Spirit Animal

Chris Ridgeway and Schaff vs Lucha Brothers (Penta El Zero M and Rey Fenix), Into the Fire (DEFY Wrestling)

Chris Ridgeway is my spirit animal because I suspect he gets hard-ons hurting other people. I'm not saying he does for sure. Black trunks hide a lot. I'm saying I like to think he does. More than that, I fantasize that he does. He doesn't mind getting hurt if getting hurt revs him up to kick his opponent's ass. This match goes back to May of 2019 in Seattle. It's good, but not his best. He's teamed up with a big Pittsburgh tough, battling against Fenix, who's a close physical match for Chris, and Fenix's big brother, both legit luchadores from Mexico City. More than once the Luchas team up on Ridgeway. At one point Chris is the target of bookend high kicks to both sides of his head, and another time he survives a piledriver. In the end, the Mexicans win, but my man gets his licks in, too, in a bravura performance.

I like Ridgeway best in singles competition. He's best when he can devote his full attention to splaying just one man's fingers and stomping on his face. He works fast. The first four GIFs above took place in less than a minute. "Works fast AND attentively," I should say. He gives each abuse his full attention, also drawing the crowd's eyes to it, which might otherwise be overlooked in the bustle of a match. He has fun with Fenix, the way a cat has fun with a mouse. His joy in his work is a nod to the fans who are on his wavelength. We get it and savor it with him; perhaps even his victim takes some pleasure in the depravity of it, too. I hope so.

Later he has to pay the piper. I'm not saying he doesn't deserve it. I'm not saying it doesn't excite me. My favorite Ridgeway, though, is him delivering stiff punches and kicks to a guy he plans to decimate, not wanting to stop even after the guy's out cold. I like him best in a full beard, too, but a five-o'clock shadow does nothing to make him less of a dirty fighter.

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