The Contentious Ten 8.31.09: The Top Ten Wrestling Submission Holds

I’m sorry I simply ran out of time and I couldn’t get to a Top Ten Comments section. I really wanted to, because some of your suggestions for the worst dressed wrestlers were great! I can’t believe I forgot about Mable, and Owen Hart’s New Foundation/High Energy outfit.

With Breaking Point, WWE’s first submission themed pay per view on the horizon, I thought it would be a good time to list the ten best submission holds. The thing about submission holds in pro wrestling is that very few of them are realistic, meaning that without the willingness of the wrestler being put in the hold the wrestler applying the hold would have a very hard time actually applying it. As a result it’s basically impossible to actually rate how effective the holds are, nevertheless, I’ll mostly be discussing the holds as though they are “real.” What I am going to do is give you a list of some of the prominent wrestlers to frequently use the hold, then a description of how the hold is applied and how it works, and finally a few key victories. Nothing too heavy. I’m ranking them in order of how I perceive their kayfabe effectiveness, but obviously I have my biases toward some holds. I’m going to use the terms right and left to avoid confusion, but most of the moves are interchangeable. I would like to say that I don’t watch Japanese wrestling so if you’re upset that I didn’t include moves like the Grapevine Dragonflyata Stranglehold Neckvice, and the Hodouken Sleeperclutch Leglock, I’m sorry, but here’s a video featuring a lot of them.

I don’t want to piss on anyone’s parade, if you like Japanese wrestling that’s great, it can be very entertaining. But did you see some of those moves? I know wrestling is “fake” but holy shit, some of those moves are so unrealistic and unbelievable that they make the move where you toss the guy into the ropes and then he comes running back at you seem realistic. If you want to consider most of them honorable mentions I guess that’s fine with me. Additionally, I feel that there is a difference between chokeholds, or moves that have the intention of making you pass out and submission holds. Chokeholds are, or should be illegal in wrestling and sleeperholds are designed to make a person pass out, not tap out, so that means you won’t see moves like the Tazmission, rear naked choke, or The Undertaker’s Gogoplata on this list. These are just straight pro-wrestling submission holds. However, before anyone gets too upset, next week’s list is going to cover these kind of knockout holds (sleepers and chokeholds).

One more aside; there is a pretty damn perverted underbelly to these submission holds. YouTube is filled with near sexual fetish videos of chicks putting the holds on each other, and while doing image searches for the pictures I saw some of the closest stuff to gay porn I ever want to see. I’m telling you this so that if this topic piques your interest you should be prepared to stumble on to some pretty weird stuff. On to the list…

Honorable Mentions

Full Nelson

The Full Nelson has been used by a lot of wrestlers. Hercules and Billy Jack Haynes had a WrestleMania III feud surrounding who could use the hold better. More recently Chris Masters’s entire character was based on the fact that no one could break his Master Lock, which was just a Full Nelson. Overall it’s a decent move, but it rarely proves effective in big match settings, and requires a very powerful wrestler to effectively use the hold.

Torture Rack

I remember from a previous column that there are a lot of people who don’t like Lex Luger, but despite being such a lunk-head, muscular wrestler, he had a pretty decent submission hold. Using the Torture Rack he won and defended several titles, with his biggest win with it being a rare submission victory over Hulk Hogan for the WCW Title. The obvious problem with the hold is that to apply it a wrestler has to be extremely strong. Additionally it’s a very short-term submission hold, because it would be very hard to keep a victim up in the hold for any lengthy amount of time.

Single Leg Crab

The single leg crab is a lot like the Boston Crab, only the wrestler applying it only (obviously) hangs on to one leg. Although you might not think it, this produces a significantly different effect than the standard Boston Crab because it focuses all of the leg strain of the crab into one leg. The reason this hold isn’t on the list is because there are only a few wrestlers who have used it as a serious submission hold, and have only had limited success while using it.

