Best Wrestling Submission Specialists

Mat wrestling or grappling is one of the most brutal forms of wrestling in existence. In that style, competitors are constantly looking for an opening to apply a debilitating lock or hold. That style of wrestling is more true to the traditional Olympic style of wrestling. However, in pro wrestling, that slow-paced style isn’t always ideal for entertainment purposes.

Despite that, some of the best performers ever have been accomplished grapplers and technical wrestlers in. Of those performers, whether WWE, AEW, WCW, ECW, etc., an elite bunch managed to master various submission holds and went on to be viewed as submission specialists by fans and their peers.

UPDATE: 2024/04/27 17:30 EST BY BENJAMIN VIEIRA

Throughout the history of professional wrestling, the business has seen some of the very best submission experts of all-time. While keeping someone pinned down for a three-count is truly impressive, it takes it up to another level when one competitor is able to make the other submit. The best submissions may look simple, but executing them well is a whole other thing. They look extremely painful. While many in the business may use a submission hold, a select few have immortalized themselves as the best of the best in the squared circle when it comes to using submission holds. They are able to use just one well, but a multitude of them.

10 Taz Was One Of The Best Of His Era

He Was A Standout Submission Expert In ECW

• Taz wrestled in ECW and WWE.
• He was a multi-time champion in ECW, even introducing the FTW Championship.
• His finisher was the Tazmission.

If your motto is “Survive If I Let You”, you deserve a place on this list. Taz was one of the standout stars of ECW and his brutal submissions helped to bring him a lot of success. The former two-time ECW World Champion had a very distinct style that utilized suplexes and submission holds together. When WWE fans got their first look of Taz at the 2000 Royal Rumble, it was one of the most brutal debuts in company history. He choked out Kurt Angle so badly that he needed to be brought out of the arena on a stretcher. Taz deserves his flowers for how great of a submission expert he was.

9 William Regal Deserves More Credit To His Name

• William Regal made his professional debut in 1983.
• He has made appearances in WWE, NXT, WCW, and AEW.
• He often employed a number of different stretches and grapples in his arsenal.

William Regal has made quite the career out of being underrated and overlooked. Regal was one of the driving forces behind WWE’s developmental brand, NXT. Regal is great in that role but sometimes doesn’t get the credit he deserves. That’s nothing new though, Regal didn’t get the respect he deserved as a wrestler either.

Regal was an extremely gifted grappler who could pull off any role asked of him. He could be a cowardly heel as well as a vicious one. When it came time to be vicious, Regal had an arsenal of submission moves to apply on his opponents. His preferred move was an STF that was later coined the “Regal Stretch” during his WWE days.

8 Bob Backlund Competed Across Two Eras

He One Of The Longest Reigning WWE Champions Of All-Time

• Bob Backlund began his career in 1973.
• Backlund debuted for WWE in 1976.
• He held the WWE Title for 2,135 days.

Bob Backlund lived two very different pro wrestling lives. First, during the 70s and early 80s, Backlund was a babyface and the “All-American” WWE Champion. Backlund would, unfortunately, be pushed aside by Vince McMahon when Hulk Hogan came into the picture though.

In the early 90s, Backlund returned from retirement and went back to WWE. At first, he reverted to his old “All-American” good guy character. Eventually, though, Backlund would lose his mind and become a delusional heel. As a heel, Backlund, who was an accomplished grappler, started using the Crossface Chicken Wing submission more often. On occasion, he would snap and refuse to break the hold, making the move look even more devastating.

7 Zack Saber Jr. Is One Of The Best Today

He Is One Of Britain’s Greatest Wrestlers

• Zack Sabre Jr. is known as the “Technical Wizard.”
• He defeated Bryan Danielson at AEW WrestleDream.
• He has held multiple titles in the US, Europe, and Japan.

International pro wrestling has been a niche for many years. Over the last decade though, a lot more attention has been paid to the overseas product by fans and promoters. One of the biggest standouts on the international scene over the last 10 years has been Zack Saber Jr.

The British-born grappler has amassed quite a following by being a breath of fresh air in today’s wrestling landscape. During a time when many performers like to be flashy with high spots, Saber Jr. is content to methodically break his opponents down with devastating submission hold after devastating submission hold before eventually finishing the job.

6 Owen Hart Learned From The Best

He Is One Of The Best Technical Wrestlers Ever

• Owen Hart trained in the Hart Dungeon.
• He was a multi-time champion in WWE.
• His most notable feud was against his brother, Bret Hart.

Unfortunately, the pro wrestling world has lost far too many talented performers at a young age. Perhaps the biggest loss to the business came in 1999 when Owen Hart tragically passed away after falling from the rafters while performing a stunt entrance.

