Hurts

Dick Rick vs Bobby Horton, Ringwars 31 (BG East)

I haven't been particularly interested in Dick Rick until now. When I saw him at WrestleCade in November, I told him I knew him mostly from his work at BG East. He nodded and said, "That's good." That evening I saw him in the ring and was amazed at how good he is - and not just in looks and moves. His comic timing (as the archetypal pretty-boy heel) is just about perfect.

What really piqued my interest in him, though, is this match, the main event of Ringwars 31. The catalog description identifies the match's initial selling point: an epic five-minute bear-hug battle between Dick Rick and Bobby Horton, during which each man makes multiple attempts to squeeze his opponent to submission. This happens about midway through the video. Talk about hot, and it's hot not because of the skimpiness of either man's gear; it's hot because it looks goddamned legit. It's played for real, to quote the catalog description again - or, more to the point, it all looks like it really really hurts.

The give and take in this war kept me on the edge of my seat and continues to do so with each reviewing. I've now seen the match four or five times, and it's still riveting. It starts with Dick admiring his physique in a mirror - a familiar opening shot, but here taken from an unconventional perspective: the camera peers in at Dick through a doorway, then zooms out so that we see Bobby lurking in the shadows, waiting to attack.

The attack happens outside the ring. Bobby swoops in from behind and bashes Dick in the back with both hands balled up into one big bludgeon. Bobby hurls him headfirst into the metal lockers. Then he fastens Dick between the top and middle ropes, kicking and punching Rick's defenseless torso and crotch. By the time the action moves into the ring, Dick Rick looks like he's already finished.

A minute later, Dick turns the tables on Bobby with a series of reckless moves that appear to hurt Dick as much as they do Bobby. But Dick shows his pluck and continues the attack. It's during these exchanges that the thought occurs to me that, hey, this shit is real! Horton seems genuinely to be trying to escape from Rick's surfboard stretch! From all appearances this is, at least in part, a shoot - with stiff strikes and bona fide submission holds, adding intensity to the usual ring theatrics.

If I'm right about that, the outcome -  sealed with a body lock I feel in my joints just looking at it - is as real as I'm ever likely to see in underground wrestling! It's gloriously sweaty, and the anguished facial expressions look like nothing that can be taught in an acting class.

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