Tiger in the Ring

Chuck "Flying Tiger" Collins vs John St. James, Arena 21 (BG Enterprise)

I first saw Tiger Collins in action in a somewhat later match for BG East, taking on Bass Wallace in a motel. At the time my eyes rested mostly on Bass, whose sultry sadism still hypnotizes me. Collins caught my attention, too, with a bolder, more direct roughhouse style, and I have to say it's that style that mainly pulls me now. It's a rarety, but you find it in underground wrestling to this day - in the likes of Wolf Boy, El Fuego, Spencer Hawkins, Corey "Badger Boy" Turner, and others. The hairy-chested lightweight latches on and thrashes his opponent from side to side, as if attempting to shatter the spine.

This early late twentieth-century (1993?) arena fight is big fun, with Collins taking on John St. James, who, despite his pretty-boy looks, knows how to fight fire with fire. The bout goes for three falls, the last being a whirlwind of reversals and savage (evidently meant-to-maim) attacks from which a winner rises triumphant only in the final minute. John's tan smoothness stands in contrast to Tiger's hairy chest, but the two are close in height and weight, with Collins holding a one-inch, ten-pound advantage - and I believe the chest hair is in Collins's favor, too. It's a good match, one of two Collins has in Arena 21.

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