Braden the Beast

Let's revisit our Wrestler of the Year Braden Charron.  My last post that featured him was all about how the new guy Braden got owned by the experienced heel.  But Braden doesn't always play the role of a jobber.  In an early match of his back in 2007 at BG East Braden faces off against a dude named Bart Barron.  We've all probably seen pictures of a big, beefy Braden, but in this match, he's leaned down considerably and is ripped.  Clearly he's in bodybuilding competition mode when this match filmed, which probably had an effect on his ring persona.  To prepare for a competition, bodybuilders enter a cutting phase where they greatly control their diet to drop body fat.  This is similar to what wrestlers do when they cut weight during wrestling season.  Cutting back on food and drink and calories to drop weight does several things to a wrestler.  You can end up weak and without energy, which is not good when it's time to wrestle.  But often times the hunger makes you angry, mean, and almost animalistic.  You tap into the beast inside you to give you the strength and stamina needed to train and compete.  It looks like this is what happens to Braden in this match.  He's lean.  He's hungry.  He's a beast.  Braden can barely control himself as he tears into his soft opponent.  If not for an advantage Bart gained by a cheap shot at one point in the match, it would have been a total squash job.  But ultimately Bart's cheap shop just angers Braden more, and the muscle stud makes the jobber pay for it in the end.  In doing so, Braden shows why bodybuilders can make such awesome wrestlers.