2015 Year In Review + 2016 Preview

Well, we're at the end of the year. It's been hectic, getting this blog going and all. In hindsight, there are things I would've done differently, but overall I'm pleased with the results. Hopefully you've enjoyed the experience so far.

In ten months, I've posted 196 times on this blog, received nearly 500 comments and replied nearly 500 times. The biggest two buckets are obviously stories and reviews. The rest include Who's Who, Casting, Inspiration, general housekeeping and other miscellaneous posts.

Breaking it down, I posted a total of 87 stories (98 posts, as I split many stories in two when I started) and reviewed 50 matches from 8 different companies, plus two books from 1 author.

• 32 Cave (14 The Cave + 10 The Cave Undercard + 8 The Cave: The Adventures of SuperStar)
• 30 Route 69 (27 Route 69 + 3 Route 69: Bad Boys)
• 15 AWL (6 Danny Chase + 5 Jake Justice + 3 Colt Hill + 1 Nikolai Khruschev)
• 10 Other (7 Encounters + 2 Superheroes + 1 Producers Ring)

Results are hard to judge, because of my two-blog approach, but stories are the most viewed content, which I'm happy about. The Cave series is tops, but there's clearly a bigger appetite for Superheroes as those two stories were huge hits. And the top reviews are driven by external links then who I'm featuring, so guys like Ty Alexander and Guido Genatto/Dirty Daddy are definitely champs around here.

Dirty Daddy's a Cave champ! Source: Twitter

The Cast: Who's Who (December)

Guys,

Here are the base models for December's characters ...

Route 69: Bad Boys S103

Clark = Jesse Dunphy (Model)

Encounters: Elite League of Fighting (Part 2)

"And here is your winner, at 28 minutes and 12 seconds, by submission ... IARDOR!"

The crowd of tall, muscular and beautiful elves cheered loudly. Calemirdir rose off his champion's throne, adjusted his bulge in his black trunks. grabbed his belt from the floor and entered the ring. He rubbed his belt as he looked Iardor up and down. The mighty Calemirdir extended his hand. Iardor accepted with a smile.

Champion Calemirdir

The champion said, "Congratulations on winning the tournament, Iardor. Very impressive finisher. Not as impressive as mine, but I will have to avoid it. In one year's time, you shall have your chance to take this belt from me. Train hard, for I shall be ready."

Review: Jersey vs. Tak (Thunder's Arena)

If the blog feels a little heavy on Thunder's Arena content, all I can say is that it could be worse. I'm actually still making my way through my summer purchases from Thunder's Arena. They definitely have earned the lion's share of my dollars in 2015. Take note competitors ... they did it with a great roster of studs, volume of releases, frequent discounts and easy downloads.

As for this match, Jersey vs. Tak was definitely a purchase driven by the studs more than anything else. Jersey and Tak are personal favorites of mine, both ranking high in my top five most enjoyable Thunder's Arena wrestlers of all-time.

Tak: "Round two only advised for non-pussies."
Jersey: "What? Where does it say that?"

The 2015 Caveys: Producers

Welcome to the final day of The 2015 Caveys!

I've reviewed my favorite matches and my favorite wrestlers, but there are no matches or wrestlers without the producers to create and distribute the content.

Here is a list of the eligible producers (meaning I've bought or rented at least one match from them in 2015 and watched it):

• BGEast
• CameronWrestler
• Can-Am
• Jonny Firestorm
• Krushco
• Movimus
• Muscle Domination Wrestling
• Rock Hard Wrestling
• Thunder's Arena
• UCW

And The Cavey goes to ...

Presenting the producer awards ... it's Ben!

The 2015 Caveys: Wrestlers

Welcome to day two of The Caveys!

Yesterday, I awarded the action. Today I award the studs who make the action so awesome. For complete rules and details, see yesterday's post.

And the Cavey goes to ...

Here's Jeff to present the wrestler awards ...

