Professional wrestling holds

Pins

The purpose of a pinning maneuver is to hold the victim's shoulders against the mat for a count of three. The count is broken up if the victim manages to raise one or both of his shoulders off of the mat, usually by kicking out.

If a wrestler is close enough to the ring ropes, he may aid a pin by propping his legs up on the ropes to gain additional leverage and put more of his weight on the victim. This is illegal according to the supposed rules of professional wrestling, since a wrestler is required to break a hold if he or his opponent is touching the ropes, but is frequently attempted by heels when they think that the referee won't catch them. This tactic is very frequently employed by Ric Flair, almost to the point of cliche.

Back slide

The wrestler stands back-to-back with his opponent and hooks both of the opponent's arms. He then leans forward and drops to his knees, sliding the victim down his back so that their shoulders are against the mat and their chin is against their chest. The attacker holds the victim's arms down with his own arms for the pin.

Cover

The basic pin. With his opponent lying face-up on the mat, the wrestler lies face-down across his opponent's chest to hold him down. Sometimes, when both wrestlers are supposed to be exhausted or badly hurt (usually in a long, drawn-out match), a wrestler will cover just with his arm.

Cradle

The wrestler lies across his opponent's chest and hooks a leg with the arm on the opposite side (the left leg with the right arm or the right leg with the left arm). Holding the leg supposedly gives the wrestler greater leverage and makes it harder for his opponent to kick out.

La Majistral

With his opponent on hands and knees, the wrestler stands next to the victim's hip, grabs one arm and applies an armbar. He then steps over the arm with his inside leg so that he is facing away from the victim. The wrestler continues his turning motion and dives forward over the victim, rolling onto his side. The barred arm acts as a lever, flipping the victim over the attacker and onto the back. The attacker hooks a leg as the victim goes over and holds for the pin.

Oklahoma roll

The wrestler stands to the side of his opponent, who is on hands and knees. The attacker hooks one arm around the victim's neck and one between the legs, and rolls over the victim. The attacker lands on his back or side, and the victim is flipped so that his shoulders are pressed against the mat.

Roll-up

The wrestler rolls his opponent back so that the victim's legs are above the head. The attacker wraps his arms around the legs and presses down to pin the shoulders.

Small package

The wrestler lies face-down across his opponent, who is face-up. The wrestler uses one arm to hook the victim's closer leg, uses the leg on the same side of his body to hook the victim's other leg, and uses his other arm to put his opponent in a front face lock.

Sunset flip

The wrestler and his opponent face each other, with the attacker on higher ground (such as the top turnbuckle). The attacker dives over the victim, catches him in a waistlock from behind, and rolls into a sitting position as he hits the mat. As the attacker rolls over, he pulls the victim over backwards so that he lands on his back.

Victory roll

The wrestler jumps onto his opponent's shoulders from behind and rolls forward. As the attacker flips over, he hooks his opponent's shoulders with his legs, flipping the victim over onto his shoulders. The attacker hooks both of the victim's legs to hold him in place for the pin.

Rana

The technical term for the pinning position which results from a sunset flip or a hurricanrana. It is executed with the victim laying shoulders down on the mat, almost completely flat on their back, the wrestler who is performing the move places his legs on the victims shoulders or arms and sits behind them and hooks both legs around the thighs to force their weight down to the mat. Another variation which usually results from hurricanranas sees the one performing the move sit on the victims chest and hook the victims legs behind them whilst hooking their arms with their legs.

Prawn Hold

Similar to a Rana, except that the one performing the pin is standing, bent over the victim with both legs hooked pressing his weight down. This pin is typically the result of a powerbomb.

Stretches

Head, face, and chin locks

Camel clutch

The wrestler sits on the back of his opponent, who is face down on the mat, and reaches under his opponent's arms to apply a chinlock. The wrestler then leans back and pulls the opponent's head and arms back (and as a result, pulling the torso back as well). In its early years, this was thought of as a potentially match ending submission but these days it enjoys only limited use and effectiveness.

It was innovated by Salvador Gory Guerrero, who gave the move to his tag team partner, El Santo, who then popularised its use. Iranian wrestler The Iron Sheik used the camel clutch as his finisher.

Chinlock

The victim is on the ground, and the wrestler is up. The wrestler sits the victim up and places his/her knee in the opponent's back. He/she she grasps the opponent's chin and wrenches the chin either to the side, or straight back. This is an actual effective technique, that if not done carefully could strain, or even snap the tendons in the opponents neck. Also called a rear chin-lock.

