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 till the referee counts to three. In professional wrestling, a pinfall is a common method of winning a match.

The purpose of a pinning maneuver is to hold the opponent's shoulders against the mat for a count of three. 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 their feet and the top of their head are touching the ground) to put more of their weight on the pinned opponent or to prop themselves up from being pinned. Sometimes, an attacking wrestler may (illegally) hook the opponent's tights for extra leverage. Another popular illegal tactic of heel wrestlers is to attempt a pin close to the ring ropes so they can prop their legs (or on rare occasions, arms) up on the ropes to gain additional leverage, putting more weight on the opponent. On the other hand, a pin fall attempt cannot occur in the first place when one rolls out of the ring if falls do not count anywhere, or if the opponent lies on his/her stomach upon impact, so it would take extra effort to roll the opponent over, even when he/she is knocked out cold due to the body being effectively a dead weight.