The 2015 Caveys: Matches

Welcome to my inaugural Cavey Awards.

The Cavey Awards are my attempt at a year-end wrap-up where I recognize the wrestlers and producers who I think did a great job.

The Rules

Results are based entirely on my experiences in 2015 and nothing else. They're reflective of what I watched this year (up to December 15th) , regardless of when it was produced or I bought/rented it. For example, the remaining Thunder's Arena summer 2015 matches I haven't watched yet will be eligible for a 2016 Cavey, not 2015.

I don't watch every wrestler, match or promotion. So that means there might be something or someone amazingly awesome out there that deserves recognition, but if I haven't seen it, it's not eligible. Like the Oscars, it might skew towards the most recent stuff. At the start of the year I had no idea I would try this. I'm not 100% sure what I watched early this year vs. late last year, but I did try to look back.

Of course the comment box is a great place for YOU to weigh in on anyone or anything you think is deserving of an award.

I appreciate the challenge of real awards shows a little more now. Choosing one winner in any category is tough. I deliberately call them 'Favorite' as opposed to 'Best', because this is all my subjective assessment.

Encounters: Elite League of Fighting (Part 1)

The room was silent as they waited for the signal, knowing it was almost time for erotic pro wrestling to save Christmas once again.

Lenchon watched out the window. He smiled as he saw the sled, led by nine reindeer, race along the snow then climb into the air before disappearing in a burst of magical, time-defying speed. The elf announced to his tribe, "It is done, brothers. The great wizard has launched. Master Claus is up and away and we are free for 26 hours!"

Lenchon

The elves erupted with cheers. They were a beautiful and majestic race of supermen. The shortest was 6'5" tall, the tallest almost 8'. Once lithe and graceful, centuries of physical labor in this workshop had built their muscles. The immortal beings were still outstanding physical specimens, but many were much more muscular than their ancestors.

Review: The Bigger They Are (Can-Am)

This video is a good reminder for me that we all have different tastes and perspectives. Certainly there are any number of wrestlers and videos that I see praised by others, but I don't enjoy. And I'm sure it's the same with things I like. We already see it in the comment section sometimes and I welcome (politely-stated) differing opinions.

I bring this up, because I'm not very positive towards Can-Am's "The Bigger They Are". I found it to be bland and lackluster. However, Jose at LaSustanciaP didn't review this, but he did give it a blue square in his September wrap-up post, which means he liked it. So I'll try to explain what I think this video is all about then leave it to you to decide.

Two tall guys facing off

Review: Dirty Daddy vs. Brian Cage (Thunder's Arena)

It's time for another Thunder's Arena review. We're heading back into the ring for Dirty Daddy vs. Brian Cage, the second of the four Thunder's Arena ring matches I have purchased. I reviewed Dirty Daddy vs. Marco last month. My thoughts on Brian Cage vs. Johnny Bravo will appear in January. And I still haven't watched Dirty Daddy vs. Tak, but look for a review or quick hit in February.

Dirty Daddy vs. Brian Cage features two of the hottest studs in indie pro wrestling. It's great that they've crossed over into more gay-oriented wrestling videos as "underground wrestling" has moved noticeably "above ground" these days. They've both worked for multiple companies in the past couple of years, building up healthy resumes. However, I don't think they've wrestled each other on video before this.

Two smoking hot pro studs

They're in top shape for your enjoyment

Quick synopsis is that while I can't say I loved it, it was entertaining and had some hot re-watchable moments. I'm definitely happy that I purchased it.

Quick Hit: King vs Fulton (BGEast)

Among other things, BGEast's catalogue 111 is notable to me for the third BGEast match featuring indie wrestling star Kelly King on Ringhunks 3. He's currently one of my favorite pro wrestlers, so seeing him up close and personal in BGEast's environment is a treat. I enjoyed his match vs. Z-Man (reviewed here), so I was definitely interested in seeing this one now that it's on VOD.

