Trent Novak Immortalized

A big reason why I like Rock Hard Wrestling (and its current reincarnation as 88Wrestling) is the quality of the talent on the roster.  There's no doubt most of the wrestlers are fitness models or budding bodybuilders, but clearly they are also athletes.  They are more than just pretty boys because most of them actually put on a good pro-style wrestling show in the ring.  I'm sure they receive training before filming their matches, but it takes athletic skill not only to execute the moves but to also sell the action.  I'm not saying it's WWE quality (and I don't expect that), but it's still a commendable performance by good looking jocks in a wrestling ring.  When it comes to these online wrestling productions, that's really what sells me on these matches.

One wrestler I really liked from the RHW days is Trent Novak.  I wish I knew the details of how he hooked up with RHW.  Around the time he was a wrestler there, he also appeared at All American Guys as a young model from Georgia named "Jason V".  It seems like All American Guys is a good source of wrestling talent for companies like RHW, 88Wrestling, Thunders Arena, and probably others.  Besides Trent, other wrestlers I've seen at AAG include Rex Bedford (Talon), Cody Nelson (Ray Santiesteban), Eagle (Quinn B.), and Jake Jenkins (Clayton), just to name a few.  I guess fitness models like these guys like to make the rounds with AAG and the wrestling companies, and for that, we can be thankful.

So, back to Trent Novak, a strapping young guy (21 years old according to AAG), standing in at 6 feet tall and 175 pounds.  Unfortunately, he appeared in only four matches at RHW, and this was back in 2012 or so.  Who knows what happened to "Jason V" or where he is today.  He'll be in his late twenties now, maybe back in Georgia.  Life moves on, and so did he.  But because of RHW, he'll live on forever as Trent Novak.

You're probably wondering why I'm suddenly so sentimental about Trent.  The two beers I drank tonight probably have something to do with it.  But I also have to give thanks to a recent blog post by W.R. Screencaps which tipped me off to a sale on Trent's matches at RHW, and I had to check out Trent's match against Cliff Johnson.  I think this was Trent's fourth and final match at RHW, and after losing his first three, he goes into this one determined to prove that he's no mere jobber.  Cliff Johnson apparently is in the same boat, and the two guys are wrestling for pride if nothing else.  It goes three rounds with back and forth action before one stud finally prevails, but my highlights here focus on Trent being the heel.  When you watch this and his other matches, you notice Trent can be a noisy little bastard in the ring.  He's verbal and expressive both when he's dishing out punishment and when he receives it.  But Trent does so in a way that exudes feistiness and cockiness on his part, a high level of energy that makes him fun and entertaining.  Trent comes across as all jock.  He's out there to compete and to win because he's an athlete, and that's what athletes do.  But I also get the impression that when Trent is done beating up on a guy like Cliff, he's ready to go to a bar to hang out and get drunk with him.  Trent is your competition, but if you're also a jock, he's your buddy when the competition is over.  This describes a lot of guys I knew in high school and college.  I'd like to think that Trent and I would have been friends, too.

You know I like to include a GIF in my post when I can, although I can't decide which GIF I like best for this one.  But it's my blog, so why do I have to decide?  Why not show all three of Trent Novak proving to Cliff Johnson who the real alpha wrestler is?

Thanks to RHW, Trent Novak lives on forever!