Think You Can Handle That?

I  ease into Rock Hard Wrestling's latest release like it's a pair of fuzzy slippers. This I can get into! Sandy-haired lifeguard versus former Playgirl model. Both wrestlers of similar proportions, though markedly different in size and weight. Each eager to make the other guy wince. Both gifted in selling holds. Strong give and take the whole way, even though Zack Johnathan, 5'10", 165#, commands Chad Daniels, 6'2", 195#, three-quarters of the time. All that's missing for me is the sweat. Zack and Chad pounce, bounce, and trounce for 21 minutes without even a drop of perspiration. Still, every other aspect rocks so hard I can't seriously complain.

Chad zooms onto my radar with a lively and aggressive debut. Somehow some readers of this blog are persuaded that I don't like hot, young wrestlers. Oh no no no no! Perhaps I tend to be disappointed in wrestlers who in my opinion don't put their backs, hearts, and nuts full-tilt into the fight, regardless of photogenicity. Similarly I find it hard to swallow that a bantamweight, however cute, can effortlessly squeeze submission after submission out of a heavyweight. And generally I don't like one-sided matches or unprovoked beatdowns ... with occasional exceptions, of course. Here, though, neither Zack nor Chad disappoint.

"I'll give you a Zack-attack," sneers Johnathan as he approaches the company's strong new hotshot. "Think you can handle that?" Daniels comes right back at him: "I don't think you're ready for the Chad, Zack!" No new-guy shyness anywhere to be seen. "So you're THE Chad," Zack asks skeptically. "There's only one, baby," Chad replies, as the wrestlers circle in on each other. 

It's rare to find a rookie with this much confidence, who then backs it up on the mat and against the ropes. He not only sells Zack's lightning assaults like a pro but puts the male model through the wringer too. Tall and powerful, Daniels is one to watch for. His bearing and arrogance are matched with honey-colored tan and beach-blond hair: I can almost feel a gulf breeze from 700 miles away. 

Terrific looking wrestlers, unforgiving rough-and-tumble mayhem, it's heaven.