The Sharpshooter is arguably the most popular submission finisher in wrestling history. Bret Hart popularized the move when becoming a main eventer for WWE. The top spot as the face of the company during the New Generation Era saw Bret winning many of his big matches with the legendary move. Owen Hart and Natalya also found success with the move, keeping the hold in the family.
Plenty of wrestlers outside of the Hart family did their best at trying to make the Sharpshooter part of their repertoire. The results were mixed with some talents doing significantly better than the others at executing the submission.
10 Best: Kevin Owens
The independent wrestling run of Kevin Owens saw him using the Sharpshooter as a secondary finisher whenever he needed a submission. Owens did a great job learning the move and executed it to perfection.
The Canadian influence of the Hart family likely played a role in Owens choosing the move even though he was a bigger fan of Shawn Michaels than Bret Hart growing up. Owens rarely uses the move in WWE, but he is showing a nod to Steve Austin with the Stunner these days.
9 Worst: Steve Austin
Bret Hart named Steve Austin as one of the wrestlers who struggled whenever he tried to put the Sharpshooter hold on the originator. Many of Bret’s biggest matches would see his opponents trying to make him tap out.
Austin was a superb wrestler, but he just wasn’t great at utilizing the Sharpshooter in an effective manner. Hart revealed that Austin often struggled with the motion of putting it on another wrestler and locking the legs. The move was used quite often during their legendary rivalry of the late '90s.
8 Best: Lance Storm
The in-ring skills of Lance Storm were second to none as he did everything the right way. Storm lacked the charisma to have a big break in the main event scene, but he still put together an outstanding career for himself.
The half crab submission was a bigger part of Storm’s repertoire, but he did use the Sharpshooter on a few occasions. Storm leading a heel Team Canada faction in WCW essentially copied The Hart Foundation. The highly-decorated wrestler used the Sharpshooter a few times with strong results.
7 Worst: Trish Stratus
Trish Stratus became the most successful Canadian woman in WWE history when leading the Women’s Division to new heights at the time. The improvement in the ring for Stratus was quite impressive given she had no experience before WWE.
Stratus was tasked with using the sharpshooter as a finisher with the Canada tie-in to Bret Hart. There were a few good instances, but Trish clearly struggled with the move enough to make it a negative. The incredible moment of winning the Women’s Championship over Lita before retirement in 2006 saw her almost falling back when using the Sharpshooter.
6 Best: Edge
The desire of Edge to use a submission finisher outside of his Spear and DDT saw him changing up the Sharpshooter. Edge utilized the same painful hold, but he had an inverted angle where he didn’t have to lean on his opponent’s back.
The Edgecator was a good idea on paper, but he made it his own by adapting it to become a special submission. Edge won many big matches using the move when the right storyline called for it. The use of the submission showed Edge has an innovative mind for the business.
5 Worst: Jeff Jarrett
Jeff Jarrett tried to make a few legendary submission moves part of his identity, but it just never worked out for him. The Figure-Four Leglock was the bigger failure leading to him attempting to change it up with the Sharpshooter.
Jarrett used the submission as a secondary finisher with little success from the fans. No one expected the match to end when Jarrett had the move on as the ultimate sign of a bad finisher. Jarrett didn’t look as comfortable doing the move as most of the better instances.
4 Best: Cesaro
The reputation of Cesaro by his peers is that he might be the perfect professional wrestler in the ring. Cesaro always has great matches and works hard to ensure every move he delivers is done as best as possible.
The Sharpshooter became part of Cesaro’s move set even though he rarely won matches with it. Cesaro takes his performances seriously and would not want to disrespect Bret Hart’s finisher, especially since he’s close friends with Tyson Kidd and Natalya.
3 Worst: Shawn Michaels
No one in WWE history had a better track record at putting on consistently great matches than Shawn Michaels. Both Bret Hart and Michaels broke down barriers by making the good workers more valuable as main eventers for WWE.
Unfortunately, one flaw for Michaels was having a worse Sharpshooter than his rival. Bret named Shawn as having one of the worst Sharpshooters he’d attempt to use during their matches. Michaels locked legs the wrong way and it never looked as pretty as Hart’s. The most memorable use of the Sharpshooter by Michaels came in the Montreal Screwjob where Bret kept their legs hooked afterwards.
2 Best: Sting
The WCW run of Sting saw him using his version of the Sharpshooter as the Scorpion Death Lock to great success. Bret Hart coming to WCW in late 1997 gave them the chance to eventually have a dream match using the move in the story.
The perfect execution from Sting saw Bret naming him as the only wrestler outside of the Hart family to do it as well as they did. Sting utilized the move until the end of his career with stints in TNA and WWE adding more memories.
1 Worst: The Rock
The Rock loved the sharpshooter as one of his favorite moves when starting to use it in 1998. WWE’s rationale for Rock trying it came when they wanted to pull off a recreation of the Montreal Screwjob with Vince McMahon cheating Mankind to help Rock win.
The Sharpshooter was used by Rock for the rest of his career and just never felt right for him. Rock did win matches with the move, but fans didn’t react in the same manner they did for any of his other trademark moves.