Greatest Practitioners: Bret Hart, Sting Also Used By: The Rock, Riki Choshu, Owen Hart, Edge, Bobby Roode Long held to have been created by Stu Hart (patriarch of the Hart wrestling family) for his son Bret to use, the move that we call The Sharpshooter was actually invented by Japanese wrestler Riki Choshu and was popularized in the US by Ron Garvin and, more notably, Sting (who calls his version The Scorpion Deathlock). In case youre wondering, the Stu Hart story was a work created by the then-WWF to take advantage of Stu Harts (well deserved) reputation as a dangerous shoot wrestler. Nevertheless, It is The Hitman Bret Hart who is the wrestler most closely linked with this move. Bret Hart used The Sharpshooter to win countless victories in the WWF and, once the hold was applied, it was all over. Very few ever escaped the grip of this masterful hold and it helped Hart get his hands on five WWF World Championships and two WCW World Championships. The Sharpshooter looks very painful (largely because it is) and makes for tremendously exciting TV whenever it is applied. The move also shares common elements with tried-and-true favourite wrestling holds The Cloverleaf and The Boston Crab, but, in truth, it should actually be considered to be a type of Grapevine, since it involves twisting an opponents limbs together. Today, Canadian wrestlers generally use the move in tribute to Hart, who is a national sporting hero in Canada... So, thats the list. Remember, you only have yourself to blame if you try and hit your enemy with a Mankind Mandible Claw or Killer Kowalski Stomach Claw the next time you end up in a fight. Just because it looks good on TV, does not mean youll get anywhere with it in real life! ...And that goes DOUBLE for The Worm!
I am a professional author and lifelong comic books/pro wrestling fan. I also work as a journalist as well as writing comic books (I also draw), screenplays, stage plays, songs and prose fiction.
I don't generally read or reply to comments here on What Culture (too many trolls!), but if you follow my Twitter (@heyquicksilver), I'll talk to you all day long!
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I also write for FLiCK http://www.flickonline.co.uk/flicktion, which is the best place to read my fiction work.
Oh yeah - I'm about to become a Dad for the first time, so if my stuff seems more sentimental than usual - blame it on that!
Finally, I sincerely appreciate every single read I get. So if you're reading this, thank you, you've made me feel like Shakespeare for a day! (see what I mean?)
Latcho Drom,
- CQ
