Gallery 303
Front Chancery



The Front Chancery is a controlling headlock where you hook your close arm under his chin, reach your far arm behind his neck, and lock your fingers to form a vice around his throat.  He is totally at your mercy when you get this locked on!

The British wrestlers love using this hold, but why the hell is it called a "Chancery," which is the name for a court of law in England??

According to Dictionary.com, "To hold in Chancery:  to get the head of an antagonist under one's arm; hence, to have wholly in One's power. The allusion is to the condition of a person involved in the chancery court, where he was helpless, while the lawyers lived upon his estate."

Now that our English lesson is over, lets get back to rasslin'.

You can tell from the anguish written on this goateed hunk's face that he is wholly in his antagonist's power.  He is basically being choked out by the beefy dude's flexed bicep.  Great expressions on both their faces!

This black stud went to Asia to strut around in his skimpy speedo and show off his muscular body, and to dominate the Asian wrestlers with his superior grappling skills.  I'm sure the Japanese fans love seeing their hero being schooled by the big black hunk.
 
Now a white wrestler is dominating his Asian opponent with a variation of the Chancery.  Rather than hooking his arm behind the neck, he traps the victim's bald head under his hairy belly, down near his package.
The Chancery is a great hold for controlling and humiliating your opponent. This skinny wrestler forces the bigger man to walk around the ring like a dog on a leash.  "Heel boy, HEEL!"
Here is an interesting drawing of two muscular studs locked in mortal combat.  Is that Cain trying to rip off Abel's head in the Garden of Eden??  Wow, talk about vintage wrestling, this Chancery hold is even older than I thought!!  It may be the oldest wrestling hold in the world!


Check out the very similar positions of the Pro Wrestlers in these two images, one from the classic days and one from a modern Indy federation.  I guess hot humiliating wrestling holds never go out of style.
Muscular Lance Storm, in the bulging red bikini, tortures Maven's neck with a seated Chancery.  This is just cruel, poor Maven has no way to escape.
"Ahhh, my NECK!   You're fuckin' BREAKING my neck!!   Let go, ASSHOLE!"  Right now Maven is wishing he had never joined Tough Enough and never became a pro wrestler.

This kneeling stud is wearing some pretty sexy tights as he suffers in a variation of the Front Chancery.  The man trying to choke him out grips his left wrist rather than inter-locking his fingers.

The cocky veteran wrestler is easily out-wrestling the eager rookie in the singlet.  He grins as he clamps on a tight Chancery, knowing what that is doing to the poor kid's neck muscles.

"Some day you will learn how to escape from this hold son, maybe when you're a little older!"   Once again, experience wins over youth.

 
If you clamp your wrists tightly on the sides of the opponent's neck, the Chancery can also be a variation of the sleeper hold, as this long haired dude demonstrates on the stud in red workout pants.

This guy patienly waits for his opponent to go limp and collapse to the mat.  He knows what effect this tight neck vice is having on his kneeling victim.