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Wrestling moves are not straight-forward, as if you are not paying close attention, you might believe the acts are real. At the moment I am still a little reluctant to fill you in on the moves, since I am not a wrestling fan, however my son is, and he is going to give us the inside information on wrestling moves to help us see it for what it is, fake.

For instance, one of the oldest moves is the ‘banana splits’, although, nowadays, the move is now famous as the ‘leg splits’. This move involves the one wrestler putting both hands on the legs of the other wrestler and pushing the legs apart as far as they will stretch. This move will force the wrestler to put his/her own shoulders to the mat. If the wrestling move were for real and the wrestler failed to give in, his/her legs would split some muscles, tendons, ligaments, etc.

The ‘Cobra Clutch’ is yet another of the holds that would actually cause real agony. The cobra move is known everywhere as the cross chokes or arm locks. The challenging wrestler will come from the back of the other fighter and using a single arm in the “Nelson Hold”. The opponent will then use an arm to tug the wrestler’s arm trying to prevent him from pulling across the throat and choking him as a result. The back clutch, or bombard is a similar move, but the challenging wrestler is on his back under his opponent extending his arms upward from behind.

The ‘Rock Bottom’ move involves the adversary pulling his opponents arm over his shoulder. The wrestler then pulls the opponents arm over his/her shoulder and lifts and dives forward onto the mat. During this attack, the challenger is hitting the mat head first, which if really executed, would strain bones or at least cause some serious pain.

The ‘Choke Slam’ involves the attacking wrestler gripping the opponent’s arm and lifting his arm close by his opponent’s side, over his shoulder. Then he lifts the opponent and throws him to the mat.

The ‘Big Boot’ is a running move. The wrestler kicks up his boot, connecting with the face of his opponent. So, a boot in the face, in other words! This would definitely put a person on his/her backside any time, causing the kicked person to feel severe concussion for a short time.

What makes wrestling so exciting is the phoney dialogue, the outfits, the characters and the moves. If you think of the movie Superman, and how he dresses, you will see that without his outfit he wouldnt have any character appeal as Superman. Likewise, the wrestlers wear outfits that make them appear as though they are super heroes of the ring, indicting the villains. Each wrestler has his/her role in the ring. It is usually quite peaceful, but made to look violent!

However, wrestling does have rules, as well as restrictions, even though the moves are all fake. Wrestlers must respect the ropes of the ring, as well as the colour codes.

There are also styles of wrestling, which include the folk style, freestyle and Greco Romanian styles. Each of the styles has its own set of rules, although the freestyle and folk style are fairly similar. Usually, the styles are used so well that you wouldn’t know which style the wrestlers are using.

As with a script or a dance routine, most of the moves are composed, which means that a director is out of sight using his/her hands to direct the wrestlers in the rings. For the most part, wrestling is nothing more than an act with a few exemptions like when the KAYFABE is broken, when a real fight might break out. The KAYFABE is wrestling’s verbal communication.

The arm moves in wrestling include the arm breakers, arm drags, over the shoulder arm drags, arm swings, etc. The arm bar take down is another of the moves in wrestling. The arm bar attacks by forcing the arm of the opponent downward.

The challenger feels the strain about the shoulder area and the assailant will grip the arms extending the arms length wise. The shoulder is eventually dropped to the mat. This is a pin in most instances unless the wrestler can wriggle his/her way out of the hold.

The arm breakers include slamming of the arms, typically on an area of the opponent’s body where it will hurt. Usually the pin ends with the scissors, where the wrestler’s legs are crossed over the challengers body, holding his/her shoulders down to the mat.

The various moves and holds look dangerous in the ring, but the fact is that the moves are all show, i.e. a theatrical display to get attention. The actors rehearse their scenes long before they get into the ring and are trained to send ’signals’ to end the bout when they wish to.

The wrestling holds and slams seem serious on television, simply because the cameras and other distractions divert the attention of the audience. Wrestling is similar to how magicians work. Magicians rehearse their acts before they go on stage. There is always a gimmick or explanation, yet the magician does his act so smoothly and the audience is so distracted, that the magician makes people believe he/she is the real thing.

The ‘arm drags’ involve the assailant getting the opponent in a hook move and then flipping the challenger down onto the mats. Most of the manoeuvres are devised by one or the other of the wrestlers and sometimes it may become a popular move and so taken up by others. Two of the older moves are the Gallatin and the Banana Split

The ‘over the shoulder’ move should be called the ‘body slam’ because the opponent throws the challenger over his shoulder, slamming him/her down onto the mat. At one time, this wrestling manoeuvre was probably a ’slammer’, but today it is called the shoulder-arm throw move.

The ‘wringer; is another of the arm moves in wrestling that is often called the ’spin wrist lock hold’. This move is often followed by the Irish Thrash moves, mallet locks or gouges.

Other arm moves include the arm stretches, arm breakers, arm wringer, arm locks, arm bar and arm scissors. While the arm moves are famous in the ring, there are many new moves today that you would never have heard of when wrestling first began in ancient times. The Amityville Horror is one of wrestling’s more modern moves. Although, I haven’t figured out what this move entails, we are about to look at it together.

From what I can make out the Amityville Horror is just a ploy to persuade people to rent or buy the movie with the same name. The move is listed in the roll of wrestling moves, but, as of yet, no information is available about what this move is all about. Moves are basically marques made up by the wrestlers themselves, so I’m assuming that the wrestler felt he had devised one of the most horrific moves in wrestling and so he called it the Amityville Horror.

Why is it that some moves get roaring applause? Well, it can start when a wrestler in the ring introduces a new manoeuvre and it becomes his signature, popular final manoeuvre in his fights.