Wayne DeWayne Does Not Need Luck
But Wayne DeWayne may need a new set of teeth after "Superstar" Andrew Ryan kicks him in the kisser at the sudden climax of this New Revolution Wrestling match from late summer, 2011. There's something definitely compelling about this scenario: a boyish and rugged regular guy going toe to toe with an egomaniacal muscle god who cuts corners to win. But the way it plays out is what jingles my small hairs, as the meaty giant dominates until, with a deft, sudden, and dramatically satisfying reversal, Ryan cleans the big guy's clock. I bet Wayne was spitting out crepe rubber for a week after this fight.
What's really interesting about this match is the stark contrast between illusion and the substance that went into creating it. On the surface, it's a match about an arrogant "plastic" muscle man who gets his well deserved comeuppance from a "regular" guy, thus proving once again the value of substance over mere style. But in reality pro wrestling is a work, so both participants actually agreed a priori to create that illusion.
ReplyDeleteConsidering that one guy is clearly bigger, more powerful and fitter and there isn't a standard pro trope working to provide a counter in the smaller guy's favor (for example, if he was vastly more experienced or working some blatant supernatural gimmick a la Papa Shango), if either guy is more arrogant in reality, it's probably the smaller guy who presumed that a match where he takes everything the big guy throws at him, overcomes it and not merely beats him with some surprising roll up, but literally knocks him the fuck out was perfectly reasonable. But in actuality I suspect both workers are just guys trying to give their audience what they want (no single fantasy is more appealing to the generic heterosexual male than one wherein the wrestler he identifies with humbles his superficially "superior" opponent--it lets them pretend the girl they like would choose them over the quarterback of the football team) in the hopes that doing so will take them one step closer to their dreams of being multimillionaire WWE athletes.
That's the power of pro wrestling: it takes what we as viewers "know" about the wrestlers--their physical presence, look, gear, gimmick, history, experience (even skin color, hair texture and national origin)--and combines it with what the wrestlers can and are willing to (and are told to) do to create a experience that transcends all of its underpinnings. Sometimes the big, pumped up prettyboy is a dick, who then either rubs his triumphs in a jeering audience's face or pays the price for his hubris and tastes his well-deserved rebuke. Sometimes he's a nice guy who smiles and shakes hands and falls prey to his own trusting naivete at the hands of a sneering heel. And sometimes the innocent seeming "regular" guy is an asshole who fights dirty and feels entitled to whatever shortcut it takes and is a terror behind the scenes manipulating his relationship with the bookers and promoters to push his own agenda. And a million other permutations. The end product then hopefully finds enough of an audience composed of people who have their own biases and preferences and tastes that the workers can do it again in another way.
That's why to this day I still feel a particular respect for any wrestler, on any circuit, be it the straight indy scene or the "underground" gay one who agrees to play the ass end of an ass kicking in this sometimes delightfully ridiculous spectacle (Oh, how I loathe the word "underground." It's not underground: it's above ground, not something beneath that other stuff). Anybody can play the victor and generate a following, even if he's not necessarily the most dazzling technician. Hell, of the wrestlers who've tried to create their own websites, 100 percent have been guys who play the dominant role (Morgan Cruise, Frank the Tank, Con Demetriou, Aryx Quinn), and more power to 'em. But it takes real presence to be memorable on the other side and real depth of character to portray it with conviction, especially since the result of doing it successfully is that a lot of people who see it will project a ton of shortcomings onto him that are probably anathema to the things he values in himself. None of those guys gets credit.
I LOVE the ass end of an ass kicking!
ReplyDeleteI was gonna say something like "hot match," but Josh's insightful comment made it feel somehow...inadequate.
Aw, what the hell.
Hot match!