Crush

Paul Perris vs Beau Hopkins, Canadian Musclehunk Wrestling 3 (Can-Am)

I can remember eleven real-life crushes I had between the ages of 18 and 38. Only five of them proved unattainable, which I take to be pretty good for a guy who didn't look bad but wasn't asked to be on any magazine covers either. Most of my crushes have not been in real life, but rather drawn from comic books, adventure movies, and, of course, wrestling. Fantasy was never - or seldom - called upon to help me through actual encounters, although over the years my real-life encounters have given palpable substance to my fantasies. 

Paul Perris was fantasy material at first sight. I don't think this Beau Hopkins match was the first I saw of him  (I think the first had him up against Johnny Lightning) but this one might have been the second I saw. All Perris's matches are seared into memory. Seldom do I think of the word "sexy" without his face and figure coming to mind. I don't know whether he was ever what others more in the know would call a good wrestler. I do know he visibly improved from one match to the next, and I know memory has auto-corrected his few failings in the ring or in the oil pit. I never fully appreciated the leg splits or the MMA stuff, but these were never enough to tarnish my image of him.

Unusual for a rookie, he controls every turn, including the ones that give Beau leverage over him. Bashing Beau's head against the turnbuckle pad (third GIF) and the downward shove (eighth GIF) dramatize his contempt for Hopkins as an opponent. He is both strong and flexible - his muscularity looks silky, and by that I mean there's more flow to his body than hardness. He doesn't talk a lot - perhaps because of his Polish accent - but silence conveys strength and self-assuredness. His presence saves a weak match, perhaps only because he's beautiful, but I think also because his instincts are true. I can think of no current underground wrestler with comparable poise and solemnity.

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