The current submission finishers in WWE

[CyberPunk]

Didn't have much to do so I was thinking about the finishers currently used in WWE. Something drew my interest and I went to youtube to watch some of the finishers from our current crop of WWE stars. What startled me was the submission finishers (or lack thereof). I tried finding a few submission finishers for the current WWE stars. Here's what I have from the top of my head.

Patriot Lock: Or the Ankle lock by Swagger. He uses it way more than his usual impact Gutwrench bomb these days. That's his go to move as well.

Accolade: The famed but dated camel clutch used by Rusev. He's already put down quite a few opponents with it. It has been booked well as well as I don't think anyone has broken free of it yet. Plus Swagger passed out to it at SummerSlam (right?).

STF: Yes, Cena's Stepover Toehold Facelock. I never thought of it as a strong submission hold, but Cena has won a lot of matches with it. Lately though, most superstars on PPVs have been able to break free of it.

Yes/No Lock: Bryan is not active but he is part of the roster, so this counts. The move which won him the WWE World Heavyweight championship. Looks very painful when locked well. Good move overall.

Figure Four Leg Lock: The legendary submission hold currently used by The Miz. He hardly wins any match, let alone win one with this hold. It's strange that he still uses it because for some reason, I don't think it suits him.

Sleeper Hold: Ziggler sparingly uses a Sleeper Hold though I don't see him winning matches with this anymore. He used to when he started using it. At this time though, it's more of a signature move for him.

Black Widow: Yes, Divas are part of the roster so this counts. AJ Lee has used this move with great effect and I think this is an excellent move.

PTO: The Scorpion Crosslock used by Paige. While it looks good, a lot of work depends on the opponent to make it look good.

And because Chris Jericho is still part of the roster, I'll include Walls of Jericho as well though it's been a long time he's won a match with it.

That's total of 8 submission finishers for entire WWE roster as of now. If you can remember more, feel free to add. My point is I see less of submission finishers on WWE programming these days. I am a huge fan of submission finishers because they add drama to a match and add that little something to a story told inside the ring. However, the newer stars hardly use submission finishers. That's something I liked about Del Rio who's primary finisher was a submission move. In fact, a man like Daniel Bryan who is said to have over 100 submission moves hardly used any submission move during that last year.

My question at this time is:

Do you think WWE stars should use more submission finishers?

If yes, which stars can you see using submission moves effectively?

For me, I see Cesaro as someone who can really use a submission finisher. he's character is about being the strongest pound for pound man on the roster. A submission finisher can help with that. Even Roman Reigns can benefit from having a submission move in his limited arsenal of moves.

What do you people think?

 

[InZayn]

Sheamus has the Cloverleaf

I would give Cesaro a Reverse Cross armbreaker it was used in FCW by James Bronson its a great move for a powerful guy who's already Over, he could call the move the Swiss lock or something

 

[Mudlup50]

I don't think it's a big deal personally, most guys aren't supposed to be submission wrestlers. I mean personally I like it better when a few guys have them in their back pocket. I miss the days where Swagger used the gutwrench powerbomb, seemed more powerful and his ankle lock doesn't excite me. The yes lock works wonders and CM Punk had the anaconda vise...of course he's not there so

The problem I think is that WWE views tapping out as a weak thing to do. What was the last time a main eventer tapped? I can see why they think that. The good guy can't tap(it's a face move to not surrender) and the bad guys have to cheat to get out of them which goes against the WWe blurred lines of faces and heels.

I say give Ambrose a submission move, we had a thread on that already xD maybe give one to Stardust, his finisher isn't exciting either.

 

[StunningBlackMamba24]

Not sure if Mark Henry uses the bear hug anymore, and there's the sharpshooter used by Tyson Kidd and Natalya. If you're still counting Brock Lesnar apart of the roster, lhe has that one submission that broke cena's and hhh's arm.

