Review: Marco vs Tristan Baldwin (Thunders Arena)

I've been a sucker for Aryx Quinn/Tristan Baldwin ever since he showed up. The stud had a flawless smooth tanned body with gorgeous pecs, broad shoulders, an impossible trim waistline, and fantastic ass. More than that, I loved his attitude. The military muscleman had a ton of it, starting as a heel then deftly transitioning into heel-jobber territory.

So when I saw Tristan vs. Marco over at Thunders Arena, I figured it was worth checking out.

Two hot studs prepping for action

Tristan has aged and bulked up, but he's still hot and fun. He's got charisma, built off his wonderful bravado. Here, he shows up in those Thunders classic posers with the bright green in front and the purple in back. Tak and Steel, among others, have rocked them and they look great on the underground wrestling veteran.

Tristan should know better than to leave himself open

Tristan's still got the power

Marco's been getting a lot more press here lately, but I think this is the first one of his matches I've directly paid for in some time. That's the power of Tristan. I will say that I'm warming up to him. He's been less hokey and more willing to play along with the action. Maybe that's because he's been in better storylines that work with his particular talents.

Cocky Marco isn't impressed by Tristan's pedigree

Tristan checks out Marco's ripped muscles

Tristan has worked at many different places, but it's been a while since we've seen him at Thunders Arena. In fact, he's in the "retired" section after only two very early videos. Back for another go, he claims he asked Mr. Mike for the biggest, the best, the youngest and the strongest. Marco certainly qualifies as three of those.

This is a "be careful what you wish for" story. Tristan made the request, but is he up for the challenge? Uh, no. Tristan is an awesome seller, remaining arrogant, even as he's taken down. And Marco works as a wrecker of veteran superstars and this video plays into his strengths.

Marco manhandles the veteran wrestler

Tristan's abs get get tested 

Marco takes advantage of a wide open Tristan

You have to endure 4 minutes of setup, but there's still 19 minutes of action afterwards. It's not a 100% squash, but it's definitely heavily, heavily skewed to Marco domination. The younger punk punishes the old dog relentlessly and reverses everything. Tristan gets maybe one extended period on top.

There's a lot of classic and hot holds here. Certainly more than I can show - I don't want to spoil everything. From Marco, there are sleepers, piledrivers, punches, over-the-knee backbreaker, torture rack, bearhugs, scissors and general manhandling. From Tristan, there's a dragon sleeper, stomps, claw, punches and posing.

Marco adds insult to injury

Tristan's not-so triumphant return

In the end, Tristan is always fun and he plays the heel-jobber so very well. If you're like me and you enjoy seeing him getting taken down, you should like this. Marco's not a rookie, but he's certainly younger than Tristan, so the storyline has a nice new school vs. old school tension to it. New school dominates, which was just fine with me.

So that's my take. What's yours?

Alex