Big Brother

Eli Black calls dibs on breaking in young, wide-eyed Vincent Stone. Eli says he trained the kid, introduced him to UCW, and been "like a big brother to him." Vincent is ferret-slim, the sort of victim Eli likes to torment most (like Jack Marino, Johnny Deep, and Jax before him). Vincent seems happy enough to oblige: When Black tells him he's about to get his ass kicked, Vincent grins back and says he's looking forward to it.

And so am I. But I have to wait since Vincent starts off like gangbusters against the ex-champ, giving big brother something to get steamed up over, and God knows I enjoy a steamed-up Eli Black. About three-quarters through this match [#375], Vincent pulls a foreign object out of his trunks to gain an unsporting advantage over Black--proof positive in my book that Eli did in fact train him.

Black is the man of a thousand holds, a third of them strictly forbidden by any wrestling rulebook. But he has more moves than just about anybody else at UCW. Midway through this match, while keeping Vincent hogtied so he can chat up the fans, Eli invites us to drop him a line via UCW fanmail and request moves we haven't seen at UCW in a while. (I'd be interested in a cannonball senton.)  BodySlam says you either love Eli or hate him, but I can't do one without doing the other too, just a reaction the guy draws out of some people, I reckon. 

Eli has charisma out the wazoo. He shines on camera. He's one of those wrestlers who make me smile every second the camera is on them. For one thing Eli is always "on." There's not a moment in any Eli Black match that he's not in the moment. Sometimes you see other wrestlers work up a response or emotion two or three seconds too late. You won't catch Eli Black not emoting. He emotes every second of a match, projecting rage, pain, confusion, arrogance, you name it, and never a half-second out of sync with the action. The guy's a natural, and I gotta love him ... and (mostly) hate him.