Review: SPOILERS! Brute/Thrasher vs. Cruise/Rush (BGEast)

And we've reached the third and final match from Tag Team Torture 19.

WARNING ... SPOILERS BELOW. There's no way to talk about this match without talking about the storyline. However, the catalog description does reveal the same info in words and pictures, so it can't be too big a deal.

Brute/Matt Thrasher vs. Morgan Cruise/Damien Rush is an interesting video. While the first two matches on this compilation played off what is great about classic tag matches, this one is all about the story and has a twist that I don't ever remember seeing before. At least not in a wrestling ring. I have seen it play out in bars, parties and the dinner table, but not as part of a tag match.

Brute telegraphs his plan when he shoves
Damien out of the way in the initial posing

There's a lot of acting in this. A lot of storyline. The plot drives the video. If you're expecting a hard-hitting tag match, this isn't that. Based on the talent involved, you might expect something very different than what it is. Brute is a huge brawler, Damien Rush and Morgan Cruise are experienced and skilled, and Matt Thrasher is a mature muscleman.

So if it's not an action-packed battle between four big men, what is it? It's a story-driven video that's really a metaphor for the dynamics of couples.

On one side are Brute and Matt Thrasher. Brute is big, bald and beefy. Less ripped than he is in Thunders Arena nowadays, the guy still looks great to me in his shiny white trunks with the red star. His partner Matt is a handsome, goateed man. He's wearing a pair of trunks that in no way connect to Brute's. This is our first clue that these two are not a committed couple team.

Act I sets the stage. Brute is the alpha partner here. He starts out as a caring partner, showing the inexperienced Matt the ropes around the ring. He's cool with his beta-male partner, but it's clear that he's the stud in the relationship. Matt is just along for the ride and drafting off the big man's greatness.

Their opponents are Morgan Cruise and Damien Rush. Cruise has little to no respect for Rush, so we've got another couple team with a tenuous connection. At least these two match gear, with similar squarecuts. Rush's hair is huge and his body trim, so this must've been filmed a while back.

Brute speaks for many viewers I'm sure as he mocks Cruise for his over-the-top, overly scripted, corny way of making pronouncements when he speaks. The big alpha male and Cruise disrespect their partners almost immediately, saying they could win on their own without them, but it only makes two beta males want to prove themselves.

Act II is Brute and Cruise facing off. The smaller stud impresses the bigger man. Brute heaps praise on Cruise every chance he gets, while deriding Rush. And Cruise eats it up. He's obviously honored that a mega-stud like Brute would be into him and is easily seduced by the sweet talk.

The action is okay, but it's mostly basic stuff. This is where the story overwhelms what we see. I get where it needs to go, but nothing impressive happens that would make Brute fall in lust love admiration with Cruise. And there's no reason he'd think so little of Damien so early.

Morgan gives good head ... lock

Morgan escapes and counters

Brute tests his fellow alpha

Act III is the beatdown of the betas. The story calls for Damien and Matt to lie down for their opponents, offering no real resistance. None of the moves are really devastating, so again, it's really the story that drives everything.

Brute's trash talk destroys Rush's appeal as a partner for Cruise even worse than the minor amount of physical abuse Rush has to endure. By the time to big behemoth is done with his mind games, Cruise is thoroughly disgusted by his partner.

Matt, meanwhile, is pretty much oblivious to his partner's wandering eye until it's too late. Poor Matt. He breaks a full nelson and applies his own, but mostly has to play the doormat. Cruise quickly dominates, which emphasizes the inadequacy of sexy Matt as a partner for Brute.

Brute isn't impressed by Damien

Morgan manhandles Matt

Matt tries to control Morgan

Sexy Matt spread open wide

In Act IV, the two alphas finally officially pair off. Brute has successfully changed the dynamics and won the smitten Morgan. Together, they sever all ties with Matt and Rush before riding off together. The betas are left behind with nothing but broken hearts bodies.

Time to team up

They camel their own partners

One new couple standing tall

Another new couple ... of losers :(

In the end, I don't think it's one I'd really recommend as a standalone match. This video was entertaining as a story with wrestling/wrestlers, rather than as a pure wrestling video. I know that the guys are experienced, so they know their stuff, but I can't say you really get to see much of it. It does make an interesting contrast to the first two matches, offering a unique perspective and physically different wrestlers.

So that’s my take, what’s yours?

Alex