The Top Ten Submission Holds

X

Crossface Chickenwing

Used famously by: Bob Backlund

Aside from a few armbars and the Crippler Crossface, there aren’t many finisher quality submission holds in wrestling that focus on the victim’s arms. The Crossface Chickenwing does though. The hold typically starts with the attacker positioning himself behind a staggering victim. Then in one swift motion the attacker hooks the victim’s left arm with his (the attacker’s) left arm and pulls it behind his opponent’s back, and wraps his right arm around the victim’s head grasping the victim’s chin in the crook of his arm. In an ideal situation the attacker has the leverage to pull the victim’s arm and head enough to link his hands together increasing the strength and effectiveness of the hold. If the victim still has the strength to struggle or looks as though he might be able to reach the ropes the attacker can fall back, pulling his opponent to the mat with him and apply a leg scissors to the victim’s body, making escape significantly more difficult. Depending on how well the move is applied, the Crossface Chickenwing can affect the victim’s elbow, neck, abdomen and even his wrist. However, the primary effect of the move is on the victim’s shoulder. By pulling the arm in one direction, and the head in another the victim’s shoulder gets pulled apart. If the shoulder has been substantially worked over during the match, the victim’s submission can happen very quickly.

Bob Backlund is the wrestler that has had the most success using the hold. Because few others have used the Chickenwing as their primary submission hold (Kurt Angle did for a short while before adopting the Anklelock) it’s hard to rank this move any higher than ten, but I think it is realistically more effective than any of the honorable mentions. Backlund won numerous matches using the hold during his lengthy WWF Title reign(s) in the 70s and 80s. When he returned to the WWF in the 90s and “snapped” he began slapping the hold on just about anyone he could get his hands on, and put together a big enough winning streak to get a WWF Title shot. Although he didn’t make Bret Hart submit he won the WWF Title using the hold. Bret Hart would have a bit of success using the hold against Backlund at WrestleMania XI.

IX

Texas Cloverleaf

Used famously by: Dean Malenko, Eddie Guerrero (a modified version: The Lasso From El Paso), and Christian (every once and awhile).

I have always liked the Texas Cloverleaf. I think it’s a good hold because the person applying it gets a great grip on his opponents legs, leaving very little room for escape once it’s locked in. The move starts with the wrestler’s opponent on his back. To apply it a wrestler picks up both of his opponents legs and bends the right one at the knee. He takes the right, bent leg and places it under the straight, left leg into an inverted figure-four position. He then laces his left arm through the figure-four and clasps the thigh of the straight, left leg, which is then bent over the shin of the right leg trapping it in place. The left foot is hooked under the applying wrestler’s right arm trapping it. Finally the wrestler grabs the his opponent’s exposed right foot with his right hand and pulls up on it. Using the leverage he now has, and by stepping over him, he forces his opponent to flip on to his chest. Now the move is fully locked in. Once applied the move affects several parts of the opponent’s body. The shin and calf of the right leg is painfully crushed between the pinching left leg. Because the left leg is being forcefully bent over the right leg a significant amount of torque and pressure is places on that leg’s knee. Finally the opponent’s back is bent backwards causing lower back pain and compressing his lungs.

Dean Malenko popularized the move in the United States and won and retained several titles using the hold, including a couple of tag titles, the ECW Television Title, four WCW Cruiserweight Titles, the WCW United States Title, and two WWF Light Heavyweight Titles. Eddie Guerrero and Chavo Guerrero won the WWE Tag Team Titles when Eddie locked in the Lasso from El Paso on Rey Mysterio. The reason it makes the list is because I really like the hold, but it’s low on the list because it isn’t used frequently and has not been used to win any major titles. I think it’s a cool move, but it just hasn’t been used enough to warrant a higher place.

VIII

Bear Hug

Used famously by: Bruno Sammartino, Ivan Koloff, “Superstar” Billy Graham, Big John Studd, Andre the Giant, Mark Henry, Brock Lesnar, and countless others.

I imagine a few people might question why such a rudimentary move makes this list. Hell, I even imagine some of you declaring the list an “Epic Fail” for having included it. However, the simple fact is that the bear hug has probably racked up more submission victories than any other move on this list. It is brutal in its simplicity. The wrestler applying the hold simply wraps his arms around his opponent at the midsection, locks his hands and squeezes with all his might, usually lifting them off the mat in the process for added control and pressure. The move is often accompanied by the (usually stronger) applier swinging and shaking his opponent back and forth, adding to the pain and discomfort of the hold. The move, depending on where the applier’s arms are placed crushes the spine, ribs, and/or abdomen of his victim. In addition, like a boa constrictor, the move squeezes the air out of the lungs of the opponent, and restricts air intake. Thus, if the hold does not result in a quick submission the victim can pass out from the inability to breathe. There are two major drawbacks to the bear hug, the first is that it leaves the opponents arms free to punch, claw and to attempt to break the hold, so the applier has to be able to withstand those attacks. Second, it takes a lot of strength and energy to lock an opponent into an effective bear hug for any significant length of time. This explains why larger wrestlers are able to use the hold more effectively than smaller ones.

