10 Transitional Wrestling Moves That Should Be Finishers
7. Ankle Lock
The first submission move on the list, the Ankle Lock was first introduced the WWE Universe by Ken Shamrock when he came over from the UFC in 1997 and it was an immediate success.
A few years later, Olympic Gold Medalist Kurt Angle adopted the hold and up went it's credibility.
For a while, the Ankle Lock seemed to supplant another submission move as the finishing hold in WWE. The move was successful in making Hulk Hogan and Shawn Michaels tap out. If that's not enough to keep it as an effective match-ender for the rest of time, then I don't know what is.
In 2016, it's primarily associated with Jack Swagger's but between Swagger's lower mid-card status and the amount of times the hold is survived, the Ankle Lock has suffered a far fall from grace.
With all due respect to the All-American American, he's no Kurt Angle and although he's a former World Champion, his Ankle Lock submission pales in comparison to his predecessors.
A once feared submission, the Ankle Lock has definitely been devalued over the years and there's no reason it needed to be.