Reid vs Masters

Alex Reid vs Chet Masters, Rec Room Battles 31 (NHB-Battle)

Despite NHB-Battle's blighted and tragic history, a treasure trove of its twentieth-century output is still available at Movimus, and for that I am thankful. Though I admire professional ring wrestling, the deepest parts of my heart still belong to mat wrestling for pins or submissions. Names like AMG, Old Reliable, and NHB-Battle elicit a Pavlovian response. That Movimus provides access to NHB-Battle's Rec Room Battles, Wanna Wrestle, and Battling Bodies is something I have to remind myself of when nostalgic for the slow-paced, taciturn, uncomplicated, but feverish grappling of my youth.

Reid vs Masters is a match I'm looking at for the first time. Technically, it's a big vs little match, 5'5", 151# Chet taking on 6', 183# Alex. Both are 18 at the time of this match. (Thank goodness for the days when more or less accurate physical stats were part of the marketing. I don't know why they matter to me, but they do.) Both, the catalog says, wrestled in high school. As usual, the lack of plot or character development makes it difficult to describe what I find so appealing about these matches, besides the obvious: prolonged and intense physical contact between two fit bodies, minds totally focused on each other, not on the camera or the fans watching at home. I usually say it affects me the way a fire in a hearth affects me - it's relaxing and romantic, with a hint of risk.

This is a terrific contest. Little Chet works Alex over better than I had expected. I always hear that the mark of a great wrestler is his eagerness to take on opponents who are bigger and heavier. By that standard, Chet Masters must be great. Alex is beautifully muscled, and as a wrestler he uses all his physical assets generously and effectively, maintaining total control for the first six minutes of the battle. The tide starts to turn about midway through the 22-minute video, when Chet starts hustling, dogging and tormenting Reid like a wolf on a grizzly bear. The combination of tight skinny trunks and honest athleticism is (I'll just say) invigorating.

Find this and other NHB-Battle matches at Movimus here.