Asking for It

Nero Angelo vs Lobo Gris, Match 739 (UCW)

New guy Lobo Gris has to run a gauntlet, and that gauntlet is the destructively affectionate Nero Angelo. Often it seems that Nero cares less about winning a match than copping a feel. With young, handsome Lobo in the ring, the compulsion is understandable if not quite right in the head. Lobo must pay for his booming popularity in some way, and I suppose this is it. The question is whether the new guy can fend off the obnoxious heel and score a victory. His previous two UCW matches have been tough on the newcomer, close calls, the both of them. Here, though, he faces an overwhelming tsunami of invasive and humiliating assaults - Angelo's claim to fame.

Happily Nero Angelo has tapped down  the eye-rolling Benny-Hill-style lip-smacking, which had its fans. I still sense a rapey vibe in there, though I'm not sure it's intentional - or if it is intentional, what the point of it is. I'm not saying the wrestler playing Nero Angelo is identical to his heel persona. Hopefully, there's no comparison. Bela Lugosi was not a vampire off-camera, or so I've been told. And I'm not saying this is rape, but it is a kind of prying performance that gives me icks. Of course, UCW's house style has always encouraged going "too far"; the company's charm rests on a constant flow of I-can't-believe-they-did-that shocks.

As for Lobo, I like what I have seen so far. He has potential for being a serious wrestler - somebody who can play heel as well as babyface. My ideal would be that he becomes a babyface, but a tough and relentless one. He is also very good looking - seemingly a nice guy, though a fierce opponent on the mat. The kid can defend himself. He exudes magnetism and charm. He sells his discomfort with Nero's assaults so convincingly that I begin to feel it, too. That right there's part of my problem, I suppose.

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