The Return of Whoop-Ass

Palmer Cruise vs James Alexander, Legends of Wrestling, 20 April 2019, Detroit 

Study James Alexander's body language right after he backhand-slaps Palmer Cruise's mouth (in the fourth GIF below). He knows he's in for it. His wary glances, left and right, the nervous way he tugs at his trunks, the anxious gum-chewing. Having slammed and punched Cruise for the first half of the match, Alexander is about to get a taste of much-deserved comeuppance. I suspect the audience knew he was doomed even earlier, just by the way he swaggered to the ring pre-match, the opening fight of the evening. That gratuitous slap, however, seals it. Cruise has taken enough, and it's time for the tables to turn.

I love these moments, of course. I love it when the cocky heel pushes his luck too far and gets kicked in the face (literally) for all his preceding misdeeds in a whirlwind of retribution. It's one thing to fight to win. It's something else to fight to disable one's opponent in hopes of ending his career. When that line gets crossed, I want to see the wrongdoer forced to swallow his own medicine. In effect, a heel jobber brings doom upon himself, but it takes a strong and unpitying babyface to dish it up for him.

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