Barefisted

Sid Scala vs Tate Mayfairs, Live in Weymouth, 23 August 2018 (Ultimate Pro Wrestling)

I don't trust most people's recommendations on wrestling matches. Most people enjoy WWE, after all. I don't recall his position on WWE, but if Dr. L endorses a match, I'm on it as fast as I can be. Often he provides a description of a match he sends me a link to. This time this is all he said: "At around the 5 minute mark, a tasty encounter between two tasty young men. I was familiar with Sid Scala but not with Tate Mayfairs. Enjoy."

Enjoy  does not begin to cover my response to Scala vs Mayfairs. By the time I reached the final five minutes of this fight, my tongue was dry and my loins were aching to bump up against something. I almost didn't finish the match in one sitting, but I held on until the finisher (NO spoilers) before relieving the amassed tension. No still shot or GIF can capture the suspense by which this match approaches its climax.

First, Scala proves he's a warrior by the way he rips off his business jacket, tie, and starched white shirt while approaching the wrestling ring. At that moment, I'm on the guy's side. His opponent, Mayfairs, is already in the ring. He's a silky prettyboy, lily-livered to the core, who bargains for time by making Scala chase him down and then relies on cheap shots and tricks, as if to admit he knows that the smaller wrestler is the better man.

For me the meat of the match is at the 26-minute mark on the link above, but the full taste of this tasty  battle requires attention to the gripping and often brutal buildup to that moment. The GIFs below, however, focus on that major turn in the action, shortly after Tate pleads for a timeout and Sid, ignoring the pleas of his fans, decides to extend his hand in good faith (again NO spoilers - the match runs another three minutes after the last GIF).

What follows, astounding and (for me) stimulating, is a bare-knuckles fight (not the first but the longest sustained one in the match). It's a reminder (if one were needed) of how sexy the boxer's stance is.

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