Welcome back to Reading Wrestling, your encyclopedia on the art of pro wrestling. Today’s entry takes us to one of the primary ways to win or lose a match: submissions. In a standard wrestling match, there are two ways to win cleanly: by pinning your opponent or forcing them to submit. But these potential outcomes have completely different meanings in the world of wrestling. While a pinfall is considered the most definitive way to win, a submission carries with it a certain stigma. As it goes, anyone could be incapacitated in a match to the point that they are pinned, but one has to consciously take action to submit, to “say uncle,” as it were. It’s said that some of the biggest names in wrestling had clauses in their contracts that stipulated they could never lose by submission, lest it harm their character irreparably. Of course, submissions don’t have to be match enders. They can be an intrinsic part of a match’s narrative arc, both slowing the tempo while retaining the tension and giving the wrestlers a chance to grab a breather. Today, on Reading Wrestling, we submit to you our take on the topic and will try to limit the amount of verbal contortions we do. 

AND one of your favorite characters has returned to be a guest on the show! It's TOM! This was a raucous recording and you'll be able to hear how much fun we were having with this topic. 

Unfortunately, though, we experienced some technical difficulties mid recording with the mic Tom was using. We did our best to clean up the audio, but there are parts that aren't up to our usual production quality. Sorry for this, and we hope you're still able to enjoy the episode. 

We take on the topic from a number of different angles, including discussing the potential stigma of losing by submission and whether that stigma varies across men's and women's wrestling. 

We also bring up our favorite and least favorite submission holds, including Dave's coverage of the Figure Four Leglock (as made famous by Ric Flair), Noell's discussion of Bull Nakano's take on Bret Hart's Sharp-Shooter, and Chris' arguing for the supremacy of Sting's Scorpion Death Lock over the Sharp-Shooter. Tom tells us about a time when Mick Foley put the Mandible Claw on himself rather than submit in a match. 

Please accept this submission into our wrestling encyclopedia, and be sure to write to us to let us know your thoughts on the topic!