Top Dog
Jake Jenkins vs Brad Barnes, Catch-Weight 7 (BG East)
Jenks bounds into the ring, barefoot and clad in gold, full of bounce, ready to go to work on Brad. He immediately takes note of Brad's superior strength but remains undaunted. Brad gives him a taste of his muscle with a quick series of strong body slams and a kneeling spine-buster. Precipitously he starts posing and ill-advisedly calls the prone and writhing Jake "bitch." He follows up with a torturous reverse bear hug to which Jake submits, but there is no way Jenkins is going to let the fight stop here.
Five minutes into an already grueling battle, Jake slips behind Brad with quicksilver nimbleness and pushes him facedown to the mat. Immediately he pulls him back to his feet in a tight chinlock. Brad escapes by slamming Jake's back to the turnbuckle, but Jake straightaway climbs up his back and rides the guy, choking off his air supply, weakening him to even the playing field. The rest of this 26-minute stunner belongs to Jake, glorying in his speed and wiry muscle, his sweat, his insatiable appetite for hurting his adversaries, exuberantly mastering Brad's iron muscle on the mat and against the ropes.
Jake is everything: looks, mat and ring savvy, toughness, quiet but confident attitude, and adaptability to both babyface and heel roles. No wonder he's one of my top five favorite wrestlers ... anywhere ... ever. He has performance and legit grappling skills, keen enough to take on a challenger 33% heavier and solid as a truck. He's the closest to Kevin Von Erich underground wrestling gets, and in most respects Jake is even better than Kevin. He's everywhere (Rock Hard, BGE, Thunder's Arena) and still I can't get enough of the guy--he should fight at UCW, Can-Am, and Movimus, too. Hell, I'd pay good money to watch him twist the PWP hotties in knots. He's perhaps the most adaptable and consistent wrestler in all underground wrestling, yet he keeps a relatively low profile, often specializing in making other wrestlers look good.
If you miss this match, you might as well be saying you never want to get hard again.
I recently checked out the latest stuff from BGE. This post looks more interesting then the match does there. I've liked Jenkins since RHW days. He looks fitter than ever.
ReplyDeleteBut Barnes is undervalued and I find it rather annoying that those last 26 minutes are basically a squash. Who won this match doesn't reall matter to me, in this case, but the how does. I'd've preferred more of a back-and-forth slog fest.
Jake Jenkins is one aggressive wrestler - tough for his size. He'd be a damn good wrestling or fight opponent in the ring.
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