Matón

Ares vs Steve Mason (Hunkswrestling)

I like the new hunk's look. He has the pouty glower of a bad kid in an old Karate Kid movie. In earlier Hollywood films he would have had a name like Butch. The name Ares suits him--god of war and coincidentally my astrological sign. He's a roughneck (it's plain to see in his sneer), exactly the kind of competition Steve Mason craves.

Steve, in Japanese print tights,. and Ares, in dark jungle green, have similar builds, though Ares appears to be taller. Ares is ultra-cocky, and Steve sets out to cut the newcomer down to size. It's a tougher task than Steve could have ever imagined. Ares not only has muscle power, but a mean streak. He likes to fight. More to the point, he likes to hurt people, and he means to destroy Mason.

Hunkswrestling provides English subtitles so monolingual wretches like me can follow the exchange of cockalorum and threats. Steve has completed his warmup routine when Ares enters. "Who are you?" Ares asks, and without waitng for a reply, he kicks Steve in the gut. Steve falls to his knees, and Ares matter-of-factly announces the obvious, that he's here looking for a fight: "I come to beat you all." (Oh, the ways I could read such a challenge!)

Steve regains his footing just in time for Ares to tackle him and squat on his hips, delivering a string of gut punches. Ares resumes the punching when he gets Steve in an armbar hold. Steve breaks loose, and both men are standing. Ares complains that Steve is not as strong as he had hoped he'd be. Steve replies, "I was just warming up but ... you are screwed!"

The fight is on. The focus is on fairly standard workaday holds and attacks--leg bars, side headlocks, gut punches, schoolboy pins, crab holds, chokes, and the like. All are delivered with the intensity of a parking-lot brawl. Ares has a chip on his shoulder that would tempt even grandmothers to try to knock it off. Having not seen all of Hunkswrestling's matches, I will be so bold as to say he is the company's first real heel. His is a face that begs for punching - but few have the cojones to try.

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