The Cast: Who's Who (June 2017)

Guys,

Only one new guy this month. It's weird, this is probably the 17th time I'm telling you that Jae is Mike Carr, but every story or post could be someone's first, right? I'm assuming no one minds the repetition with guys like Cody and Jae. Now, will Thor/Doug or Winston/Toyboy ever come back? Did you comment on them if you like them?

The Cave Unleashed 3: Josh vs. Thor

Josh = Ty Davin/Tyler McPeak (Model)

Review: Cameron Matthews vs. Jason Stone (W4H)

When you're a super-hot pro wrestling champion, you're bound to make some enemies on the way up. Some you might not remember. Some you might not have ever even known about. But they'll know you. So you can never let your guard down. Sounds like a Cave story, right? Well, in this case, it's my basic summary of the premise of this wild hotel battle from Wrestler4Hire.

It's an ambush as Jason brings the
battle to Cameron's hotel room.

Review: Krush vs. Buck (Krushco)

I've been watching a ton of squash jobs lately. Some I'm enjoying, like Viking's dominance at Thunders. Others, not so much. After watching too many hot guys get crushed, it's ironic* that a guy named Krush comes along with a perfect alternative. Krush vs. Buck features hot guys in a really entertaining rough-and-tumble, back-and-forth submission match.

*Note: This might actually not be ironic at all. Thanks to Alanis Morissette, I'm not sure I know what's really ironic.

And we're off ...

Review: Ace Aarons vs. Luke Lonza (BGEast)

From the BGEast Catalog 119 Description:"Wherever Luke is hiding all of that vaunted indy pro experience he was bragging about, he's putty in his opponent's hands. He has zero counter moves. He doesn't know the first thing about a reversal."

I'll give BGEast credit on this one - their description is right on. I sense some frustration at Luke's lack of fight in the description, a rare occurrence in what is a sell-piece for the video. Maybe I'm inferring too much, projecting my own reaction onto the writer and it's something he didn't feel. However, reading that, it feels like it to me and knowing that a couple of my fellow bloggers occasionally write these, maybe I'm not ...

Ace impresses as he dominates Luke.

Ideas: Power Pup?

So I get ideas in my head. I write them down, but often they go nowhere. They vanish off into the ether and I move on. They come from everywhere - someone I talk to, something I see or read, wherever. They're often momentary and sometimes scattered.

Power Pup was inspired by some content on Tumblr. Apparently a few people I follow are into human puppy stuff. It wasn't an interest of mine, but then GayComicGeek talked about it within the context of superheroes and I suddenly became interested. I sent this to him and never heard anything, so I guess he didn't think much of it. And that might've been the end of Power Pup.

Power Pup?

However, I ended up sharing this particular story-like object with someone and he said that I should share it somewhere. So I hemmed and I hawed, but with a little validation, here we are. I don't know what this idea is or where it might go. This is actually more fleshed out than many of my thoughts. It has a beginning and an end, but it's not really very deep.

Enough pre-amble ... here it is ...

Review: Mark Muscle vs. Viking (Thunders Arena)

No wonder Mr. Mike chastised me for suggesting Thunders Arena had downsized (in the comments, here). I've been very focused on smaller guys like Scrappy, Marco, Blayne and Bolt, but he knew Viking was in the pipeline. And just to prove the point, Thunders puts their new giant against another, Mark Muscle. Mark Muscle vs. Viking is a battle of the big men. Or is it?

Viking: "About time they brought someone my size."

Review: Chris Cannon vs. Tiger (Muscleboy Wrestling)

Chris Cannon vs. Tiger is the third Muscleboy Wrestling video I've watched. So far, I've been watching guys I know, so I was interested to see some new guys. To me, this will be the test. Who can you recruit and bring to the table? Who's unique and interesting? The loincloths were somewhat new, but this is some new talent.

So, how'd it go?

Tiger faces a big challenge in Chris Cannon.

The Cave: The Adventures of SuperStar 14

This story is a reader commission

The Cave Locker Room

"Cody! Stop it. I'm tired. You're pushing me too hard today."