The bear hug starts at 9:14

The bear hug is an old school finishing move and nearly every wrestler with any size and strength from the 1970s and earlier used the move. The longest reigning WWWF Champion Bruno Sammartino racked up countless wins using the bear hug, and the move was instrumental in his title victory over Buddy Rogers. As WWWF Champion Billy Graham used the bear hug as his primary finishing move and earned several submission victories using it. I think any wrestler from Russia is required to use the move. One of Brock Lesnar’s most important victories came when he caused Hulk Hogan to pass out in a bear hug causing internal bleeding. Lesnar would go on to win the WWE Title less than a month later. The bear hug may be a fairly dull move, but it has earned too many victories to not include it on the list.

VII

Camel Clutch

Used famously by: Iron Sheik, The Sheik, Sabu, Sgt. Slaughter, Jim Neidhart, Scott Steiner (modified version), Muhammad Hassan, and The Big Show.

Although it was originally a move primarily used by Middle Eastern wrestlers, the Camel Clutch has developed into one of the most successful submission holds in professional wrestling. The move starts with the applier’s opponent prone, lying on his chest. The aggressor straddles the back of his opponent and squats down, sitting on the small of his back. Then, depending on who is applying the hold, the attacker either grabs his opponent’s head and wrenches back, or they apply the full Camel Clutch. This requires the attacker to pull the opponent’s arms up over his (the attacker’s) knees draping them on his thighs. The attacker then interlocks his fingers, and clasps the victim’s face or chin and pulls back, yanking the opponent’s head, neck, and upper body backwards. The hold affects several areas of the victim’s body. The two most affected areas are the small of the back which is the most heavily compressed part of the back, and the neck, which is also heavily compressed. However when the full camel clutch is applied the victim’s arms are often trapped on the attacker’s legs causing a rack like effect on the shoulders of the victim. In addition to that, the position of the arms in the camel clutch is similar to the position of the arms during crucifixion. Most victims of crucifixion died of suffocation, meaning that a victim in the Camel Clutch for prolonged periods of time, will, in addition to suffering the pain, eventually have a very hard time drawing in breath. The breathing process can be further complicated if the attacker has his hands on, or near the victim’s mouth. The only real way to counter the move is to power out, usually by getting the arms free.

Perhaps the biggest victory ever earned with the Camel Clutch came when the Iron Sheik won the WWF Title from Bob Backlund. He had Backlund locked in the hold for a fair amount of time, when Backlund’s manager Arnold Skalland threw in the towel, signaling Backlund’s submission. Sgt. Slaughter also used the move to earn victories during his Iraqi sympathizer period, including victories on his way to, and when he was the WWF Champion. After adopting a modified version of the hold as his finisher, Scott Steiner earned some of his biggest singles victories, winning several WCW United States Titles and the WCW World Title. Finally, The Big Show has recently adopted a version of the hold and has won several matches using it.

VI

Boston Crab/Walls of Jericho

Used famously by: Pedro Morales, Stan Hansen, Jacques Rougeau, Rick Martel, and Chris Jericho

I searched and searched, but I couldn’t find why the move is called the Boston Crab. The name of the move has always baffled me (does it look like crab to you?). The Boston Crab has lost a lot of its effectiveness over the years which is why it is lower on the list. Nevertheless, the hold can still earn a submission victory every now and then. The move is fairly simple to execute and starts with the applier’s opponent incapacitated, lying face up on the mat. The attacker, who is facing his opponent, then pulls up both of his opponent’s legs at the ankles. The attacker hooks the victim’s feet under his (the attacker’s) armpits, and traps them in place by interlocking his hands. Then the attacker turns his opponent and steps over him at the same time, flipping the victim on to his chest. Then the attacker typically squats down compressing his opponent’s spine. The move also painfully stretches out the quadriceps and the ligaments in the opponent’s knees. Like both the Texas Cloverleaf and Camel Clutch the pressure on the chest can make it hard for the victim to breathe. In one variation of the move, the Liontamer, or the original Wall of Jericho (the current version of the Walls of Jericho is just a Boston Crab), the applier doesn’t squat and instead remains mostly vertical. This increases the torque on the victim’s knees, and shifts the pressure on the back from the lower to upper back. The pressure on the upper back is usually intensified by the attacker driving one of his knees into the upper back.

