Wrestling Videos I Watch Over and Over and Over (Private Bouts 129-132 Edition)
Bass Wallace vs Taz Action, Private Bouts 129-132 (BG East)
Last week I got the DVD of these Private Bouts matches, which I owned on VHS until 15 or so years ago. For me, the draw has always been Bass Wallace, probably my first BG East crush. His are the cardinal qualities I love in a wrestler: sadism, cold-heartedness, and frottage. But there's more to erotic wrestling than just sexy guys wrestling, which I can enjoy even when the wrestling is only so-so. Erotic wrestling means the wrestling itself gets me going even if the wrestlers would not ordinarily catch my eye. Besides his bland good looks, Wallace's smug attitude is a turn-on. He's not a big mouth about it, but he wrestles like he's doing God's work, with a slow steadfastness that makes him the living, breathing personification of doom. Taz Action adds panicky vocals - the echoes of the damned in hell - that grab me by the balls (Bass's preferred targets, which his hands zoom in on like heat-seeking missiles). Topping it all off, so to speak, Bass takes every opportunity to dry-hump his opponent's writhing body. I'm not big on bondage, but at the end when Wallace slips a chain collar around Action's neck - an emblem of bodily possession and control - I just bust.
Kurt Eriksen vs Keith Sullivan, Private Bouts 129-132 (BG East)
Kurt Eriksen is a more sinister and more sharply chiseled version of Bass Wallace. (The two fought each other in Matmen 2.) Kurt's a central-casting version of a Gestapo thug. Keith Sullivan is an Everyman type with a dumpier physique, so the contrast in body types is a factor here. In effect, Eriksen appears to be punishing Sullivan for being hairy and soft. However, this is a grudge match, payback for Sullivan's badmouthing Kurt over an unspecified previous match in which the two apparently were tag partners. Like Taz, Keith is a superb moaner, and together he and Kurt are shiny-slick with sweat by the bout's midpoint. Kurt delivers retribution with an ice-cold heart. A mechanic of pain, he is unflinching and relentless. Though the match is set in a wrestling ring, the two men rarely touch the ropes and turnbuckles. This might as well be a mat match - take note of Keith's singlet, which is soon torn off. Sullivan briefly gets the upper hand three times with full nelsons that show off Eriksen's smooth, reptilian upper body. Kurt's escapes are expert and brutal, as are his subsequent attacks. There's an edge and rawness to this and other early BGE fights that I don't see anymore in underground wrestling. A lot of today's wrestling feels like a sitcom. Eriksen vs Sullivan feels like an execution.
Jeff Kenney vs Andy Bailey, Private Bouts 129-132 (BG East)
Jeff Kenney is skin and bones, but he exemplifies Chuck Palahniuk's line "Skinny guys fight till they're burger." And that makes Jeff a sex god in my book. In this 35-minute death match, he takes on Andy Bailey, smaller but more sturdily built. Unlike the first two matches, this one is give and take from beginning to end. The more exhausted these guys get, the more determined they are to see the battle out. The match begins with the sitcom air I previously associated with underground wrestling in the twenty-first century, but steadily progresses to the sort of struggle I associate with climactic tooth-and-nail fights in old samurai films. The match is a good example of the dramatic possibilities of extreme tests of human endurance. Here's what I consider a defining moment in the match. In the last five minutes, by which point both wrestlers are sweating and panting like marathon runners, Bailey attempts to strip off Kenney's red trunks. Kenney resists like he'd rather die first - literally die. Andy has him in a vise-like headscissors and Jeff is writhing like a snake. Andy spanks Jeff's bare ass but makes no further progress in denuding him. Meanwhile, Jeff claws Andy's metallic trunks down to the ankles while simultaneously gyrating his way loose of the scissors. Once free, Jeff strips off his trunks of his own accord. The two wrestle naked for the final three furious minutes, holding nothing back. Perfection!
Joey Pappaluca vs Tony Pinto, Private Bouts 129-132 (BG East)
In his one and only BGE appearance, Tony Pinto (in white trunks) has a little more belly wobble than usually appears in pro wrestling after, say, 1980. The match starts unremarkably. The two men lock up collar and elbow. Joey Pappaluca (in red) makes a clean break after backing Tony against the ring ropes. I get interested when Joey clenches Tony in a side headlock, still one of my favorite holds - as basic as it is. He follows with a headlock takedown. The headlock lasts for almost three minutes, with Pinto thrashing and clawing the whole time in vain attempts to break free. Joey segues to an armbar, another favorite of mine. Again, the hold persists for a good long time, time enough to feel Tony's pain and frustration. Finally, 12 minutes into the 37-minute bout, Pinto strikes back. The give and take that follows reminds me of old kinescope recordings of pro wrestling in the mid-twentieth century. Young guys won't like it. But the sight of two stoutly built brutes clubbing, tossing, and rolling over each other is dick magic for me. The duration of the holds lets the sense of desperation sink in. I feel the struggle in my body, not just observe it. Most of today's wrestlers don't have the talent for selling a lengthy hold. Pappaluca and Pinto have it. Hairy-chested Tony's thrashing of smooth, chiseled Joey delights me. The itchy, grunting ugliness of it all is oh so physical and dirty - much better than the quippy and aloof posturings of a lot of today's wrestling. Sure, the segues are sloppy. So what? I ask you: when's the last time you saw a bearhug knockout? You heard right. A huffing, puffing, two-minute belly-to-belly bearhug knockout. Damn!
Visit BG East here.
