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By Andy Pickett & Gary Lim

Tap Out! A phrase commonly used in the business today, it means to give up, to submit. Submission holds are used to wear out an opponent and, to inflict severe pain. Some holds are used solely for the purpose of inflicting extreme amounts of pain. In the GCW, we have quite a number of wrestlers who used these holds, superstars like Commissioner Chris Benoit, current GCW World Heavyweight Champion, Chris Jericho, Kurt Angle, Damien Diamond, Golden Glenn, Jordan Williams, Logan Kaine & many others. But in this first of this series on Submission wrestling, we're gonna focus on four athletes who excel in what they do best; forcing people to tap out!

Chris Benoit
Commissioner Chris Benoit is known for his technical style and submission maneuvers. From Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, this superstar’s pet finisher is known as the Crippler Crossface. Aptly named, i must say. Benoit has made many top superstars, including The Rock, Chris Jericho & The Big Show to tap out to this move.
To see the pain on the opponents face is simply delight for Chris Benoit! To execute such a maneuver, Benoit must have his opponent face down on a mat, and then Benoit must get onto the ground as well. He s sits next to his opponent and applies the cross face hold immediately after he gets his opponent near arm in a legscissors. Benoit proceeds to pull back on the opponents head, injuring the neck, shoulder, and arm. The move causes serious pain, and Benoit is currently the only one in GCW to apply well enough to cause maximum pain.

Aside from the Crossface, Benoit has been known to use many other holds, such as the Sharpshooter. Even this move Benoit pulls off with ease, causing extreme pain for Benoit’s opponents. Though not as common for Benoit to use against his opponents, the maneuver causes extreme pain, to a different area. To apply this hold, Benoit’s twists his opponents legs around his own while applying pressure to the lower back. It is similar to a Boston Crab, the Texas Cloverleaf, and the Scorpion Deathlock. The idea is to injure the lower back so severely that the opponent submits by tapping out.

Logan Kaine
Another submission wrestler we have in the GCW is Logan Kaine. His whole style revolves around inflicting pain and agony on his opponents. Logan Kaine is a submission expert, having a large array of submission maneuvers, in fact, he can do nearly any hold there is. Their move set consists of: Armbars, Leglocks, sharpshooters, cloverleaves, crabs, nerve holds, stretches, backbreakers Anything! Logan Kaine truly knows how to cause extreme pain, and that’s exactly what he likes best!

Aside from the average moves, there is one move Logan Kaine have mastered, and it is a move that can be considered TORTURE! Yes, the painkiller armbar that has been named “Sadistic Payne”, is, well, sadistic pain. It is a move that is simply torment, which is the exact reason why Logan Kaine use it. It is a move that has been applied to many wrestlers over the years, and most of the time, opponents taps out the moment the hold is latched on. The duo of Payne and Kaine are just about the only wrestlers in the GCW that can correctly apply the move, which severely injures the back, shoulder, and arms. Logan Kaine enjoys the torture so much, that they even continue to apply the hold AFTER the match is over. To apply the move, Kaine grinds his knee into his/her opponent’s shoulder joint, while simultaneously wrenching back on the arm as hard as he/she can. This move is so potent that it ended the career of 3 superstars.

Chris Jericho
Another sumbmission-style wrestler within the GCW is Chris Jericho. He is known to apply one of the most vicious holds in the business. The maneuver known to many as  the “Walls of Jericho” has caused many wrestlers to submit to Chris Jericho. Jericho has won many titles in his career by locking this maneuver on, which applies pressure to the legs and back. It is a modified Boston Crab, though it is a little less harmful than the “Lion Tamer” of the WCW days. To perform this move, Jericho gets his opponent on their back, and grabs their legs, placing them under his arms. He then turns them onto his stomach, and pulls their legs up, creating and arch. He continues to pull, until his opponent either taps out or reaches the ropes. This move severely hurts the legs and back.

Back when Jericho was in the WWE, he put Triple H out of action for a good six months with this move. As of press time, Jericho is still the GCW World Champion but will anyone for that matters breaks the "Wall of Jericho"?

Kurt Angle
Kurt Angle is one of the best technical wrestlers around, and can last in the ring with just about any other superstar out there. He originally used the Angle Slam, however, over time, learned a very piercing move, the ankle lock. The ankle lock is a move that twists the ankle, causing excruciating pain. Once in this hold, Angle’s opponents take little to no time to tap out, hoping to get out of such pain. Kurt has mastered this move, and continues to defeat opponent after opponent with it. This harrowing maneuver is in fact very simple to apply. Kurt gets his opponent on their stomach, and lifts their leg. He then proceeds to twist the ankle hard, waiting for the opponent to submit.  Though this is only one of MANY submission moves Angle knows, it is by far the most painful.

Some have said that Angle executes this move better than Ken Shamrock does. Utilizing this move, Angle made pro wrestling legend, Hulk Hogan tap out! This is how vicious this move is. With such a potent move on his arsenal, will Kurt Angle once again have Championship gold around his waist?

Andy Pickett's note; I personally believe each of these wrestlers have a great move to themselves. However, they are not the only submission wrestlers we have in the GCW. Others who use submissive maneuvers include: Adam Rich, Golden Glenn, Astaroth, Chris, Edge, and many others. I would say that the best submission hold we have in the GCW is the Crossface, because it is exciting to see each of Benoit’s opponents desperately trying to escape the maneuver. The looks on their faces proves that it is definitely the most intense AND impressive move we know of in the GCW today.

Gary Lim's note: I on the other hand feels that the best submission move ever is the Sharpshooter by Bret "The Hitman" Hart. Thought Bret Hart is currently on a hiatus from this business, you'll never know what might happen! Anyway we'll be back next week with part 2 of Tap Out!

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