Very happy to see King back

Review: Skotch English vs. Kirby Stone (BGEast)

Well, my first Skotch English review (here) defied my expectations and was very, very popular. He only did one other match for BGEast, so I figured I'd review it as well.

Okay, imagine you have two pro wrestlers. Both are pro-trained, talented and hot in their own way.

One is a cute, eager 19 (and a half) year old with a smooth swimmer's build who's wearing tight pink squarecuts plus white knee pads and pro boots. The other is a beefy stud who's more than twice the first's age. He's got a shaved head, scruffy, rugged good looks and a bad attitude in black pro gear.

Kirby Stone: Pretty in Pink

Skotch English: Bad in Black

How do you think a match would go between them?

Spoiler alert ...

Casting The Cave: Thunder's Arena Edition

It's been a while since I did one of these. Back in March, I started with the Rock Hard Wrestling Edition, because of the similar look and feel of RHW 1.0. I followed up with the BGEast Edition in April, both new and old school. Then I did the guys who wrestle all over the place in the Multi-Promotional Edition in May. All were posted here in late August.

Now, it's Thunder's Arena's turn.

A couple of quick reminders of some of my criteria ...

1. Has to be exclusive (or near-exclusive) guys. That means that guys like Frey, Braden Charron, Brian Cage, etc. don't count.
2. Has to be guys I've seen in action. I wanted guys I had a good feeling about, not just judging based on random pictures. For example, Tanked looks perfect for Ryan, even having identical stats (6'4"/250-lbs), but I haven't seen him, so he's out of the running.
3. Not based on who I like, but on tangible factors like looks, personality, skill, etc. So guys like Jersey and Tak were not guaranteed a spot.

So who would I go to?

Route 69: Bad Boys S103

*Story is a commission for a reader, who also provided the Clark base model. Thanks, Johnny!*

"GOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL!"

I tell Phil, "Dude, that's a soccer call, eh. It's stupid enough that we're the players AND the announcers. Now we have to use shit from another sport?"

As we cheer our teammates from the bench, Phil responds, "Right, but when in Rome, Clark. When in Rome, eh?" I give him a WTF look, so he explains, "I mean, c'mon, we're in west Texas. You think anyone here has seen hockey before? Maybe, maybe not, but they all know football and soccer. Should I have said, ‘touchdown’?"

I laugh and give him a punch before I take my seat, re-focusing on the game. I'm feeling good about our two-goal lead with only five minutes to play. Not that I can do much about it one way or the other, since I'm being kept out of the game for fighting.

Now, Phil isn't wrong. We're lucky just to find ice in this town, much less fans. Although I wouldn't call the small crowd here 'fans' exactly. They're mainly curious townies who've come because it's free event and the rink is a cool place on a sweltering Texas afternoon. Most of them are bundled up in winter jackets, drinking coffee and shit.

I will admit that a lot of them have been getting into it, but there are guys here who've just been jawing at us the whole game. For a bunch of guys who don't know shit about hockey, they've got a lot of shit to say. The rink is small, so it's not like you can ignore them. I've turned around a few times, but that just gets them going again. The coach has told me to ignore them, so I'm pretending I am. But I'm hearing every fucking word.

I'm a minor league hockey player. Guys just call me Clark or Carter, but my full name's Wendel Clark Carter. Born in 1992, my dad's a huge Toronto Maple Leafs fan, so he named me after their captain. Growing up in a small town in southern Ontario, I dreamed about making it big, but now I'm just happy to be playing and getting paid anything. See, I kinda came along at the wrong time for my skill set.

Wendel Clark Carter

I'm a solid 5'11"/180-lbs, but I'm a slower skater than guys a lot bigger than me. All my speed is in my upper body. I have a wicked slap shot, but I've never been able to control it. I've spent years doing drills, but I just can't do it consistently. I'd figure it out, but then my emotions would kick in during a game and WHAM, I'm taking out the back glass.