Wrestler of the Year

The competition for the coveted Wrestler of the Year award was especially fierce.  Many were nominated for the honor, and the panel of judges had a difficult decision to make in picking which wrestler was the most deserving.  In the end, the decision was unanimous, and the award goes to:  AUSTIN COOPER!  Actually, there was no real competition for the award, but the decision was unanimous nonetheless because I was the only judge.  There are tons of wrestlers out there who put their bodies through a lot of training and a lot of punishment for our enjoyment, and we appreciate them all.  Austin Cooper in particular is a fun wrestler to watch, and I hope he gives us many more bodyslams in 2013.  Be sure to check him out in action at Rock Hard Wrestling and BG East.

Have a great New Year guys!

Lift Him High

You may have gathered from some of my posts that I'm big on good technique when it comes to wrestling.  I have even used other wrestlers, like Tristan Archer, to highlight good technique.  One reason I liked the bodyslam in yesterday's post so much was the good crotch hold and high lift achieved by the Japanese wrestler on his opponent.  Today's post is more of the same with Robert Anthony in action in a recent match at Combat Zone Wrestling.  In the second photo we see that Anthony gets great elevation on AR Fox (and with a nice ass squeeze, too).  A while ago I talked about Robert Anthony and his tall, lanky build.  At 6' 3", when he scoops up his opponent for a slam, he really gets him up high.  I've been picked up by a 6' 5" dude before, and I have to admit that the extra height added to the thrill of the experience.  The view can be great, but of course the extra elevation just means the slam will be that much harder.

Big In Japan

Here's a bodyslam action sequence from a match in Japan.  I don't know who these dudes are, but the wrestler in purple scores a lot of points with me by executing an amazing bodyslam.  The high beautiful crotchlift in the first photo shows awesome technique.  This is exactly how you want to lift a dude before slamming him.  Pro wrestling in Japan can be fun to watch.  The wrestlers usually sell it so well you can fool yourself into thinking the action is all real.

Average Joe

In my last post I said you don't have to be a wrestling bodybuilder to show off by overhead pressing another dude.  You can just be a typical, average muscle dude.  I relied on Python as a good example, but maybe with the arms he's sporting we shouldn't associate the terms "regular" and "average" with him.  So, here are some other regular sized muscle dudes making my point.

Python

In my last post I noted that the real big muscle dudes of pro wrestling are entitled to show off by gorilla pressing other guys.  But you don't need to be a real big muscle dude for this kind of stuff.  You can be just a regular sized muscle dude.  There's a recent match at Thunders Arena featuring Python going up against Big Sexy.  Although the TA website claims that Python weighs 156 pounds, he looks like he's put on a few more pounds since he first made his debut there.  But still, he's clearly much smaller than Bix Sexy, who comes in at over 200 pounds.  Despite his relatively smaller size, Python (and there's no secret as to why he goes by that name) still looks almost monster like thanks to his huge muscles.  So, Big Sexy outweighs him by fifty pounds?  No big deal.  Python can still press him overhead.  I like seeing the big bodybuilders wrestle, but there's something otherwordly about them.  So sometimes for me it's more impressive to see a dude like Python, who is close to my size, do something superhuman like he's doing here with Big Sexy.  It's awe inspiring.  Python has wrestled in several matches at TA this year where it looks like he's been more of a jobber served up to the bigger heel.  I'm hoping these pics are a sign that he's moving into a more aggressive role for future matches.

Check out Joe's take on this match at Ringside here.  And for more information about Python, check out his personal website.

The Big O

Here's The Big O (aka Adamus Davidus) in action in a recent match for Pro Wrestling Syndicate, tossing around Johnny Silver like a pit bull playing with a toy poodle.  I'm not sure just what The Big O's stats are, but he's a big muscle dude which entitles him to show off by gorilla pressing other wrestlers.  I wonder what the name "The Big O" is supposed to mean . . .

The Other Face of Wrestling

Newton's third law says that every action has an opposite and equal reaction (I had to google that - I'm not a science guy).  In my last post I talked about the expressions of triumph on the alpha wrestler.  But for every dominant wrestler, there's a dude getting dominated.  We see them here.  In reaction to the cocky, arrogant sneers of their tormentors, these guys' faces are opposite expressions of anguish, dismay, and shattered dreams (soon to be followed by shattered backs).  At least in the world of real wrestling, you don't want to admit that there's someone who is bigger and stronger and better than you.  And when you do come up against that guy (as almost all of us have), it can shake your faith.  This is the moment that seperates the posers from the real wrestlers.  The poser gives up and goes home.  The real wrestler is motivated to work even harder so it doesn't happen again.