The Man with the Dragon Tattoo

"No hands!" Krush boasts at one point in this fine match from 2011 (recently released for download). His muscular thighs cinch Lucien's neck, paralyzing the longhaired stud. Krush's supreme self-confidence chips away at his opponent's will to win. Lucien squirms like a sunbaked worm. His tormentor hectors him for his weakness and sloppy strategy. "It's fun to watch you wear yourself out," Krush observes a bit later. Lucien flails helplessly, while Krush smugly thrusts his shoulders back, tightening the grip, forcing his blond victim to tap out.

Earlier in the same round, Lucien is the one in charge ... surprisingly, given the difference in the two wrestlers' body mass. His slender body nimbly stretches Krush's bulk and works the neck. Lucien can't stop himself from smirking a little bit over his domination of the big bald brute. He controls the man for almost a minute. But Krush's raw power and grappling knowhow are difficult--not to say "impossible"--to contain. Still it amazes me how well matched these strongly contrasting opponents are--and have been for years.

The handheld camera pulls us into the drama of two strong, capable men in conflict. This is much better than the matches that are recorded on a stationary camera on a tripod. The focus comes and goes, and the shots sometimes lack definition, making us hope that someday soon Krushco will achieve its goal of acquiring some state-of-the-art video equipment. The series of Krush-versus-Lucien contests deserves a clearer, sharper representative for kinksters of the future to enjoy.

Almost anywhere else this would be a cut-and-dry squash job. Krush would be the heel, and hot, finely-hewn Lucien would be the babyface jobber. The drama would mount to a foreseeable climax, neat and beautiful as a ballet or a fairy tale. Because this is real submission wrestling, it does not comply to a dramatic pattern. This battle's structure is dictated by the rules of sport. The 20-minute match goes to six rounds, with breaks to give the combatants a breather and a chance to change out of sweat-sopped gear. It ends in a 4-2 split, so there's a definite winner and loser, but the loser gets his licks in, too.

The pairing of Lucien and Krush is sexy. Lucien looks likes a rock star: vulpine features, slim, sleek, defined muscle, pale skin, at some angles resembling movie heartthrob Michael Fassbender, at others, Kurt Cobain. Then there's the dragon tattoo over his ass: flamboyant, exotic, vibrant, bellicose, chic. His look and edgy attitude complement Krush's unusual mingling of serenity and arrogant brute force. Like Krush, he is an excellent grappler and obviously not one who's easily intimidated by an opponent's size and muscle--this fearlessness, in fact, makes him a "true fighter" in spirit and deed.