9 Ways WWE Owes A Debt To UFC

For a long time now, the officially mandated ‘correct’ way to submit in a WWE ring is by tap out - but that wasn’t always the case.

In point of fact, it’s only been for the last two decades that the tap has taken precedence. In the old days, the performer would have to tell the referee that they quit, or nod. That’s why old school guys like Jericho still scream “Ask him!” at the ref when they have the submission locked in.

Although some point to former UFC champion Ken Shamrock’s arrival in the WWF as the time that the tap out first began to be used in pro wrestling, it’s actually Taz - radio host, wrestling announcer and former baddest man in ECW - who has the distinction of being the person to introduce tapping out from the world of MMA into the world of professional wrestling.

Taz himself brought in his lethal submission move, the Tazzmission, from judo, where it’s called the kata ha jime. The move was so violent and controlled the neck and jaw so completely, that a traditional submission simply wouldn’t work. The audience couldn’t see the victim speak and he couldn’t nod.

As they frequently did in those days, WWE saw something they liked that worked in ECW, and a year or so after Taz began to do his thing in ECW, they brought in a version to make some money for themselves.

Their ‘version’ was former pro wrestler and genuine MMA megastar Ken Shamrock, who broke new ground in portraying worked variations on MMA disciplines in a pro wrestling/sports entertainment context, part of which was the tap out as a more legitimate-seeming way of acquiescing to a submission hold.

As Tazz in the WWF/E, Peter Senerchia never really got a chance to show the world what he was capable of, and people who never watched the real, original ECW may not have seen what others did in him.

It’s a shame because the guy was money in the ring, and a true pioneer.