Tyler Reese

Tyler Reese was a wrestler at BG East.  He made a big impression on me years ago when I was in high school.  I had already discovered BG East at that point.  The internet was such a wonderful thing for a teen age boy at the time.  So, why the impression?  In his first few matches, he wrestled as "Tarzan" Tyler Reese, complete with the long hair and loin cloth.  Wow.  Even before I knew about BG East, as a kid I remember being drawn to Tarzan in the movies, taking pleasure in watching the jungle boy in action for reasons deep inside me that I did not then understand.  I staged fantasy wrestling matches in my mind, Tarzan in nothing but a loin cloth, wrestling other fictional characters (Tarzan wrestling Spider-Man especially was a favorite).  I even imagined myself wrestling in a loin cloth.  I was a wrestler at the time, so that seemed natural enough.  Then later Tyler Reese appeared on the scene at BG East, long hair and loin cloth and all.  He was a fantasy come to life (just too bad he never wrestled a guy in a Spider-Man costume).

Reese wrestled for a few years at BG East, and he eventually dropped his Tarzan persona.  But I remained a fan.  I actually like him better with the shorter hair anyway.  One match of Reese's that has stayed with me through the years is his match against Brendan Byers, which is featured above.  Byers is taller and bigger, but Reese is totally alpha, and he dishes out several bodyslams on his hapless opponent.  That in and of itself makes it a great match in my book.  But the cherry on top is Reese wrestling barefoot and wearing the mask.  That fucking mask!  It's awesome.  He's no longer Tarzan, but with the mask Reese is still a fantasy character come to life.

I have to admit, I like to imagine that's me being scooped up and bodyslammed in this match.  After all these years, the Tyler Reese fantasy still lives on in my mind.