In recent years Chris Jericho has been the only wrestler to use the move with any significant amount of success. He has won several Intercontinental Titles by submission using the move, and the hold was a key part of his offense during his several WCW Cruiserweight Title reigns, a WCW Television Title reign, a number WWF/E Tag Team Title reigns, and five World Title reigns. Pedro Morales held onto the WWWF Title for three years, frequently using the move to defeat opponents. Rick Martel also racked up an impressive number of wins using the hold. However, outside of the occasional submission victory for Chris Jericho the Boston Crab doesn’t tend to finish many opponents off these days. Regardless it was at one time a very effective submission hold.

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V

Stepover Toehold Facelock: STF

Used famously by: Lou Thesz, Masahiro Chono, Homicide, Jazz, William Regal (a modified version) and John Cena.

The STF is a pretty old move that has recently been brought back to prominence by John Cena. The hold is usually applied when the victim is face down on the mat. The attacker grabs the left leg of his opponent, bending it at the knee. Then the wrestler applying the hold steps over his opponent’s left leg with his right leg, scissoring it, and then drops down on his opponents back. Then the attacker reaches over, or around the victim’s face or chin with both hands, locks them together and pulls back on the opponent’s head. The move affects several points on the victim’s body. The leg lock stretches out the knee ligaments and pressures the ankle. The facelock, and the act of pulling back on the victim’s head hyperextends the victim’s neck vertebrae. Additionally, if the attacker pulls the victim back far enough additional pressure is applied to the lower back. One modification of the hold involves crossing the victim’s legs and then applying the toehold to the free leg, and another still, the Regal Stretch, involves making the aforementioned adjustment and reaching under one of the opponents arms prior to applying the face lock. Because the move attacks both a leg and the neck of the victim, the hold is rather difficult to escape.

Six time NWA World Champion Lou Thesz is credited with having invented the hold, and earned countless victories using it. His protege and one of Japan’s top wrestler’s Masahiro Chono also used the hold frequently. The hold was instrumental in several of Jazz’s WWF/E Women’s Title victories and defenses. William Regal has had a lot of success using his STF modification, winning the WCW Television Title, and several WWF/E European and Intercontinental Titles. In recent years, however, the wrestler who has had the most success using the STF has been John Cena. He defeated Edge to win his second WWE Title using it and made both Triple H and Shawn Michaels tap out to the hold at consecutive WrestleManias. In addition, Cena has amassed a large number of submission victories over much the WWE roster.

IV

Crippler Crossface

Used famously by: Dean Malenko, Chris Benoit, and Shawn Michaels

When Chris Benoit caused Triple H to tap out at WrestleMania XX using the Crippler Crossface, he became the first man to win a WrestleMania main event by submission. In many ways the move is similar to the STF. The main differences are there is no leg lock involved and the opponent’s shoulder is one of the focal points of the move. The hold is fairly simple, the attacker forces the victim face first to the mat, and scissors the victim’s left arm between his (the attacker’s) legs. Then the applier reaches around his opponents head with both arms, locks hands and pulls back. The act of pulling back on the victim’s head hyperextends the victim’s neck vertebrae. Additionally, the victim’s left shoulder is stretched and possibly separated by pulling back on his head due to the fact that the victim’s arm is trapped in between the attacker’s legs. Thus, if the victim’s shoulder and arm has been properly softened up before the hold is applied a submission victory can be attained quickly as opposed to relying on the pain of the hyperextension of the neck. What is special about the Crippler Crossface is that it is a submission move that requires very little set up time and can be initiated from a standing or grounded position in nearly a split second. The move can also act as a counter to several common moves, so before he is even aware that it is happening the victim can be caught in the painful hold. However, two major flaws in the hold prevent it from moving up higher on my list. The first is that the right arm of the victim is free to claw at the hands of the applier or to push up on the mat to temporarily release the pressure. The second, and bigger flaw is that when the move is sloppily executed it should be very simple for the victim to just pull his arm out from in between the attacker’s legs. Despite all of Chris Benoit’s technical prowess, he would routinely not tightly clutch the arm, making the move look very unconvincing.

The image or the left looks like it hurts, the image on the right looks like Orlando should just suck it up and pull his arm out.

