Hothead

Joey King vs Royce Perry, Pec Bash 4 (BG East)

"Wanna check your hair real quick?" Joey teases Royce because the blond is beautiful, maybe too beautiful to thrive at BG East. Joey isn't hard to look at either, but black trunks and a beard, along with the smug look on his face as he scoffs at Royce, identify him as the heel in this 22-minute match. Don't hold out hope for a Royce win.

Joey's toothy and infectious smile and twinkling eyes define a particular kind of heel. The hail-fellow-well-met charm is just code for hothead. King is especially good at this gimmick, charming enough to get you to let down your guard, then POW! When Perry pushes King's back to a turnbuckle and then jauntily taps the palm of his chest, the smile disappears, and hairy chest out, shoulders back, Joey zeroes in on him. Royce is ready with fists raised and plows them into Joey, backing him up to the ropes to apply a clawhold on the man's left pec.

Joey strikes back, but Royce ain't done with him. Perry shoves King into an adjacent corner and clobbers him with four dynamite punches to the gut, chest, and shoulder. Royce is cocky enough to take a formal bow after that one. - literally, a hand-across-the-abdomen bow! "You're welcome," he says, gloating, just asking for it. Okay, now, I want to see King bust this boy's butt.

Wish granted.

For the next eighteen minutes, Royce's life is in constant peril. He's done spent his hope spot at the start of the match. If there's a second one, it's so brief I missed it. Joey tears into him, and it's beautiful. In just a couple of minutes, Royce's smooth honey-tan chest is pink with handprints. Pec-bashing isn't even the half of it. Joey bashes everything with lightning strikes that thrill and excite. Royce Perry has taken some fine beatings at BG East, but Joey King gives him the best one yet. Not usually a fan of a babyface beatdown, I make an exception when the babyface is asking for it. Perry asks ... and gets it.

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