Poliwrath gym defender!

Anything with Bubble has its own advantages and disadvantages but they are all nice. I personally prefer Ice Punch for covering type weaknesses.

'His special attacks are all useful: Hydro Pump for huge STAB water-type damage, Submission for good STAB damage and a confusing animation, and Ice Punch, a serious player’s favorite that's effective against the grass-type attackers that would normally be Poliwrath's best counters.'

Source:
https://pokemongo.gamepress.gg/pokemon/62

Hydropump, Ice Punch, Submission. As long as you got Bubble on top it's great! However serious question, and look I powered mine with HP the day before the CP update, why would you look to spend that much stardust on Poliwrath? He is no longer a viable choice for defense if any random Pokémon can get 2500k easy, and Poliwrath maxes out at 2441 (and you can't max out Pokémon above Level 39.5 yet)

I've never understood why people like Ice Punch.

Sure Ice Punch gives you super effective against Grass

But Submission gives you Stab against everything.

Stab = Super Effective. And Submission > Ice Punch anyway in damage.

Literally the only grass type that Ice Punch is better for is Exeguttor. Every other grass type, Submission is better. And virtually every other pokemon type.

I actually like Hydro Pump the best for Poliwrath. Normally I favor multi-bar moves for defenders, but Poliwrath is a special case:

Of the three charge moves, Hydro Pump actually comes out the fastest (less than one second after it's announced). When you're accustomed to the massive delay of Bubble, this will throw you off guard and may cause you to miss the dodge because you were expecting another Bubble.

Speaking of Bubble, it gives you 25 energy per use, so a mere four Bubbles will charge up Hydro Pump. That means after the two successive quick moves that Poliwrath (and every other defender) uses at the start of every battle, Hydro Pump will already be charged by 50%. So Poliwrath will use Hydro Pump sooner than you'd expect.

These are just my thoughts though. All the charge moves have their pros and cons.

I just evolved a polywrath and it came with the moves mud shot / hydro pump. Is this worth keeping at all? I see a lot of people saying bubble is it's best standard move, but wouldn't mud shot at least give some protection vs electric types? Just curious before I decide to start leveling it up.