10 Most Devastating Wrestling Submission Holds Ever

By Alexander Podgorski /

6. Crossface Chickenwing

Many wrestlers, including both Bret Hart and Hardcore Holly, have admitted that this maneuver is incredibly painful, which only makes it that much more dangerous. Part of that stems from the chickenwing part of the hold, which is used by some police forces as a legitimate controlling hold. For this move, the user pulls one arm and puts in the chickenwing hold, i.e. pulling it behind the opponent€™s back, stretching the pectorals and the shoulder joint, which itself almost completely immobilizes the arm. Then, the user takes their other arm and wraps it around the victim€™s neck, pulling the recipient€™s head to the side which puts pressure on the neck and shoulder, while sometimes adding a body scissors to amplify the notion of the hold being inescapable. Bob Backlund is most famous for using this move during his second WWF title run, using it to make Bret Hart submit to win his second WWF Championship. Kurt Angle has also used it at several points during his career, but few others have ever used it, and for good reason; it€™s one of the rare wrestling holds that truly causes a lot of pain.