The front facelock is one of the nastiest and in the same time most subtle women’s wrestling submission holds. It is an extremely vicious hold because it puts pressure on the spinal chord as well as on the neck of the victim. The hold itself is not highly spectacular, but it is extremely efficient. It is extremely frustrating for the victim to have to tap out to such a straightforward and simple ladies wrestling hold.

The attacker starts out by getting the victim onto her back on the mat. A bodyslam or even a clothesline will do just fine. The attacker then mounts the victim straddling her thighs, and sits her up (either by pulling her up by her hair of slipping a hand behind the back of her head). The attacker then gets the victim’s head under her arm and sits back pulling on the locked head of her opponent, while pushing it downward. The pressure on the spinal chord will soon have the victim yelling uncle and tapping out.

Efficiency: despite the fact that it looks so simple, the front facelock is a truly devastating female wrestling submission hold. Because it’s relatively easy to slip on, the victim won’t really get a fore-warning of what’s about to come.

Possible escape: Shouting “I give!” and tapping the mat or your opponent’s back is a pretty good way to escape this hold. Seriously though, once it’s locked in properly, there isn’t really a whole lot one can do to escape but to submit. Try to prevent your opponent from locking it on.