The World’s Most Devastating Pro Wrestling Moves: Scorpion Crosslock

Move Type: Submission

Notable Users: Bull Nakano, Paige

This week, we’re taking a closer look at the Devastating Pro Wrestling Move known as the Scorpion Crosslock, a move made famous by Japanese women’s wrestling legend Bull Nakano and adopted by WWE Women’s Evolution pioneer Paige. This devastating submission hold is an inversion of a sharpshooter, with a double chickenwing—one which immobilizes an opponent’s entire body.

In the video above, you can see Paige apply the maneuver (which she started calling the “PTO”—”Paige’s Tap Out”—when she moved up to the main roster) to defeat Sasha Banks on a 2014 episode of NXT. She starts the move the same way wrestlers set up the more widely-used Sharpshooter, with her opponent lying face upward on the mat. She steps between her opponent’s legs with her right leg, then wraps Banks’s legs around that leg at shin level. She then flips Banks over and hooks her arms behind her back in a double chickenwing, which keeps her from using her arms to escape the submission, while painfully stretching her shoulder joints. Using both impressive strength and balance, Paige then squats back and lifts her opponent’s torso into the air, maintaining the hold until she taps out.

Some fans might associate Paige more with her “RamPaige” or “Paige Turner” finishers, but she picked up many victories on both NXT and the main roster with the PTO. In fact, this submission is what allowed her to retain her NXT Women’s Championship over Emma at NXT ArRIVAL on February 27, 2014.

Bull Nakano—who popularized the move in All Japan Women’s Wrestling and brought it to the States when she competed in the mid-’90s for WWF and WCW women’s divisions—also had other memorable finishing moves, including a large arsenal of submission holds. But her use of the unique Scorpion Crosslock stuck in fans’ minds. It showed off her power and technical expertise in her matches, inspiring female wrestlers like Paige decades later.