Cobra clutch

Also known as a cross-arm lock or cross-arm choke. This move has the wrestler behind the opponent. It has two variations; single hand, and double hand. The wrestler then pulls one, or both, of the opponent's arms across their neck, using the opponents own arms to choke themselves. This can be set up as a bomb technique as well; after setting the clutch, sitting down and dropping the opponent on the back, using their hands and handles. This was the finishing technique of the wrestling legend Sgt. Slaughter.

Crossface

The wrestler locks one of his opponent's arms in between his legs, locks his hands around the victim's chin (or lower face), and pulls back, stretching the victim's neck and shoulder. The opponent is orginally found belly first on the ground with the wrestler ontop and to the side of the opponent.

Front Chancery

The wrestler faces his opponent, and both are in same position (prone or standing). The attacker then places his forearm under opponent's chin and armpit on top of it. The attacker may also underhook his opponent's arm with his free arm.

Front facelock

The wrestler faces his opponent, who is bent forward. The attacker tucks the victim's head in his armpit and wraps his arm around the head so that the forearm is pressed against the face. The wrestler then grabs the arm with his free hand to lock in the hold and compress the victim's face.

Full nelson

From behind his opponent, the wrestler slips both arms underneath the victim's armpits and locks his hands behind his neck, pushing the victim's head forward against his chest

Half nelson

Standing behind his opponent, the wrestler wraps one arm under the opponent's armpit (on the same side) and places the hand behind the victim's head. The attacker then pulls back with that side of his body while pushing forward with the hand, bending the victim's shoulder back and pressing the chin against the chest.

Inverted facelock

The wrestler stands behind his opponent and bends him backwards. The attacker tucks the victim's head face-up in his armpit and wraps his arm around the head so that the forearm is pressed against the back of the head. The wrestler then grabs the arm with his free hand to lock in the hold and compress the victim's face against the bicep.

Three-quarters nelson

The three-quarter nelson hold is halfway between the full and half nelsons. One shoulder of the opponent is put in a nelson hold, the other is put in a hammer lock, or chicken wing arm bar.

Arm locks

Armbar

The attacker grabs the opponents arm and wrenches it backward. This puts pressure on the shoulder and elbow. It is mostly forced out of by the down opponent.

Crucifix Armbar

The attacker holds an opponent's arm with his, pulling the arm across his chest. He is situated perpendicular to and behind the opponent. The attacker then holds the other arm with his legs, stretching the shoulders back in a crucifying position and hyperextending the elbow.

This technique is also called a jujigatame, a term borrowed from Judo.

Chickenwing

The attacker grabs his opponent's arm, pulling it over the shoulder and behind the upper back so that the elbow is fully bent and sticks up next to the head. This stretches the tricep, lats, and shoulder joint, and immobilizes the arm.

Hammerlock

The attacker grabs his opponent's arm, pulling it around behind the opponent's back. This stretches the pectorals and shoulder joint, and immobilizes the arm.

Wakigatame

More widely known as an arm wrench. this is an arm bar technique used in Judo and Aikido, the wakigatame is a commonly used technique. The wrestler takes the opponents arm and twists it counter clockwise putting pressure of the shoulder and elbow.

Chokes

Single arm choke

The wrestler grabs his opponent's throat with one hand and squeezes.

Double choke

The wrestler grabs his opponent's throat with both hands and throttles him.

Half nelson choke

The wrestler puts his opponent in a half nelson with one arm and grabs the victim's neck with the other. This hold is very similar to the judo choke hold known as a katahajime.

Back and torso stretches

Abdominal stretch

Facing his opponent's side, the wrestler straddles one of the victim's legs. The attacker reaches over the victim's near arm with the arm close to the victim's back and locks it. He then squats and twists to the side, flexing the victim's back and stretching their abdomen. Also known as the Cobra Twist.

Argentine backbreaker rack

The attacker places his opponent face-up across his shoulders, hooks the head with one hand and a leg with the other, and pulls down on both ends to flex the victim's back.

This hold is also called the backbreaker rack, the Argentine backbreaker, and the human torture rack.