 

[Softcore Holly]

Just to add to the list

Natalia - Sharpshooter
Lesnar - Kimura lock (we'll probably see this again at NOC)

Anyway some more submission finishers couldn't hurt, although it can't be done too much since tapping is supposed to be the ultimate defeat in the WWE for..reasons. . I don't see it for Reigns though since he's more of a strong guy that gets the job done through overpowering his opponent. Same for Cesaro, although maybe I'm in the WWE mindset where big strong guys rarely get submissions. Anyway

Ambrose - I could definitely see him wanting to make someone tap
Orton - Probably won't win many matches with one but it would work well in a classic "keep the guy in the hold past the 5 count" situations to draw heat
Rollins - I can see him getting one eventually, but he doesn't need one now
Sandow - OK at the state he's in he'll never get anyone to tap, but giving him something for him to attempt to do before ultimately losing would make things more interesting. Plus of all the guys on the roster he could definitely use a new finisher.

 

[HBKistheHOF]

I'd agree that Natalya's Sharpshooter, Lesnar's Kimura Lock & Sheamus' Cloverleaf all fit on the original list. Also I'd like to see them win more matches with these moves but Mark Henry does still use The Bear Hug & Ambrose uses The Crossface Chicken Wing when he isn't busy being a psychopath.

I definitely agree that Cesaro could benfit from integrating a submission finisher into his moveset, the reverse arm breaker idea isn't bad or maybe just a simple kind of choke or single leg crab. & I still wish he would use the Ricola Bomb in the WWE at some point.

I'd also really like to see all three members of The Wyatt Family get submission finishers. Harper uses the Gator Roll but not to finish guys off & I think Bray especially could use the addition to his move pool. I'd like to see Bray utilize that leather thumb glove he always wears & adopt a version of the Samoan Spike that Umaga used to use. Harper could just make the Gator Roll into a sort of pinning combo or something & I think Rowan should use something like an old school Claw.

Besides that, there are a couple guys like Rollins & Reigns I'd eventually like to see use some kind of submission but no specific moves or anything jump out at me right now. Only 3 girls in the entire roster use submission moves to end their matches so realistically any of the Ladies adding any submission what so ever would be an improvment but only one stands out to me right now & that is Charlotte using the Figure Four, mainly because of her dad & the fact that The Miz absolutely sucks at using it. Also any big guys in NXT like Bull Dempsey, Mojo Rawley, Big Cass, etc. could all use submission moves.

 

[BestWrestlingOpinions]

I hate the fact that each wrestler either uses his finisher or his submission to finish off the match, instead of going to both and equalling them. Rare exceptions might be Bryan and Cena. Rusev, Swagger and Del Rio pretty much don't have a finisher move anymore and just rely on the submission. Other guys don't even have a submission and rely on a finisher. People need to change it up a little bit. Most of the time, we know that a "finisher" wrestler isn't gonna win with a submission which takes away the drama.

I understand that a pinfall loss is not as big as a submission loss. I mean, look at Cena. A submission fall would be huge for him. Same for Lesnar, Punk etc. There are some occasions where for character and storyline reasons, you can't end a match with a submission. Other times, the situation calls for a submission, even though it might not be used by the certain wrestler more than 10% of his matches as his winning technique. Look at Bryan's WM victory. To me, it should have been booked as a fatal four way match in the end, with Bryan making HHH, his main rival, tap out. That would be a huge statement.

There are a lot of things, but having 2 types of finishes really help a match. Also, I have another complain. The commentators always go like "look at how many competitors he has put away with this move", when someone hits their signature, even though no one has been pinned by that and we know no one will. It will be nice if every so often, we could get a different finish than the basic finishing move - pin, or the roll-up-pin. Punk could put away people with the running knee to the corner followed by the roundhouse kick. It looks devastating and he doesn't need to use the GTS all the time. Look at the Undertaker. He had 3 devastating moves in the Chokeslam, Last Ride and the Piledriver. Yea, the Tombstone was the main one, but he was put opponents out with the Last Ride and the Chokeslam, so every time he uses either of them, you are kinda at the edge of your seat.

Lots of things to talk about, but I will just wrap it up here. Good thread buddy.

 

[GRIMLOCK]

Well Cesaro may have unveiled his new submission finisher last week on Main Event. He's used it on Cena before, and most recently Sheamus at a house show.http://gfycat.com/HarmlessScarceHind#

Ryder didn't sell it too well here though. Looks kinda like a Gorilla crutch