A
professional wrestling submission move.
The
executor stands behind the
victim and wraps one
arm under the
victim's
neck. This theoretically clamps down on the
carotid artery, cutting off circulation of
blood to the
brain and making the
victim pass out.
Rowdy Roddy Piper, a wrestler for both the
World Wrestling Federation and
World Championship Wrestling at various times, used the
sleeper as his
finishing move.
Aside from him, though, the
sleeper is most often used to generate
cheap heat--when a
heel puts a
sleeper on a
babyface, the
referee will check the face's arm three times to see if he's still
concious. Invariably, the face's
arm will drop the first two times and then miraculously come
alive on the third--to the delight and cheers of the
audience.