Greatest Practitioner: Ric Flair Also Used By: Buddy Rogers, Greg Valentine, Dusty Rhodes, Bret Hart The figure four leg lock is a move that has been used by many a wrestler, including a lot of very successful World Champions. Like the best pro wrestling holds, it carries with it an air of legitimacy, but would be rather difficult (although probably not impossible) to apply in a legitimate fight. Basically, there are far more effective (and far less tricky) moves you could use instead. The figure four leg lock was innovated in the 1950s by Nature Boy Buddy Rogers and later popularized by Nature Boy Ric Flair (hence the omnipresent Wooo! chants that go up whenever a modern day wrestler attempts to use it). Another cool thing about the figure four leg lock is that it is a pro wrestling original. Figure four stretch variants (basically anytime a joint lock resembles a 4 shape) exist in martial arts, MMA and shoot wrestling, but this particular manoeuvre was designed with professional wrestling in mind. As such, it is tailor made for ring psychology and photo opportunities and is easily applied by babyface and heel alike.
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.
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