Max vs Travis

Travis vs Max Ryder, Oil Bash (Wrestler4Hire)

It's not unheard of in oil wrestling for punches to be thrown, but it's unusual. Oil wrestlers mostly stick with scissor holds. But something pushes normally coolheaded Travis to throw that gut punch in the sixth GIF. Something about Max Ryder rubs Travis the wrong way, and whatever it was, it's good to see an oil match that departs from the usual glib nature of the sport. I'm particularly impressed that Travis loses his cool. Temper has a role in defining a wrestler, and the had-enough jab lifts Travis above the role of pretty boy he's been playing for the last couple of years. This and his raucous fight with Christian Thorn (and when is a Thorn match anything but raucous?) raise my interest in the pretty boy.

This is a good fight - sexy, intense, punishing. Both wrestlers throw themselves into it. Max is more thickly built than Travis, an advantage in any form of wrestling, but especially in an oil pit. He's also highly expressive. He makes every match a drama. He has his hands full with Travis. His fight for survival in the second to last GIF is a high point in the video. Thumbs to the jugular, he attempts to escape Travis's grip and succeeds. He and Travis both raise oil wrestling above its jokey modern origins and remind us that the sport has an ancient and sacred history.

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