement and the various fights between sheriffs and outlaws, Bonanza was largely a family drama in a Western setting. However, this meant that the great action scenes were often unfairly overlooked.

Little Joe’s fight with the accused horse thief Harry Starr was on par with some of the best action scenes in the age’s best Western movies. The scene lasts for just three minutes as the pair brawl across precarious boulders, alternating climbing with punching. When Starr is thrown to his brutal death below, the reveal is both shocking and inventive.

Dolls Vs Lucado

Wynonna Earp

The Wynonna Earp episode “Let’s Pretend We’re Strangers” is so full of major reveals that it can be easy to forget that the episode features one of the best action sequences in a TV Western. The episode wrapped up a long storyline featuring the good demon, while revealing Wynonna’s pregnancy, but the fight between Dolls and Lucado was better.

The fight is a show of both strength and aggression between the two characters, and perfectly represents the way that Wynonna Earp blends the Western genre with its supernatural themes. Lucado is not usually a supernatural entity, but her strength against Dolls borders on uncanny, blending a typical Western TV brawl with more exciting potential when she throws him into the wall.

Single-File Horse Stunt

Godless

While it is no surprise that a classic Western TV show would feature cowboys and horses, Godless takes this a step further, featuring several excellent action sequences in which horses play a central role. The show is a groundbreaking female-driven Western about a town in which most of the men have died in a mining accident, while the women fight the looming threat of outlaws.

Godless is an excellent Western from start to finish, and the cinematography is better than many blockbuster movies. The scene in which the Griffin gang heads to La Belle is visually stunning, with 40 horses galloping in single file. The scene was incredibly ambitious to film, while perfectly representing the scale and organization of the threat riding into town.

Woodrow Defends Newt

Lonesome Dove

The impact of a great action scene can sometimes be due to the characters involved, rather than just the spectacle. The action sequence in the classic Western TV series Lonesome Dove has both. Captain Woodrow F. Call might not be able to tell Newt that he is his father, but that doesn’t stop him from racing through town to protect him.

When Dixon whips Newt for refusing to give him a horse, the usually stoic Call leaps onto a horse, charges through the town, and attacks Dixon, nearly beating him to death against an anvil. The scene is brutal and one of the best scenes in Lonesome Dove, as it reveals Call’s drive to protect his son while showcasing some excellent stunts.

Dan Vs Turner

Deadwood

Deadwood features some of the best Western TV show villains of all time, as well as one of the most iconic fights in TV history. In the episode “A Two-Headed Beast,” George Hearst orchestrates a fight between his enforcer, Dan Dority, and Captain Turner, who is fighting on behalf of Al Swearengen. The subsequent action scene is a spectacle for everyone.

The scene is a show of power, representing the struggle between the villains, who avoid getting injured by making their underlings fight for them. The raw and mud-soaked fight is one of the most tense and unpredictable scenes in any TV show, but Dan’s gory victory is hollow. In Deadwood, the aftermath is almost as painful to watch as the fight itself.

Cabin Shootout

Justified

Justified cemented Timothy Olyphant’s career as a Western star, and he is at his best playing Raylan Givens, who is arguably a modern version of the Lone Ranger. There are many tense scenes in Justified, but the cabin shootout is one of the best scenes in a Western TV show, evoking the best classic Western gunfights while modernizing the trope.

The season 1 finale “Bulletville” sees Raylan and Boyd reluctantly teaming up. As the former friends rescue Ava from her kidnappers, they are caught between snipers. The scene is a typical Western shootout in a modern setting, showing both Raylan and Boyd’s skills as gunslingers, while elaborating on their complicated relationship with each other, which perfectly sets up the second season.

Chang Is Outnumbered

Hell on Wheels

Hell on Wheels is one of the best Western TV shows of the past decade, exploring the lives and fates of the people involved in the railroad boom, while featuring some standout action sequences. Chang’s fight against several railroad workers is the best of many action scenes in the show, despite being overlooked by the infamous bear fight.

While Chang meets his end in the episode “Any Sum Within Reason,” he first holds his own against several railway workers at once. As Chang reinvented himself as a businessman, the fight scene shows that he has not truly forgotten his background. The bear scene might be a more surprising spectacle, but Chang’s fight is a better example of one man against terrible odds.

The Ranchers Vs The Bikers

Yellowstone

Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone references Sons of Anarchy in the episode “Going Back to Cali” after he left the biker drama in season 3. The episode sees the ranchers cross paths with the bikers in one of the most powerful moments in the series. When the bikers temporarily set up on Yellowstone’s grounds, the crew sees them off. However, neither side is done.

The ranchers overpower the bikers and force them to dig their own graves before running them out of town with the promise not to come back. There are many scenes in Yellowstone that show why the unwritten rule not to mess with Yellowstone workers never needed to be written, and this is one of the best, along with being a quintessential Western TV action scene.