Boston crab

The Boston crab is a professional wrestling hold that typically starts with the opponent laying back-first on the mat, with the wrestler standing and facing them. It is a type of spinal lock where the wrestler hooks each of the opponent’s legs in one of his arms, and then turns the opponent face-down, stepping over him in the process. The final position has the wrestler in a semi-sitting position and facing away from his opponent, with the opponent’s back and legs bent back toward his face. This often sees the attacking wrestler perform double leg takedown while remaining upright with the opponent's legs hook so they can be turned into the Boston crab.

In modern wrestling, the Boston crab isn't treated as a lethal submission maneuver, even though it was considered a finishing hold in the past, used by such wrestlers as Rick "The Model" Martel in the WWF and Nobuhiko Takada in the original Japanese UWF.

Jericho's original version while in WCW (known then as the Liontamer) involved placing his knee in the small of his opponent’s back, thus further wrenching the neck and delivering more pain. Jericho would later altered the move not long after arriving to WWF/E, however, and now the move is nothing more than a higher version of the Boston Crab.

Variations

Cross-legged Boston crab

This variation of a normal Boston crab sees the attacking wrestler get a hold of both of the opponent's feet, then crossing both legs over before tucking both legs under its opposite armpit (i.e. left leg under wrestler’s right armpit). After completing this, the attacking wrestler turns the opponent face-down, stepping over him/her in the process to secure the hold.

Inverted Boston crab

Identical to a Boston crab, but with the wrestler facing in the same direction as the opponent. The wrestler squats over the opponent with the opponent’s legs pinioned under their arms.

Single leg Boston crab

Also known as a Half Boston Crab or Half Crab, a move that typically starts with the opponent on his back, and the attacking wrestler standing and facing them. The attack wrestler hooks one of the opponent's legs in one of his/her arms, and then turns the opponent face-down, stepping over him in the process. The final position has the wrestler is in a semi-sitting position and facing away from his/her opponent, with the opponent's back and leg bent back toward his/her face, sometimes the attacking wrestler will place their leg so that his/her knee digs into the back of the opponent.

Lance Storm's Canadian Maple Leaf is a variation of this in which he performs a back somersault roll on the mat, catching a running opponent into a single leg crab.

Single leg Boston crab with armlock

The attacking wrestler approaches a supine opponent and seizes one of their arms before walking around the opponent's head to their other side, thus forcing the opponent to roll onto their stomach. The wrestler then kneels on the back of the opponent, clinching the opponent's arm behind their knee, and applies a single leg Boston crab.

Rope hung Boston crab

This move involves a wrestler hooking each of an opponent's legs in one of his/her arms, and draping the opponent over the top rope, at this point the wrestler would hook the arms of the opponent with his/her legs securing the hold.

As this move involves the use of the ropes the wrestler utilizing it must break before the referee uses up a five-count.

The Tarantula variation of this move (mainly used by Yoshihiro Tajiri) involves the wrestler hooking an opponent's arms around the top rope and legs around the bottom rope, so the move is performed upside down. It is rare to gain a submission with the Tarantula, since it is technically illegal and must be broken on a count of five.