Bo named B1G Wrestler of the Week

[csiebott]

Funny seeing so many people trying to convince themselves Bo pinned himself (not here so much but seeing it in lots of comments on Flo and elsewhere). Watching the replay it's clear that at one point his shoulders are flat, but for far less than a second, and his being there at all is not by Brooks' doing.

My interpretation of the rule has always been that, though the offensive wrestler can effectively pin himself, there needs to be some causal connection between the defensive wrestler and the pin. Here's the rule:

Any part of both shoulders or part of both scapulae (For pinning area, see Illustration No. 2.) of either wrestler held in contact with the mat for one second constitutes a fall. The one-second count (one-thousand-one) shall be a silent count by the referee and shall start only after the referee is in position to observe that a fall is imminent, after which the shoulders or scapulae area must be held in continuous contact with the mat for one second before a fall is awarded.​

Since the rules don't define what it means by "held," I'm willing to interpret "held" broadly enough based on past practice to mean that very little need be done by the defensive wrestler to cause the offensive wrestler to "pin himself." But not so broad as to be deprived of all meaning. I interpret "held" to mean simply that the defensive wrestler had the intent to pin the offensive wrestler, usually indicated by some positional awareness, like, say, backing into the offensive wrestler in a crab ride.

Brooks's only intent there was to look less ridiculous as soon as possible, he had no awareness of where Bo's shoulders were. But again, to the extent Bo was ever flat it was for far less than even a half second.

I like this analysis. The other part of the rule that sticks out to me is that the count "shall start only after the referee is in position to observe that a fall is imminent." If you re-watch the match, you'll see that by the time the ref is in a position to "observe that a fall is imminent," meaning low enough to observe that both shoulders or part of both scapulae are held in contact with the mat, Bo is already past the point of a potential defensive fall and well off the mat. Regardless how long his shoulders might have been in contact with the mat, the ref was not, by rule, in position to start the one second count at the same time. No pin.

 

[csiebott]

I like this analysis. The other part of the rule that sticks out to me is that the count "shall start only after the referee is in position to observe that a fall is imminent." If you re-watch the match, you'll see that by the time the ref is in a position to "observe that a fall is imminent," meaning low enough to observe that both shoulders or part of both scapulae are held in contact with the mat, Bo is already past the point of a potential defensive fall and well off the mat. Regardless how long his shoulders might have been in contact with the mat, the ref was not, by rule, in position to start the one second count at the same time. No pin.

I only just saw that cowbell already made this point. that was embarrassing. Im used to reading from the bottom of the thread up. My bad. Props to cowbell!

 

[findtheStrength]

A young up and coming wrestler in my area has pinned himself twice this season while cranking on a tilt. I believe in both instances the other wrestler was able to use his weight to "hold" him on his back, even though our wrestler was still technically "in control". I will never claim to be an expert, but I think that if your shoulders are down for one second then you are pinned regardless of position or control. Bo's shoulders were not flat for a whole second, though. Not even close.