Before his untimely death, Owen was viewed by many as one of the best wrestlers in the business. Hart was a talented grappler and after coming up through his father’s infamous Hart Dungeon, he was a submission expert. There’s no telling how much more Owen could’ve accomplished had he not tragically passed away.

5 Dean Malenko Was The Man Of 1,000 Holds

He Was A Top WCW Cruiserweight

• Malenko began his career in 1979.
• He competed in WWE, WCW, and ECW.
• He held the WCW Cruiserweight Champion and WWE Light Heavyweight Champion.

Size or the lack thereof has derailed way too many pro wrestling careers throughout the years. In the case of Dean Malenko, his lack of size certainly didn’t derail his career, but it was a contributing factor to him failing to ascend to main event status.

As “The Man Of 1000 Holds,” Malenko had just about every tool necessary for success in the wrestling business. He used his Texas Cloverleaf submission to dominate his competition in WCW all the way to the number one spot in PWI’s Top 500 Wrestlers of 1997. Had Melanko been just a bit taller, he would’ve faired better when he arrived in WWE in 2000.

4 Ken Shamrock Brought A UFC Backgrounf To WWE

He Had A Brutal Ankle Lock

• Shamrock was the first successful MMA to WWE competitors.
• He was one of the first-ever UFC Hall of Fame inductees along with Royce Gracie.
• He is a former WWE Intercontinental Champion and NWA World Heavyweight Champion.

The term “ahead of his time” gets thrown around a lot in pro wrestling. In the case of Ken Shamrock though, perhaps truer words have never been spoken. In 1997, Shamrock did what many of Mixed Martial Arts’ top stars are attempting to do today, cross over into pro wrestling. When Shamrock arrived in WWE, he immediately slid into the upper mid-card.

From there, Shamrock steadily plowed through most of his competition with an assortment of locks and holds. Shamrock’s preferred move was the Ankle Lock though. The move looked even more devastating when Shamrock would snap and refuse to break it. Although he did cost himself a few victories by refusing to break it.

3 Bryan Danielson Is One Of The Best In The World Today

He Has Competed All Over The World

• Danielson currently wrestles for AEW.
• He was influenced by Dean Malenko, Toshiaki Kawada, Mitsuharu Misawa, and William Regal.
• He is a 5-time world champion in WWE.

From an appearance strictly standpoint, Bryan Danielson‘s success in the wrestling business might surprise some people. After all, Danielson isn’t much bigger than some other talented performers who were deemed “too small” for the main event scene. Despite his lack of size, Danielson is one of the most talented grapplers and submissions specialists ever.

In the independent scene, Danielson stood out with his propensity to use submission holds and his intensity in the ring. On the big stage of WWE, Danielson still managed to incorporate his submission expertise while also adapting to WWE’s style. In AEW, Danielson has continued to showcase his devastating submission style.

2 Bret “The Hitman” Hart Made The Sharpshooter Popular

He Is One Of WWE’s Best Wrestlers Of All-Time

• Hart was a technical wrestler trained by Stu Hart.
• Hart won numerous titles with the Sharpshooter.
• He was one of the faces of WWE’s New Generation.

The Hart Family is arguably the most important in pro wrestling history. The family’s patriarch, Stu, trained some of the best wrestlers ever, including his sons, inside the famous Hart Family Dungeon. Stu was a submission hold specialist and was said to be able to make a grown man scream and beg for mercy with a simple wrist lock.

Stu’s greatest student was one of his sons, the legendary Bret “The Hitman” Hart. Bret was able to absorb everything his father taught him and use it to become perhaps the greatest technical wrestler ever. Hart used his Sharpshooter submission hold to reach the top of WWE and win countless matches.

1 Kurt Angle Was A Legit Submission Expert

He Is An Olympic Gold Medalist

• Angle had an amateur wrestling background before WWE.
• He competed in WWE and TNA.
• He is a multi-time world champion.

Despite what many skeptics think, pro wrestling isn’t easy. In fact, it’s one of the most difficult and grueling sports an athlete can choose to do. In the past, some mainstream athletes have tried to cross over into pro wrestling with mixed results. The most successful crossover athlete was undoubtedly Olympic Gold Medalist, Kurt Angle.

Almost immediately after joining WWE, Angle showed that he was a special type of athlete. He acclimated to pro wrestling extremely quickly and was soon one of WWE’s top performers. Angle’s grappling style fit his persona perfectly. When he adopted the Ankle Lock as his submission finisher it took his character to the next level. It didn’t take fans much to believe that the Olympic Gold Medalist could actually snap an ankle