Crazy vs Mean

Joey Silvia vs Xsiris, Event #131 (CWF Mid-Atlantic Wrestling)

Last week CWFMidAtlantic posted this 10-year-old show, releasing a flood of memories of my old fondness for locally televised matches (when I could find them--I never figured out their broadcast schedule). Around the 19-minute mark there's this tough little grudge match between two of my favorite wrestlers of the period. Within a pound or two of each other in weight, they strongly contrast in build, Silvia at 5'8", Xsiris at 6'2". Xsiris is the more striking in appearance (brooding, looming, menacing), Silvia the more dazzling in performance (volatile, overconfident, broadly emotive).

This is one of many ring confrontations between these two, often in singles competition. They also faced each other as members of opposite tag teams (Xsiris with Ric Converse and Brad Attitude in The Dynasty; Silvia with Steve Greene and Trent Wylde in The New Dynasty). They were both heels, Xsiris as a surly bully and Silvia as a strutting madman.  Joey had once been a well-beloved babyface, who turned heads as he approached the ring generously lubed with baby oil. Then something cracked, and he became a Joker-like heel, minus the clown makeup, but happily still shiny.