To begin with, the nutshot is not really a nutshot. It’s a hold designed to achieve the same visual effect (and for that reason crowds are nuts about it), but it has nothing to do with the crotch of the victim. The nutshot targets the area on the back of the thigh of the victim, where the biceps femoris connects to the buttock, and despite it not being a crotch attack, it’s by no means a walk in the park. This women’s wrestling move begins with the attacker putting the victim onto her back on the mat/ring floor (she can achieve that any way she wants to: through a bodyslam, a clothesline or through a double leg pickup – it’s all the same). The attacker then grabs hold of her opponent’s feet and pulls them up, holding the victim’s legs straight up and apart in a V, exposing her crotch area. She then proceeds to stomp-kick the above mentioned area, causing quite a bit of pain. The attacker can also choose to drive her knee into the target area instead of kicking it.

The move is a great way to weaken the victim’s thigh, in order to take away her legs and to set her up for a possible submission hold.

Efficency: the nutshot is mostly used for its theatrical value: it looks positively vicious. The victim will often flail her arms and beg the attacker not to go through with the move as she is vulnerably exposed. As far as its actual efficiency goes, it’s not really a whooper.

Possible escape: not letting the attacker position her for the hold is just about the only thing the victim can do. Because the attacker’s boot tends to stick to bare skin, and thus to pull on it painfully when she nutshots her victim, it’s a good idea for the victim to wear pantyhose (preferably of the shiny-slippery kind). Then again, it can be just as annoying to have a run put in your favorite pantyhose…