Oomph

Josh vs Scissorboy Alex (Fightroom)

Fightroom's tenth and latest video for download pits hottie Josh against Scissorboy Alex. I crushed on Josh over three years ago, when he first appeared (under a different name--alliterative, of course) at BG East. His matches at Fightroom and Nicky's World and Web solidified my respect. Alex impressed me bigtime in his two earlier matches at Fightroom, the new site I wrote about last month that offers muscular and aggressive UK wrestlers the chance to test their submission wrestling skills, served up straight except for some added gut-punching to fire up the fighters and bone up the fans.

Give and take characterizes most of the match. Alex's strength is, of course, scissorholds, usually in combination with full nelsons (see the first screen grab above). Josh is expert in finding an opponent's weaknesses and keeping them in the crosshairs. He seems to like chinlocks and arm bars, especially. Detail work like bending elbows backwards (see the ninth screen grab) is, for me, an attention grabber. It's a key to my heart, actually. Josh is almost all muscle and harder stuff like bone; however, any worries that he might be too much brute for Alex to handle are soon put to rest.

Most straight-up submission matches lack drama. I have no problem with unstructured aggression, but I still require passion. Josh and Alex commit to the fight with as much emotion as muscle and technique. There's no "faking" in these athletes' grimaces and moans. They suffer genuine grueling punishment at each other's hands for the full 35 minutes. Gut punching adds intensity to a good hold held seemingly for minutes, as does detail work worthy of a dungeon master. Wrestling is so much better when it's delivered with more raw force than theatricality. Both wrestlers shine, taking and giving. In the end the better man wins, points his finger to the camera, and promises, "I'll be back." Fightroom can't bring back either of these studs fast enough.