I smirk, "Well, something is too hard, but it's not me. Your cock is going to tear that thong right off. Just focus on what you're doing, Jae. You asked for my help. This is me helping."

"And I love you for it. But enough's enough."

Jae's fed up with me

Review: Jake Zane vs. Steve Tanner (Muscleboy Wrestling)

TRIGGER WARNING: ANTI-GAY LANGUAGE

You might notice the above warning. I got the idea from a comic book message board that I frequent. If they post offensive content, they give you a "trigger warning" so that you can decide if you want to look. I debated between hate speech or homophobia, but I wanted something that doesn't connote intent by the producer or performer. Anti-gay language feels more like an objective fact. It's not debatable that the language is used, regardless of the intent.

If you've been a follower of this blog for a while, you know that I strongly dislike this. It has impacted my willingness to purchase from certain companies and my enjoyment of certain videos. I have been choosing not to review certain videos because of it. I know some of you agree with me and I know many of you don't.

This isn't a debate, it's how I feel about it. Feel however you like.

Certainly gay-oriented wrestling video producers continue to prominently feature this kind of language in their products, even though it demeans their primary audience. Guido Genatto can't stop calling everyone a queen. UCW guys have been loving the 'no homo' stuff. And in this particular video from Muscleboy Wrestling, Jake Zane takes it up a few levels at 13:39, insulting a helpless Steve Tanner by calling him a pussy f*****.

Jake tries to bash Steve verbally and physically.

Review: Scrappy vs. Viking (Thunders Arena)

Viking: "I'm not the new guy. I'm THE guy. I'm the only guy."

We're just past the halfway point of my Cavey year (Dec 1 - Nov 30) and Thunders Arena has been on fire. And now, they add their latest giant, Viking. Wow, I love him already. He's my new favorite thing in the world. My NFTITW is a fleeting designation, but still an honor (in my mind, anyway).

I know, usually I do an intro to these posts before spoiling my reactions, but just wow.

It took me awhile to get to Viking, because Thunders Arena sent me so many videos in April. When I finally reached the point where I wanted to buy a few new ones, Viking was at the top of my list. I chose his matches with Scrappy and Mark Muscle, but I'll be going back for the rest soon.

Viking: "Who are you? Are you Bolt's pet? That's what
you look like. A smaller, wimpier version of Bolt."

Brett Barnes Part 2

And we're back with more of Brett Barnes. Part 1 was intended as a general introduction to Brett Barnes and Cyberfights. Today, I'm going to look more specifically at a few of my favorites of Brett's 40 singles matches, covering his transition over time.

It all began on Cyberfights #73
Brett Barnes v Cody Knight (CF 73)

Brett Barnes Part 1

Brett Barnes.

Sigh. With just those two words - Brett and Barnes - some of you may join me in a moment of quiet, joyful reflection. I fondly remember the adorable and fresh-faced blond fireplug from Texas who was just slightly ahead of his time, but certainly made a huge impact on me and many others.

Go on, ref, grab it. You know you want to.
Brett Barnes v Johnny Handsome (CF 112)

Review: Bruno vs. Masked Bruiser (Muscleboy Wrestling)

Back in late April, I had more wrestling than I knew what to do with. This also happened to be when a brand new group called Muscleboy Wrestling debuted. I did look at their site, saw some familiar faces and some new ones, but while I was interested, I wasn't going to spend money just to have a video sit on my hard drive. I've done that too often. However, as my backlog eased up, I finally got to check them out and buy something.

As it turns out, they're already on catalogue 2, which surprised me. With 15 videos in each catalogue, I think they're releasing too many videos, but that's me. It seems unsustainable. Maybe they're trying to build up a back catalogue. Not that it really impacts me, other than making it harder to choose where to start. Although even with 30 videos, the decision became really easy, really quickly.

Muscleboy Wrestling, you had me at loincloths.

Say what? It's a big and beefy jungle man battle.

The Cave Unleashed 3: Josh vs. Thor

Asgard Ranch, Northern California

Josh (me)

"Did you really think you could hide out forever, Doug?"

"I'm busy. What the fuck do you want, Josh?"

I smirk, "You know what I want."