The Way of Zane

Jesse Zane vs Luke Maxwell, Catalog 4 - Muscle Boys Bring the Heat (MuscleBoy Wrestling)

I'm going back a couple of catalogs and catching up on some missed Zane. Jesse Zane is one of the Top Three technical mat wrestlers in underground wrestling today* - along with Axel and Eli Black, both of whom have wrestled Jesse on other mats. In his own low-key way, Jesse is a tiger on the mat, and he is one of a smaller handful of wrestlers to effectively mix straight-up wrestling and lustful fondling without sacrificing one for the other. His knowledge of holds and forwardness in seduction all but put him in a class of his own.

His opponent, Luke Maxwell, has appeared so far in six other MuscleBoy matches against some of the company's top stars. Maxwell is bigger and heavier than Zane, not ideal as I see it, but Jesse does not seem concerned, boasting - in that unostentatious way of his - that he is "sort of an expert" in wrestling. Luke is solidly (and hotly) built, more an enticement than a deterrence for Jesse. Jesse takes an early lead with a front neck chancery takedown that turns into a first fall. Typical of Jesse, rather than beat his palm to the mat three times, he coolly says, "You know what, bro? You been pinned."

Luke retaliates effectively, but lacks the mat savvy that makes Jesse a star ... and a top. In addition to his cool moves, Jesse has a mellow and breathy voice - one of those voices that you not only hear in the ear but also feel on the back of the neck and midway down the vertebrae. Also, nobody's face transitions so naturally and eloquently from pain-stricken grimace to ecstatically benumbed O-face. Don't believe me? Watch him from around 21:50 to 22:00, just before Luke, grinding himself on top of our guy, utters the memorable line "Eat that fist."

Admittedly Jesse lacks the flash of some wrestlers in his league. He's a crooner, not a belter, more Marvin Gaye than Michael Jackson. His performance style is perfectly suited to video wrestling, where it's not necessary for a wrestler to play to the cheap seats. His bedroom demeanor is perfect for MuscleBoy's blend of sultry aggression and thuggish seduction.

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*I can't stop myself. Who else do I think is tops in mat technique? Patrick Donovan, Paul Hudson, Jake Jenkins, Justin Pierce, Mike Martin, Kid Karisma, and Jayden Mayne, in no particular order, and I'm not sure if all of these guys still wrestle.