The most important victory ever earned by the Crippler Crossface is the aforementioned WrestleMania XX World Heavyweight Title match. However, Benoit found much success with the move, winning the United States (WCW and WWE) Title on several occasions, the Intercontinental Title on several occasions, and even the WCW World Title. He also piled up an impressive number of victories over wrestlers like Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho, and Edge in non-title situations using the hold. In recent months, Shawn Michaels has used the hold, but never to the same level of effectiveness as Benoit.

III

Ankle Lock

Used famously by: Ken Shamrock, and Kurt Angle

Simple, yet highly effective, the Ankle Lock is about as rudimentary as submission holds get, yet it is also the most adaptable hold on the list. In its simplest application the hold begins with the victim prone, face down, on the mat. The attacker simply hooks the victim’s left leg in the crook of his (the attacker’s) left arm, pulling the foot flush against his chest. The attacker then grasps his own right arm with his left hand, locking the hold in place. Once it is locked in the attacker uses his right hand to bend and twist the victims left foot, usually pushing the foot away from his chest. This action bends the victim’s ankle in a way it was not meant to be bent. Additionally, the twisting action puts a significant amount of torque on the left leg at the knee, once again twisting it in a way it was not meant to be twisted. The move has two different positions, vertical and horizontal. In the vertical position the applier remains standing or kneeling. This allows him to apply more force on the hold due to the leverage added by being higher than the victim. In the horizontal position the attacker applies the hold and then falls back to the mat and wraps both his legs around the victim’s afflicted leg. This slightly reduces the leverage the attacker has, but significantly reduces the chance for the victim to escape. The biggest draw back to the hold is that it is quite easy to escape. The victim can flip to his back and kick the attacker off, the victim can execute a push-up and then roll forward flipping the attacker, or, because very little is done to hold the body in place the victim usually has a fairly easy time getting to the ropes. The biggest benefit to the move is that it can be applied almost instantly. Every time the attacker gets his opponent’s foot in his hands there is a chance to apply the Ankle Lock.

Ken Shamrock popularized the move in the WWF (it was also the hold that started causing wrestlers to “tap out,” as opposed to verbally submit), and he found a fair amount of success using the hold, winning the Intercontinental Title, Tag Team Titles, and the 1998 King of the Ring Tournament. Kurt Angle has found much more success using the hold as his submission move of choice. The Ankle Lock helped Angle win and defend the WWE and World Heavyweight Titles on five occasions, and made Steve Austin tap out to the hold to win his second WWF Title. Once in TNA Angle had more success with the move, capturing the TNA World Title three times and a version of the IWGP Title from his old rival Brock Lesnar. Angle has also racked up a series of impressive submission victories over some of the biggest names in the industry, including Steve Austin, Mick Foley, Shawn Michaels, Brock Lesnar and is the only man to have made Kane tap out, and was the first man to make Hulk Hogan physically tap out (Hogan, however verbally submitted a few times prior to his match with Angle).

II

Figure-Four Leg Lock

Used famously by: Buddy Rogers, Ric Flair, Greg Valentine, Tito Santana, and Jeff Jarrett.

The Figure-Four maybe the most famous and most popular submission hold in professional wrestling. I almost made this move number one, but at the last minute I bumped it down to number two. The move starts with the victim on his back. While facing his opponent, the attacker picks up his opponent’s left leg and executes a spinning toe hold by stepping over the victim’s left with his (the applier’s) left leg and turning 360 degrees, wrapping his opponent’s left leg around his (the attacker’s) right leg. Once the spinning toe hold is locked in the attacker picks up the victim’s straight, right leg so that the victim’s foot is pressed against his (the attacker’s) abdomen, and positions the left shin of his opponent over the opponent’s right knee, creating a “figure-four.” Then, while still holding the victim’s legs in place the applier drops back to mat (jarring the legs of his victim) and then drapes his left leg over his opponent’s exposed left foot, completing the hold. The attacker than applies upward pressure on his opponent’s straight right leg by sitting up or by pushing up, or by illegally pulling up on the ropes, hyperextending the victim’s right knee. At the same time the attacker attempts to break the left shin of his victim over the victim’s right knee by pushing down on both sides of it with his legs. This act of pushing up and down at the same time affects every major joint in the victim’s lower legs. The right knee is hyperextended, the right ankle is pushed backwards, and both the left knee and left ankle are bent downward in a way they were not meant to bend. Although it’s a great hold, it has three flaws, which is why I only ranked it at number two. The first is it is a very technical hold, meaning that if it is not applied properly it will not generate the desired amount of pain. Therefore a wrestler really needs to know what he is doing, otherwise he’s not going to get the full effect of the hold. Second it doesn’t compress the body in any way. This leaves the applier open for attack by his opponent, who can simply sit up and try to break the hold or punch at his tormentor. This also makes it fairly easy for the victim to stretch out and reach the ropes. Finally, the hold can be reversed if the victim has enough strength to turn his attacker over. This reverses the pressure by driving the applier’s knee into the mat. It does have one added advantage for the attacker. If the victim leans back, or passes out with his shoulders on the mat, the referee can count his shoulders down for a pin fall.

