What For
Jay Bradley vs Robert Anthony, Taken by Force, 15 June 2012 (Resistance Pro Wrestling)
Robert Anthony has the this-guy-I-know-at-work kind of handsomeness that used to be more common in professional wrestling and never fails to grab me. He looks like he goes to a regular four-chair barber shop and has never stepped foot in a tanning booth. The more I look at him, the more I imagine a whiff of Old Spice in the air. He could be a military man or a firefighter or a high-school coach - typical flavors of man-on-man sex fantasy for some of us. Jay Bradley can't wait to manhandle him, shoving the ref out of the way to get a clean shot at him, and while I can't blame Jay for that, I'm happy RA gives him what for for his impudence. By the way, Robert Anthony is also the kind of wrestler that stirs up idiomatic gems like what for from the mid-twentieth century.
Bradley lays into Anthony pretty hard, but Anthony has a knack for landing on his feet and charging back, all pistons firing. Robert is handy at keeping the action on track and driving Bradley back into the ring when the action first drifts away from the legal parameters of combat. Jay Bradley is something to see, too - half Gary Lockwood in 2001 and half caveman. Anthony hits a big snag, though, when, a little after the six-minute mark, Bradley floats him over the top rope and smack into a balcony. Into a balcony, let that sink in - or just check the seventh GIF above. Robert holds up his end of the ensuing slug-fest a little less each passing minute. Eight minutes later, he begins again to even up with Jay as the two charge at breakneck speed toward the climax, which finds both men swaying in near exhaustion on their feet, exchanging merciless blows till one of them leapfrogs right into a knockout clothesline.
Blogging would not be half the fun it is for me without guys like Jim from Tennessee recommending roughhouse pearls like this one. Like me, Jim has a taste for fighters who "wear each other down to near immobility." Thank you, Jim.
Visit the Jay Bradley channel on YouTube here.
Nice write-up, as always. Jay Bradley was such an excellent Heel, I even called him "My Favorite Heel" at the time he wrestled this match with Anthony but haven't seen him in the ring for years so I'm not sure he's still active. I wrote up this same match on the Wrestling Arsenal blog at http://www.wrestlingarsenal.net/wordpress/?p=11249 and used Bradley's Heel tactics to illustrate what makes a great wrestling Heel. You captured his Body-Slamming Anthony into the balcony perfectly in your animation -- I almost want to steal your GIF and add it to my old article to make it complete.
ReplyDeletegahcha: Since Wrestling Arsenal was/is one of the primary inspirations for this blog (minus your vast and precise knowledge of wrestling techniques), you are welcome to any or all of the GIFs you'd like for the blog. I claim no authorship of GIFs made out of other people's work, anyway. Bradley is amazing in this match. I'm happy you spoke up!
DeleteI remember watching this match a few years ago and even bought the DVD.
DeleteI was impressed with both men at the time, particularly Bradley. He is sadly another promising talent that faded away.
(The Gary Lockwood comparison is spot on too! Both are sexy men.)