Buck Naked

Erik the Viking vs Angel Estrada, Match 576 - Strip Match (UCW)

Bodyslam forces new champ Angel Estrada to defend the title in a rip and strip match against Erik the Viking. I'd be delighted to see the Viking as UCW champion, but Angel certainly deserves something for being the best cowardly heel the company has seen - probably the best in all underground wrestling. I love cowardly heels - who flee the truly challenging challengers, cower from legit mano-a-mano fights, and resort to low blows and outside interference for their wins. Angel has creds on all counts. More particularly, I live for those matches when cowardly heels get their asses handed to them.

I'm happy to say that UCW is not just teasing about the rip and strip factor. We see ass - two asses - and schlong too - two schlongs. Both wrestlers get stripped to their birthday suits in a close-call finisher, and nothing is left to the imagination. Angel has been teasing us with his genitals for months - incurring the wrath of Facebook in a notorious selfie dressed only in a single dangling gym sock. UCW wrestlers have often teased us with their exhibitionism, but this is the first time (I think) for double-stacked full-on nekkidness. (Size queens, your patience has not been in vain.)

Erik is a big challenge. The man has weight and muscle over the champion. At the start, the champ tries repeatedly to take the man down, but the Viking will not budge. Ultimately, only a low blow will do the trick - and frankly I'm surprised it takes Angel so long to go for the nuts. The unevenness of the match-up reappears later in the contest. About a third of the way through, Erik rips the T-shirt off Angel as if it were made of wet rice paper. Minutes later, Angel attempts to reciprocate. Ultimately, the embarrassed champ is forced to remove the shirt conventionally, tugging it over Erik's shoulders and head. Angel then attempts to shred it, for dramatic effect, but his scrawny arms are not up to the task.

Two tricks seem to work for Angel against the Nordic warrior. Ball-grabbing and eye-gouging. These nasty tactics give him some measure of control over the challenger, and they also wear the Viking down physically and psychologically. The only trouble is two can play that game, and Erik isn't even remotely averse to the idea of wringing Angel's hairy balls and plucking the champ's eyes out of their sockets if that's what it takes to gain the UCW belt.

Watching a UCW brawl is almost always a satisfying experience for me. Most of the credit goes to the risk-all determination of its fighters. They're always pushing boundaries, these guys, always willing to experiment, even if it might mean failure. Much credit goes also to the camerawork that pulls me so deeply into the action that I feel I am part of it. The definition is sharper than ever. And it's all there - no blocked views, every quiver of muscle and twinkle of sweat observable in detail. 

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