"Sleeper Hold" in Professional Wrestling
Pro-wrestling's first "sleeper hold" is thought to have been performed by Jim Londos on June 29, 1931. Suspicion abounded as to the nature of Londos' move (which had looked suspiciously like a choke against the windpipe); however, Londos was quoted the next day in The New York Sun as simply having performed "a new hold I perfected which shuts off the jugular vein."
Though Londos' original move may or may not have been inspired by judo's "hadaka jime," pro-wrestling's sleeper and a rear naked choke both share a similar style of execution. However, in order for the sleeper to be used in the performance art-related world of pro-wrestling, the "leverage" arm is positioned in a relaxed state so the hold is not fully applied.
It is more realistically used by TNA wrestler Samoa Joe (whose wrestling move-set is closer to mixed martial arts). From then on out, the move has become more of a staple among independent wrestlers, as well as the Japanese wrestlers with the "strong style" of the sport; the most notable being former MMA star Minoru Suzuki.The sleeper hold is now more realistically done in pro wrestling.
Read more about this topic: Rear Naked Choke
Famous quotes containing the words hold, professional and/or wrestling:
“There was a heavy power in her eyes which laid hold of his whole being, as if he had drunk some powerful drug. He had been feeling weak and done before. Now the life came back into him, he felt delivered from his own fretted, daily self.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)
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—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)