Boston Crab

This typically starts with the victim on his back, and the attacker standing and facing him. The attacker hooks each of the victim's legs in one of his arms, and then turns the victim face-down, stepping over him in the process. The final position has the attacker in a semi-sitting position and facing away from his victim, with the victim's back and legs bent back toward his face. Currently, this is the standard submission hold used by WWE wrestler Chris Jericho, and is called the "Walls of Jericho" when he uses it.

Bow and arrow hold

The attacker kneels on his opponent's back with both knees, hooking the head with one arm and the legs with the other. He then rolls back so that his opponent is suspended on his knees above him, facing up. The attacker pulls down with both arms while pushing up with the knees to bend the victim's back.

Canadian backbreaker rack

The attacker places his opponent face-up across one of his shoulders, then links his arms around the victim's torso and presses down, squeezing the victim's spine against the attacker's shoulder.

Surfboard

The attacker grasps both of his opponent's wrists, places his foot on his opponent's upper back, and pulls back on the arms while pushing with his foot to compress the victim's shoulder blades. It is most often applied by a standing wrestler against a prone opponent, but may also be applied by a seated wrestler, or against a seated or kneeling victim.

Leg locks

Ankle Lock

A wrestler using both arms takes hold of one's of the opponents legs and lifts the victims lower leg from the base of the foot to the shin and wraps both arms around the foot, placing one arm around the ankle tightly and resting his other on the tip of the foot where the toes are, in a butterfly lock position. He then applies pressure on both areas of the foot forcing the ankle to bend unnaturally. This submission move made popular by olympic gold medalist and WWE superstar, Kurt Angle.

Figure Four Leglock

The wrestler using this move stands over the opponent with the opponent face down and grasps a leg of the opponent. The wrestler then turns 180 degrees and grasps the other leg, crossing them as he does so and falls to the mat, applying pressure to the opponent's crossed legs with his own.

This move was made popular as the finishing move of all of the Nature Boys (Ric Flair, Buddy Rogers etc)

Damascus head-leglock

The attacker forces the opponent to the ground and opens up the legs of the opponent, stepping in with both legs. The attacker then wraps his legs around the head of the opponent and crosses the opponent's legs, applying pressure on them with his hands. The attacker next turns 180 degrees and and leans back, compressing the spine. This hold applies pressure on the temples, the calves, and compresses the spine. Also known as the D-lock for the capital D formed.

Indian deathlock

The victim is on his back. The attacker folds his opponent's legs over each other as if putting him in an "Indian sitting" posture, then places his own knee on top of the victim's shins and puts his weight on them.

Sharpshooter

The victim starts supine. The wrestler steps between his opponent's legs with one leg and wraps the opponent's legs around that leg. Holding the victim's legs in place, the wrestler then steps over the victim, flipping him over into a prone position. Finally, the attacker leans back to compress the legs.

This hold was popularized in the WWE (then WWF) by Bret "The Hitman" Hart, who used it as his finisher and first called it the Sharpshooter. It is currently used by The Rock and The Crippler, Chris Benoit.

It is also called the scorpion deathlock, the name used by WCW mainstay Sting for the same maneuver.

Texas cloverleaf

The wrestler stands at the feet of his supine opponent, grabs the victim's legs and lifts them up. He then bends one leg so that the shin is behind the knee of the straight leg and places the ankle of the straight leg in his armpit. With the same arm, he reaches around the ankle and through the opening formed by the legs, and locks his hands together. He then steps over his opponent, turning the victim over as in a sharpshooter. Finally, the wrestler squats and leans back, similarly to a boston crab. The hold compresses the legs, flexes the spine, and stretches the abdomen.

The move was pioneered by Dory Funk, Jr. but is most closely associated with Dean Malenko, who used it as his regular finisher.

Transition holds

Some holds are meant neither to pin an opponent, nor weaken them or force them to submit, but are intended to set up the victim for another attack.

Fireman's carry

The victim is draped face-down across the wrestler's shoulders, with the wrestler's arms wrapped around from behind. It is a key component of several throws, drops and slams.

Gorilla press

The wrestler lifts his opponent up over his head with arms fully extended (as in the military press used in weight lifting). From here many throws, drops and slams can be performed.

It is a popular technique for very large wrestlers because it emphasizes their height and power.

Scoop

Facing his opponent, the wrestler reaches between his opponent's legs with one arm and reaches around their back from the same side with his other arm. The wrestler lifts his opponent up so they are horizontal across the wrestlers body. From here many throws, drops and slams can be performed.