Buck Stops Here

The last time I featured Krush prominently on this blog, a perceptive reader noted that one drawback to the wrestler's many matches on the eponymous Krushco is that he "INEVITABLY crushes his opponent," hence the name, perhaps. Unpredictability enhances the drama and interest factor of pro and underground wrestling--or any fight, for that matter. I myself have often complained about pro matches whose outcomes are obvious from the outset, often as soon as the names of the competitors are announced. Unlike many others, I'm no fan of wrestlers who job exclusively.

I do feel, however, that exceptions exist, especially when the competition is not staged for the squared circle but rather features a strong grappler who seldom meets an opponent to match his excellent mat skills. I'm thinking of wrestlers like Bass Wallace, Mark Lander, Big Sexy, Randy Page, and, of course, Krush, whose matches are consistently one-sided, but for a reason. They out-wrestle all (or the overwhelming majority) of the competition. 

As another reader said in response to the same post, "This [Krush's high win count] is hardly surprising since he is a real submission grappler with actual wrestling skills." As Krush himself pointed out, though, he does "not always" win, noting recent matches against ZACK and Russ. Still, the truth is that Krush overpowers and crushes (without mercy) the vast majority of men courageous enough to step on a mat against him. The question then is how big of a fight do these men put up before they inevitably bite the dust.

Even jobbers need to do something--it's called a job for a reason. I have frequently complained, too, about antagonists in these one-sided matches--the lambs being fed to the lions, so to speak--who put up no resistance whatsoever. Those who roll over and play dead, for instance, or those who, understandably from my perspective (having a pronounced masochistic streak, too), get so far into the thrill of being so ravishingly mastered that they forget to wrestle at all--or sometimes even to emote. Earlier this week I described (rather rapturously) Big Sexy's sweat-drenched decimation of the Arena's new face Iggy, a man only slightly more than half Sexy's weight, and commended Iggy for his indefatigable fighting spirit and adamant refusal to be intimidated. Just yesterday I praised Derrick James, whose perhaps small yet invaluable contribution to his contest against Bass Wallace was to audibly and very feelingly moan and whimper in agony as Bass squeezed submission after submission out of him.

In Krushco's latest release, Texan and Texas-sized Buck gives Krush a terrific nine-minute fight. The man is big, perhaps not quite as big as Krush, but he's got thick, solid thighs and upper arms and a jutting gut that pretty strongly demands punching or caroming against--not to forget the prominent longhorn testing the crotch of his gold metallic trunks. The fight is a rematch (the two battled last year), so the two wrestlers obviously have a score to settle. Buck has not only submission grappling skills himself, but also a red-hot temper. At one point he gets so visibly pissed and overly rambunctious that Krush has to put him in a choke to cool the hothead off. More than once Buck immobilizes Krush, taunting the big baldy for getting himself "stuck" under the Texan's massive weight. If you're looking for pretty boys and fitness trainers, there are plenty of online wrestling sites to find them--I know because I go there, too--but if the sight of two mountainous grown men bumping and tangling tickles you down there, as it does me, this is an authentic, slow-boiling wrassle.