Remember when the Worlds Most Dangerous Man Ken Shamrock started clamping on the ankle lock in a WWF ring? He brought the act (and phrase) of tapping out to pro wrestling while stringing together a modestly successful career. Then the Olympic gold medalist Kurt Angle adopted the ankle lock and used it win nearly every title WWE had. And then the All-American American Jack Swagger started using the ankle lock. Needless to say, Swagger has not found great success in the wake of adopting this submission hold. Youd also think hed figure out by now to grapevine the leg. Thats how you knew Angle meant business and that the match was over. When Swagger locks on the Patriot Lock, you almost set your stopwatch for his opponent to either roll over and push him off or roll through and throw him into a turnbuckle. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KfS6R3VnrQ Still, the ankle lock is a devastating hold, one that can be applied in a split-second to anyone (see Raw on Monday where Swagger sidestepped a catapulting Sheamus and picked the ankle). If Swagger ever starts winning again or the move gets handed to the right person it can add some excitement to matches.
Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.
