Submission victories

By Scott Keith on August 31, 2012

Hi Scott –

While watching Raw last night, I was compelled to see if Daniel Bryan would tap out to the STF when Cena had it locked in. That got me thinking further about submission wins.
While I love a tap out as it clearly defines who won the match, sometimes it can be either too quick or too slow – leading to a unsatisfying finish. Sometimes it seems like the victim taps out before the hold is even locked in, therefore eliminating some of the "will he or won't he?" aspect of the move. And since a submission victory is rare in a main event match, usually a submission move leads to a dramatic escape.
My question to you is: what are some of the best match endings involving a submission you can think of? Clearly the Benoit/Michaels/HHH Wrestlemania match has to be near the top, but what else?

Note for Blog people: Last night was my birthday supper and movie (The Campaign!) so I didn't get a chance to watch Impact yet. Hopefully this morning, but then we're out of town for the long weekend so it's pretty much now or never.

As to the topic, I really liked Batista's tapout to Cena at Wrestlemania whatever, where he immediately tapped to the STF and was in so much pain that he actually kept tapping even when Cena released the hold. That was such a great heel touch. Shawn tapping to the anklelock against Angle at Wrestlemania 21 was also a phenomenal moment, even though it stretched too long. But man, people in the theater were losing their SHIT wanting Shawn to tap. Of course, Benoit-Angle at Rumble 2003 is the gold standard for that struggle finish, showing that someone can submit and still come out looking better than they came in.

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