The Ass-Kicker's Apprentice

Krush vs John Henry, Episodes 1 & 2 (Krushco)

Uncharacteristically, Krushco offers some backstory to its most recent pair of releases, showcasing newcomer John Henry:

John Henry has been training in submission wrestling under Krush's guidance for over a year. Recently their matches have gone from friendly and instructional to hostile and combative.

This is the raw, aggressive side of Krush that won him most of his fans, including me. Henry, despite his relative inexperience, gives it right back in a pair of A-level fights, which I hope are the beginning of a long and ugly feud. Indeed, Krush tells me that these are just the first in a planned ongoing series. These matches are rawer than Kruschco's recent fun but gimmicky hot tub fights, and they are shot in a murky documentary style. Krush tells me that a friend convinced him to let the public see what were not initially intended for public view. They lack the high production values of some of the company's other releases--Krush readily admits as much--but the videography matches the overall grim and unrehearsed tone of the sweat-soaked conflict, where fighters act on their worst impulses--and pay for it.

At this point in his career, Krush has pretty much seen and done it all, yet he confesses the sadism of these impromptu battles excites him. Henry is the kind of hairy-chested troublemaker that's the perfect trigger for the sensei's short fuse. The matches illustrate the intersect between libido and id. Hot stuff, all right, with the intensity of the better brawls with Lucien.