“Nature Boy” Buddy Rogers is creditied with having invented the Figure-Four, and spent the better part of three years as the NWA World Champion using the hold to earn numerous victories. “Nature Boy” Ric Flair, who modeled himself after Rogers, is a Former sixteen time World Champion, and has held numerous other championships. He used the hold as his trademark maneuver, and on numerous occasions used it to win and retain various championships. Currently the hold is mostly associated with him due to the tremendous success he had using it. Greg Valentine also had a lot of success using the hold, winning several titles while using it as his finisher. Jeff Jarrett is the only major wrestler currently active to use the hold as a regular finishing move. The hold assisted Jarrett in winning six Intercontinental Titles, three WCW United States Titles, four WCW World Titles, and six NWA World Titles.

I

The Scorpion Deathlock/The Sharpshooter

Used famously by: Riki Choshu, Ronnie Garvin, Sting, Bret Hart, Owen Hart, Shawn Michaels, Chris Benoit, The Rock, and Edge.

What happens when you combine the leg attack of the Figure-Four and the back attack of the Boston Crab? You get the Scorpion Deathlock, or as the move is more commonly known, the Sharpshooter. The move usually starts with the victim on his back. The attacker picks up both of his opponent’s legs and steps between them with his left leg, putting it down on the right side of his opponent’s body. The applier then bends the victims right leg over his (the attacker’s) left leg. Then he crosses the victim’s left leg over the victim’s right leg trapping it in place. The attacker hooks his opponent’s left foot under his (the attacker’s) left arm, locking both legs in place. Then the applier grabs the victim’s left calf for leverage and then, leading with his right foot, steps over his opponent, flipping him onto his stomach, and squats down. The attacker moves his right hand onto the left calf of the victim to keep the victim’s legs from sliding off his calf. Once locked in, the hold, much like the Texas Cloverleaf applies pressure to both the victim’s legs and his back. However, by crossing the victim’s legs over his own the attacker is able to gain more leverage with less effort than a wrestler using the Cloverleaf. The Sharpshooter directly affects the knees, shins, and ankles of the victim and stretches out the victim’s quadriceps as well. Even more than the legs, the Sharpshooter affects the back of the opponent by compressing and hyperextending the spine. As a result, it is often quicker for the attacker to earn a submission if he has softened up his opponent’s back as opposed to his legs.

While the Scorpion Hold was invented by Riki Choshu, and used by Ronnie Garvin as “The Inverted Figure-Four,” it was popularized by Sting (as the Scorpion Deathlock), who won several of his twelve World Championships using the hold, including submission victories over Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, and Jeff Jarrett. Bret Hart popularized the move in the WWF calling it the Sharpshooter. Hart earned both his first Intercontinental Title, WWF Title, and WCW World Title using the hold and earned submission victories over Ric Flair, Shawn Michaels, and Steve Austin (made him pass out to the hold) using it. Ironically, the hold ended up being his undoing in the WWF, as Shawn Michaels defeated him for the WWF Title when he locked in the Sharpshooter at the 1997 Survivor Series. Of course, we all know the story of the Montreal Screwjob, but the fact that it was the Sharpshooter that was used has added a degree of infamy to the move. The following year the same scenario played out as The Rock defeated Mankind for his first WWF Title after applying the Sharpshooter. Poetic justice was served several years later when Chris Benoit used the hold to make Shawn Michaels tap out at Backlash 04. Overall the Sharpshooter or Scorpion Deathlock (whatever you want to call it) has been one of the most effective and high profile submission moves in all of professional wrestling.

Once again, just so no one freaks out and has a hissy fit because I forgot the Anaconda Vice or the Rear Naked Choke, I’m doing (what I call) Knockout Submission Holds next week.