Take That!

Donnie Drake vs Doug Rand, Ringwars 31 (BG East)

I love this match. I saw it for free a few weeks ago while helping out on the catalog description, and it was like I had slipped back in time to old-school BGE. Donnie plays up his college-jock good looks, infusing his physical beauty with all the arrogance and condescension needed to get me to hate him good and hard. He may have the dashing profile, but Doug smolders as the classic strong-silent type that gets my rocks off, so, of course, I'm in Doug's corner from beginning to end.

I fell hard for Rand a couple of years ago in Ring Rookies 5, spotting his potential as a "topnotch heel." Smaller and lighter than his opponent, Rand nevertheless kicked Terry O'Daly's butt over every square inch of the squared circle. Earlier than this match, Rand had appeared as Donnie Drake's tag partner, which would put this match even earlier since Drake acts as if he's never met the man before this match. (With BGE's erratic scheduling of releases, it's next to impossible to formulate a timeline of a wrestler's career there.)

Donnie is a bigger, heavier, and meaner opponent than O'Daly was. Doug is unimpressed. Donnie rants about his physical superiority and urges Doug to run home while he still can. Without uttering a word, Rand kicks Drake in the abs and gets the rassling started. Punches and kicks make great equalizers in a big-vs-little match, and Rand delivers them with grim deadpan satisfaction. Not usually a fan of the David-Goliath concept, I prefer to think of this match as a contest between heel styles - bigmouth pomposity versus silent, almost surgical sadism.

Strongly opposed ring psychologies and skill sets heat this fight more than the physical differences do. Excellent give and take keeps the battlers (and the viewers) on their toes to the bitter end.

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