Babyface Bash
Kirk Donahue vs Tiko, Babyface Bash 1 (BG East)
I was there. I saw this match up close as it happened. I felt the heat roll out of the ring and saw the sweat catch the light from overhead. At the time, I was sworn to secrecy, but now that it's available to all, the gag is off me, and I'm telling the world that right before my eyes, Kirk Donahue reinvented himself as a heel. (Old news now, I know. Still, it was beautiful!)
Watching the 25-minute match again and on my TV is a different experience, still awesome, different vantage points and a closer view of the wrestlers in action. Kirk stretches outside the ring, but when he hears Tiko approaching, he hides around a corner. Tiko comes bounding, circling the ring when Kirk catches him in a clothesline and throws him through the ropes and into the ring.
"I've taken some abuse here at BG East," Kirk declares, "but I've learned what it takes to be a winner." Kicking Tiko in the ribs and on the knee and in the gut and the crotch, thrusting his forearm to Tiko's face against the turnbuckle, Kirk catches his opponent off-guard and refuses to let the guy get his bearings. And, yes, this is what it takes to be a winner at BG East.
For seven minutes, Kirk destroys Tiko on the mat and against the ropes, ultimately making him tap out in a tight, almost crippling Boston crab hold. Tiko can barely get back on his feet, and Kirk attacks again, even more viciously than before, hurling Tiko to the ropes, catching him on the rebound with his fist and boot. Five minutes later, he bends Tiko in two in a single-leg Boston, and Tiko taps out again.
We are halfway through the match when Tiko catches fire. Kirk pulls one leg up, and Tiko high-kicks the side of the heel's head with the other. Kirk comes at him again, and Tiko catches him in a flying head-scissors and flips him face first into a turnbuckle. Kirk staggers back and gets flipped in the other direction. Tiko squats on his chest, both thighs locked on Donahue's head and rolls him up for a full three-count.
The last half of the fight gets really juicy, by which I mean both "sweaty" and "sexy." Kirk riding Tiko's shoulder while choking him against the middle rope (fourth shot above) is hot, especially as Kirk bounces on top. He slaps a claw on the stomach in true Von Erich style. He makes Tiko pay and pay hard, and looks slinky-gorgeous all the while. It turns out that Tiko is not done with Donahue either, leading into the match's final seven minutes, a cyclone of agony, squalls, bared canines, and permanent knee damage.
I'm glad I was there, glad I got the DVD to watch at leisure, too!
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