One thing I haven’t talked about enough on this Blog is the holds. I love cool wrestling holds. I’m not in denial — I openly admin I’m a Holdaholic. I love seeing a nice Headlock or Armbar as much as the next guy, but show me some complex human knot, arms and legs and torsos all twisted up and entangled (with one guy suffering from it) and you’ve got my attention. The more complex, the better. I like it when I have to pause the video, rewind, and watch the application of the hold in super slow-mo to see how to get it applied. I collect wrestling holds like some guys collect dirty jokes or useless baseball statistics.
One sweet move used in recent days by the brother Tag Team of T.J. and Kirby Mack (aka Team MackTion) is the Leg Nelson. This is not a new invention, but it’s rare enough and complex enough to get my attention. This is the one where you lay back and wrap your legs up around his upper arms, hooking your feet together behind his neck. It’s just gotta hurt, especially if you start to straighten your legs.
Why do I love rare wrestling holds more than I love rare books or rare art? It has something to do with the ideal wrestler, the “Man of 1,000 Holds”, who took the time to learn the complex and dangerous move to become such a bad-ass, someone to be respected and feared, because he knows so many ways to hurt you. I just picture him practicing the hold with some lucky volunteer, tangling up their arms and legs over and over until the maximum leverage and pain is milked out of their body positions. One of the challenges in pro wrestling, after it’s been popular now for over 100 years, is to show us something new, so I appreciate the creative effort.
There is something about the confidence and swagger of the wrestler, knowing he can dominate the average man with his arsenal of painful moves any time he wants, that I find compelling. Maybe this is why I love wrestling holds. I remember over-hearing a conversation on the school bus — a kid on the wrestling team (one of those mouthy, rough-neck, little blond kids) laughing while telling his buddy about some cradle hold he applies in his matches, with his legs circled around the poor victim’s neck and one leg, compressing and contorting the guy’s body between his legs. You better believe I tried to find a seat on the bus close to him every day, hoping to hear more bragging about how easily he can hurt guys.
Who is the wrestler in gold wrestling pants?
love the photos especially the one wtih the kid getting his hair cut. I often fantasise about holds that are applied for a long time, more so when the person in pain is double or even triple teamed by other wrestlers. I like to keep creating stories of hot wrestlers and movie stars beating the crap out of some one or getting the crap beat out of them. I would love you to make a gallery or blog of the camel clutch in all its forms. Its my fav hold as you can apply lots of diifrent ways to make your opponent suffer.