Star Struck
The odds favor Jake: his hard, compact build and innate aggressiveness should help him mow over Nick. Jake barks orders at his victim, taunting him over the easiness of the latter's girlfriend and commanding him to collaborate in his own humiliation. Jake especially favors smashing into the tall rookie from the ring ropes and slamming his body to the mat. I especially liked seeing Jake apply the armbar, which he works furiously, before transitioning to an over-the-knee backbreaker that gains him a fall by submission at the end of Round 1. Nick rebounds in Round 2 with surprising vigor and toughness. Jake barely gets a chance to get back on his knees, much less regain his footing. The setup could easily have led to a sweet "this-time-it's-personal" finish, and Nick does indeed show off previously unseen skills in executing dramatic moves, but often undercut, regrettably, by blah, anticlimactic barbs like "When I drop you, it's going to hurt." He does, however, even the score at the end of the round with a nicely executed (and executing) camel clutch.
By Round 3, Jake has worked himself up to the lathery kind of radiance that fit young guys like him often achieve two-thirds into a strenuous workout. Unfortunately for Nick, but luckily for me, looking good only brings out the brute in Jake. Jake goes after Nick with exceptional force and manages to look exceedingly fuckable the whole time. Still, Nick does not go down easy. We even get to see a little of the guy's inner tiger as he yanks at Jenk's hair and stomps his abs, and soon it looks like this fight could go either way in the end.
Giving or receiving, Jake does 70 percent of the work in this match (no disrespect to Nick, who's shaping up just fine, thank you). Jake is so much more the performer than he was just a year ago, putting so much heart in the match, when, in fact, a lot of fans would be happy just to get some closeups of that killer torso of his. And, yeah, I'd want this video even if all it was is Jake shirtless brushing his teeth, but his way with wrestling moves sweetens the pot immeasurably, and his ability to charge up his emotions, on top of his looks and skills, is what makes him a star.
I held off reading this, because I bought this match, but hadn't watched it. Now that I have watched it and read your post, you're right about Jake, he's awesome. I thought Collins was great on some holds, but also sloppy on some holds. Overall, this was a winner for me because of Jake's skill and charisma. He's one of those guys who's great winning and losing.
ReplyDeleteBTW, thanks to you and Bard, I have bought three of his matches from BGE and three from RHW. I think you guys deserve credit for driving business for these guys.
Thanks, Alex.
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