Spur of the Moment

Kip Sabian vs Chris Ridgeway,  IPW This Has To End (International Pro Wrestling)

I get off on the sloppy, improvised, jerry-rigged moments when wrestlers are exhausted or desperate. This is when psychology rises above physics, and we witness the tick-tick-tick of the wrestler's brain calculating what to do next. This is when a wrestling show resembles a street fight. The great athletes (like the great actors) are completely in the moment, and the artifice (if any) is invisible. 

In this May 1st match, I like Kip Sabian (and always have), but I am hard for Chris Ridgeway. Here's a mind at work in the squared circle. No doubt all or most of this was planned out in advance, but you can't tell it from either of these two. Kip sells the moments of panic, pain, and exhilaration. Chris tries whatever pops into his head that might help him destroy Kip, and you can almost see him mentally assessing his options at this event's turning points. The fumbles get worked around, and Chris is on Kip like a lion on a zebra.

It's Chris's gracelessness in the third, fourth, and fifth GIFs below that spurred me to this line of thought. In the third, he goes for Kip's foot like a dog gnawing on an ox bone. In the fourth, he doesn't even consider style, doing whatever it takes to hurt and possibly maim his opponent. In the fifth, he taunts Kip into fighting back - clearly, he wants to bust this guy's nuts. The sixth and seventh provide choreography that makes Kip look good - really, really good (not that he needs to be any better looking than he already is). Then, in the eighth GIF, the slug fest is reckless, rough-hewn and raw - this, to put it delicately, gets my dick hard. In the last four GIFs, late in the match, the wrestlers messily jockey for position - tugging, grabbing, twisting, shoving, pounding, without an ounce of restraint or refinement.

The climax of this fight is a long, squirmy choke that may (or may not) determine the victor. Did I mention that this is a "loser leaves IPW" match? I guess I didn't. The high stakes give the battle an extra boost of intensity and dare-all wildness. And, off the point, Sabian's sweat in the video's final minute deserves a blog post all to itself.