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Will White vs Carter Mason, 5 March 2016 (Barrie Wrestling)

I tried to blog on this match almost a year ago, but I couldn't put my impressions of it into words. I may not do much better today. Often certain visuals in wrestling affect me beyond logic and words, hence the appeal of GIFs, which pinpoint specific movements.

Examined in this way, White vs Mason is extraordinarily sexy. No doubt the meatiness of the opponents and their commitment to the storyline explain 90 percent of the fight's success. The contrast of White's hard muscle with Mason's squishy midriff also contributes to the heat. The speed and sharpness of some of the moves are also factors, evident in almost all the GIFs above.Then there's the dizzying camerawork, zooming in and out, adding the sensation of breathlessness. Sometimes the camera rests on the ring apron, making each body slam appear to shake the building (see the first, fifth, and seventh GIF).

Mason's prostration before White in the third GIF reminds me of the erotism the philosopher Bataille observed in old church paintings of martyrs. The fourth GIF shows White pushing Mason back into the ring, thus retreating from the public to the 20-by-20 confines of the squared circle. I've always found this common gesture in pro wrestling erotic. I don't know why, perhaps because of the nonchalant manhandling. The sixth GIF especially gets my juices flowing because of the taut white trunks, the sculpted torso, the belly and navel receding as White exhales, and the swooning motion of the camera as it loses focus. More than even wrestling expertise, details like these, when isolated and obsessed over, decide whether a match clicks with me or not.


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