>>18219675By watching the rest of the manoeuvres, arm drags and back and forths that often precede a headlock of some variety.
Not everyone did the headlock all the time either. Bret Hart favoured 1 limb in particular, usually the leg so he can do the sharpshooter.
Others do armbars and so on.
It's the bit of professional wrestling that actually is wrestling, the grapples and the submission holds.
Flipflopping is acrobatically impressive and a visual treat but it's not wrestling. Just happens to be done by athletes in the square circle instead of on top of a trapeze.