Wrestling Move of the Week: Anaconda Vice — The Official Website of Pharoah Bolding

Hiroyoshi Tenzan applying the Anaconda Vice on an opponent.

Move Name: Anaconda Vice

Created/innovated by: Hiroyoshi Tenzan

Notable users of move: CM Punk

Notable variations of the move: Anaconda Cross (Anaconda Vice combined with a straight jacket choke) - Hiroyoshi Tenzan; Anaconda Max (Anaconda Vice combined with a cobra clutch) – Hiroyoshi Tenzan; Anaconda Buster (Anaconda vise into a sit-out side slam) - Hiroyoshi Tenzan

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Sometimes a wrestling maneuver created by a great professional wrestler who isn’t exactly a mainstream household name becomes synonymous with the in-ring work and image of a wrestler who is a mainstream household name. In these cases, the latter is pretty much the person who gets credit for a said wrestling move with mainstream wrestling fans. A great example of one such pro-wrestling maneuver is the submission move that the vast majority of North American wrestling fans attribute to former professional wrestling superstar CM Punk, the Anaconda Vice.

On August 1, 2016, CM Punk made his main roster WWE debut, defeating Justin Credible on WWE’s version of Extreme Championship Wrestling. The move he finished the match with? The Anaconda Vice.

CM Punk, a huge fan of Puroresu (Japanese pro wrestling) and mixed martial arts, added the move to his repertoire toward the end of his tenure in Ring of Honor Wrestling. At the time it wasn’t a primary finisher for him; that was reserved for the top-rope avalanche double underhook facebuster he dubbed the Pepsi Plunge (we’ll discuss that move and the move it stems from in the coming weeks and months). When Punk signed his WWE developmental contract (a contract WWE used to give to independent wrestlers and freelance in-ring talent that they planned to cultivate through their farm team-style talent development system) he seemingly opted for using the Anaconda Vice as his main finisher. One can only speculate but I would say this finisher change is likely due to the ability to use the Anaconda Vice on practically any opponent and/or the fact that the Pepsi Plunge had to be wrecking his frickin’ knees while being a bit far-fetched as far as setup and execution is concerned (I mean did you watch the linked Pepsi Plunge video? Watch it now. The move is freaking ridiculous to realistically sucker an opponent into getting drilled with every match). WWE’s spin machine, of course, made it seem like CM Punk had adapted this move for the squared circle from his “extensive MMA training” (looking at Punk’s recent history I would say that’s a “make you choke on your drink”-level statement, ain’t it?). The truth was Punk got the move from watching tapes of the legendary Hiroyoshi Tenzan.

For those who aren’t Puroresu fans, Hiroyoshi Tenzan is a living legend in Japanese pro wrestling and, in my opinion, one of the best wrestlers of the past 20 years. Tenzan, a former NWA Worlds Champion, four-time IWGP Champion (New Japan Pro Wrestling’s main title), and 12-time IWGP Tag Team Champion, was an innovator in his prime. He created or innovated a plethora of moves, from his original pet submission hold the Buffalo Sleeper (a sleeper hold with a keylock added in for extra effect) to the power and impact of his Mountain Bomb (a hybrid of a back boy drop and powerslam). The Anaconda Vice, however, is not Tenzan’s creation but a great window into his ability to innovate and bridge the gap between pro wrestling

A Brazilian jiu-jitsu and Judo compression choke, the Anaconda Vice is done from a position in which a wrestler and their opponent are seated on the mat facing each other. The wrestler sits on one side of the opponent and using their near arm encircles their opponent in a headlock position. The wrestler proceeds to grab their opponent's near wrist, bending the arm upwards. Then, the wrestler maneuvers their other arm through the "hole" created by their opponent's bent wrist, locks their hand upon their wrist, and pulls their opponent forward. This wrenching motion causes instant pressure on the arm and neck of the recipient of the maneuver and gives the recipient two choices: submit or get real comfortable with potential injury.

Or counter the maneuver with a leverage-based pinning hold. In my experience as a person who has watched quite a few Hiroyoshi Tenzan matches though? I have rarely ever seen the move countered this way when Tenzan has locked it in. I mean Hiroyoshi ain’t exactly a lightweight.

When Tenzan adopted the use of the Anaconda Vice he decided to innovate a couple of deadly variations of the maneuver to use on his opponents when the standard Anaconda Vice wasn’t enough: the Anaconda Cross (an Anaconda Vice with a straight jacket choke in lieu of the standard armlock) and the Anaconda Max (an Anaconda Vice combined with a cobra clutch). Both variations take what is an already devastating submission hold and ups the ante, increasing the pressure on an opponent’s neck while adding extra leverage. Tenzan also found a way to set his opponents up for the Anaconda Vice without them having to already be prone on the mat. The move, dubbed the Anaconda Buster, sees Tenzan drilling his opponent with a sit-out side slam and segue right into the Anaconda Vice before they can regain their bearings from the impact of the slam. Tenzan has also been known to lock his opponent in an upper wrist lock or keylock before delivering this move on occasion to add to the move’s impact and increase its counter difficulty for those on the receiving end of the move. CM Punk adopted a version of the Anaconda Buster as a part of his repertoire when he took on the Anaconda Vice and found great success with it.

Moves like the Anaconda Vice are prime examples of how MMA holds can be adapted to professional wrestling to great effect and still look and feel legitimately dangerous. But, as I said before, it is also an example of how the originators and innovators of some of our favorite and most interesting pro wrestling holds often find themselves lost in translation.