Bruce!

Bruce Ballard smiles a lot, and for once you won't hear me complain about it. It's a devastating smile on a handsome, boy-next-door* face, presiding over a buff, smooth body that makes me break into sweats. Bob at Rock Hard Wrestling predicts the company's new find will be a gigantic hit with the fans, and I predict that Bob is right on the money. Not for nothing has RHW gained the reputation for introducing the best looking wrestlers in the underground scene**.

Bob characterizes the debut as a Greek god versus backyard brawler fight. Bruce, 5'9", 190#, is the Greek god. Tyson Matthews, 5'11", 175#, in his second match at RHW, is the brawler. Tyson's easy on the eyes too, but Bruce is (to cite the movie Neighbors) "like something a gay guy designed in a laboratory!" And if the intent was to cow the pretty recruit with a tough first challenger like Tyson, nobody told Bruce he should be scared.

Bruce wrestles. And he's as tough as the man facing him across the ring. And he talks smack fluently, almost immediately deriding Tyson for hitting "like a bitch." This is no two-round double-squash-job for the rookie. He and Tyson take a full three rounds to finish their business. They work each other close to the mat, along with showy slams and carries. If Bruce can be faulted for sometimes underselling Tyson's moves at the outset, he more than compensates for this flaw as the fight proceeds. 

God damn if Rock Hard hasn't gone and done it again! Bruce Ballard is a baby-faced hunk and a devilish scrapper in one sturdily built package. I'm impressed, and I'm hoping RHW won't keep me waiting long before it brings Bruce back--against Austin Cooper or Josh Steel would be nice--or a rematch against Tyson Matthews, to wash the taste of grudge out of both wrestlers' mouths.

* "Next door," I wish.  It would be enough to run into this guy on vacation.

** Austin Cooper, Jake Jenkins, Josh Steel, Alex Waters, I could go on.