If you're interested in examining the previous 19 postings of Wrestling Videos I Watch Over and Over and Over, click the label for "Wrestling Videos" ... or click here.
Last week I got the DVD of these Private Bouts matches, which I owned on VHS until 15 or so years ago. For me, the draw has always been Bass Wallace, probably my first BG East crush. His are the cardinal qualities I love in a wrestler: sadism, cold-heartedness, and frottage. But there's more to erotic wrestling than just sexy guys wrestling, which I can enjoy even when the wrestling is only so-so. Erotic wrestling means the wrestling itself gets me going even if the wrestlers would not ordinarily catch my eye. Besides his bland good looks, Wallace's smug attitude is a turn-on. He's not a big mouth about it, but he wrestles like he's doing God's work, with a slow steadfastness that makes him the living, breathing personification of doom. Taz Action adds panicky vocals - the echoes of the damned in hell - that grab me by the balls (Bass's preferred targets, which his hands zoom in on like heat-seeking missiles). Topping it all off, so to speak, Bass takes every opportunity to dry-hump his opponent's writhing body. I'm not big on bondage, but at the end when Wallace slips a chain collar around Action's neck - an emblem of bodily possession and control - I just bust.
Kurt Eriksen vs Keith Sullivan, Private Bouts 129-132 (BG East)
Kurt Eriksen is a more sinister and more sharply chiseled version of Bass Wallace. (The two fought each other in Matmen 2.) Kurt's a central-casting version of a Gestapo thug. Keith Sullivan is an Everyman type with a dumpier physique, so the contrast in body types is a factor here. In effect, Eriksen appears to be punishing Sullivan for being hairy and soft. However, this is a grudge match, payback for Sullivan's badmouthing Kurt over an unspecified previous match in which the two apparently were tag partners. Like Taz, Keith is a superb moaner, and together he and Kurt are shiny-slick with sweat by the bout's midpoint. Kurt delivers retribution with an ice-cold heart. A mechanic of pain, he is unflinching and relentless. Though the match is set in a wrestling ring, the two men rarely touch the ropes and turnbuckles. This might as well be a mat match - take note of Keith's singlet, which is soon torn off. Sullivan briefly gets the upper hand three times with full nelsons that show off Eriksen's smooth, reptilian upper body. Kurt's escapes are expert and brutal, as are his subsequent attacks. There's an edge and rawness to this and other early BGE fights that I don't see anymore in underground wrestling. A lot of today's wrestling feels like a sitcom. Eriksen vs Sullivan feels like an execution.
Jeff Kenney is skin and bones, but he exemplifies Chuck Palahniuk's line "Skinny guys fight till they're burger." And that makes Jeff a sex god in my book. In this 35-minute death match, he takes on Andy Bailey, smaller but more sturdily built. Unlike the first two matches, this one is give and take from beginning to end. The more exhausted these guys get, the more determined they are to see the battle out. The match begins with the sitcom air I previously associated with underground wrestling in the twenty-first century, but steadily progresses to the sort of struggle I associate with climactic tooth-and-nail fights in old samurai films. The match is a good example of the dramatic possibilities of extreme tests of human endurance. Here's what I consider a defining moment in the match. In the last five minutes, by which point both wrestlers are sweating and panting like marathon runners, Bailey attempts to strip off Kenney's red trunks. Kenney resists like he'd rather die first - literally die. Andy has him in a vise-like headscissors and Jeff is writhing like a snake. Andy spanks Jeff's bare ass but makes no further progress in denuding him. Meanwhile, Jeff claws Andy's metallic trunks down to the ankles while simultaneously gyrating his way loose of the scissors. Once free, Jeff strips off his trunks of his own accord. The two wrestle naked for the final three furious minutes, holding nothing back. Perfection!
Joey Pappaluca vs Tony Pinto, Private Bouts 129-132 (BG East)
In his one and only BGE appearance, Tony Pinto (in white trunks) has a little more belly wobble than usually appears in pro wrestling after, say, 1980. The match starts unremarkably. The two men lock up collar and elbow. Joey Pappaluca (in red) makes a clean break after backing Tony against the ring ropes. I get interested when Joey clenches Tony in a side headlock, still one of my favorite holds - as basic as it is. He follows with a headlock takedown. The headlock lasts for almost three minutes, with Pinto thrashing and clawing the whole time in vain attempts to break free. Joey segues to an armbar, another favorite of mine. Again, the hold persists for a good long time, time enough to feel Tony's pain and frustration. Finally, 12 minutes into the 37-minute bout, Pinto strikes back. The give and take that follows reminds me of old kinescope recordings of pro wrestling in the mid-twentieth century. Young guys won't like it. But the sight of two stoutly built brutes clubbing, tossing, and rolling over each other is dick magic for me. The duration of the holds lets the sense of desperation sink in. I feel the struggle in my body, not just observe it. Most of today's wrestlers don't have the talent for selling a lengthy hold. Pappaluca and Pinto have it. Hairy-chested Tony's thrashing of smooth, chiseled Joey delights me. The itchy, grunting ugliness of it all is oh so physical and dirty - much better than the quippy and aloof posturings of a lot of today's wrestling. Sure, the segues are sloppy. So what? I ask you: when's the last time you saw a bearhug knockout? You heard right. A huffing, puffing, two-minute belly-to-belly bearhug knockout. Damn!
Visit BG East here.
If you're interested in examining the previous 19 postings of Wrestling Videos I Watch Over and Over and Over, click the label for "Wrestling Videos" ... or click here.
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