Pin (professional wrestling) Pin (professional wrestling) A pinfall is a victory condition in various forms of professional wrestling that is met by holding (pinning) an opponent's shoulders on the wrestling mat, usually until the referee counts to three. In professional wrestling, a pinfall is a common method of winning a match. The count is broken (a near-fall) if the opponent manages to raise one or both of his shoulders off of the mat, commonly by "kicking out" (throwing their legs up to cause their shoulders to rise from the mat). In some positions, a wrestler may "bridge" (arching their back so that only
Professional wrestling future match to determine the winner. To score by submission, the wrestler must make his opponent give up, usually, but not necessarily, by putting him in a submission hold (e.g. figure four leg-lock, arm-lock, sleeper-hold). A wrestler may voluntarily submit by verbally informing the referee (usually used in moves such as the Mexican Surfboard, where all four limbs are incapacitated, making tapping impossible). Also, since Ken Shamrock popularized it in 1997, a wrestler can indicate a voluntary submission by "tapping out", that is, tapping a free hand against the mat or against an opponent. Occasionally, a wrestler will reach for