Cannons

Tito Santos vs Austin Cooper, Mr. Biceps Bangs? - King of the Ring Semifinal 1 (88Wrestling)

An arrogant veteran (Coop) takes on a cocky newcomer (Santos, alias "Mr. Biceps"), the latter earning his place in the semifinals by beating Evan Hanson in a preliminary contest. Austin, by contrast, steps into the semifinals purely on the weight of his reputation, a distinguished career on several fronts of the underground wrestling scene. He's 35 pounds heavier than his opponent - he is, as he's always been, "my kind of man" - strong, thickly built, cheerfully confident, the classic dude everybody loves to hate, but I get crushes on.

Tito was only slightly outweighed in his first match, and he seems entirely at ease taking on the even bigger, more experienced Cooper. "I'm going to rip through Austin," he brazenly announces during an introductory posing session, popping the very muscles that won him his epithet. "Austin's going down. He has no chance against me." As for Austin, he claims that the belt ought to be handed to him on the strength of his past laurels alone "because it looks beautiful around this waist." He's practically begging for boos and hisses, whereas Tito has the can-do pluck most fans admire.

It's as close a fight as I could hope for, with each man winning a round, setting up an intense Round 3 with the advantage shifting from one to the other, Tito launching a savage offense countered by Austin's strongman show of pure, manly force. If nothing else, Tito makes Austin break a sweat, and for that he has my thanks. Nowadays Austin has the hefty slab-of-meat build that turns me on. The last screen shot above horns me up in part because Santos is murdering Coop but mostly because of Austin's bulges above and below the middle rope, to say nothing of his generous but rock-hard ass.

The match promises great things to come at 88. Tito comes on strong, and like most fans I like that in a young new wrestler, and for at least as long as Austin is allowed to swagger around its squared circle, 88Wrestling has a fan in me.

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