2017 Year in Review + 2018 Preview

Well, 2017 is pretty much done. It's year-end retrospective time at The Cave. Obviously, there's a ton of craziness in the world, especially for those of us living in the US, but my Canadian passport and proximity to the border gives me some level of comfort. And it's even resulted in a few marriage proposals (at least until the guys find out I'm staying put). Yes, Canada is cool these days.

Being Canadian became
cool(er) this year.

Anyway, this post is about the blog and there's only room for happy stuff in a year-end post. Accomplishments? Things I'll remember about this year? Here's a few ...

The Cast: Who's Who (December 2017)

Guys,

Last casting post of the year! So many guys this year, but as the cast develops, there are more and more repeats that I have to use. Still, I did get in a few new guys, like this month's Porter and Travis. And I love Koke, so I'm glad to have gotten him in action again.

Encounters: Model Roommates

Porter = Pietro Boselli (Model)

Review: Taylor Reign vs. Travis Bennett (Muscleboy Wrestling)

Of course I like it when producers come out with a ton of videos, but with so many options, it's easy to miss things. I haven't even really looked at Muscleboy Wrestling's fifth catalogue, still mired in the earlier rounds. During their last sale, I went exploring and like Christopher Columbus, I discovered something a ton of people knew about before me.

In this case, what I discovered was Taylor Reign vs. Travis Bennett. It's quite different than my previous MBW videos, but it's also really good.

Young bucks make like bulls to start this gem.

The Bat + SuperStar in "Toying with Trouble"

Outside Toyboy's Lair

“Ready?”

“Ready.”

“Let's go.”

I take a step forward, but SuperStar grabs me by the bicep. I can't move against his yellow sun-enhanced alien strength. I scowl as he asks, “Don't you think I should go first?”

My eyebrow raises under my cowl. I simply reply, “No.”

Review: Brute vs. Viking (Thunders Arena)

Viking vs. Brute is the second Thunders Arena match I recently purchased with the gorgeous 6'6" Viking against another big man. I've already reviewed Viking vs. Mack (review here), but this one was worthy of its own post. I fell in love with Viking from the first match I watched with him and that continues to know. Does this break his winning streak? Nope. It's a winner, too.

Thunders brings more big boys to the ring.

Review: Kid Karisma vs. Jobe Zander (BGEast)

A few days ago, Kid Karisma won my Favorite Heel at the Caveys for the second year in a row. Now the BGEast superstar is already out with another winning performance, angling for Favorite Wrestler, perhaps. He's pretty much a must-buy at this point, so Kid Karisma vs. Jobe Zander is one of the matches I've been waiting to make it onto VOD.

It's a bad boy bulge battle from BGEast.

2017 Cavey Awards: Promotions

Welcome to the third and final day of the 2017 Cavey Awards.

I've given awards to my favorite wrestlers and matches. Now, I recognize my favorite producers. This year, I'm singling out three promotions with gold, silver and bronze awards. I judge this based on my overall experience, including quality of wrestling action and video, appeal of their talent, as well as customer experience, including value (what I get for what I pay) and ease of doing business with them (e.g., distribution model).

2017 Cavey Awards: Matches

It's day two of the 2017 Cavey Awards.

Today, we're focusing on the matches. Even pairing the best wrestlers doesn't mean the match will be a winner. So here are my favorites where hot studs combined to produce magic. I shared the rules yesterday, but as a reminder, matches are eligible if I watched them for the first time between December 1, 2016 and November 30, 2017.

2017 Cavey Awards: Wrestlers

Welcome to the third annual Cavey Awards.

I really appreciate every single man who puts himself out there and wrestles for us. And that includes the guys I rave about, the ones I don't and the ones I've never even watched. And I really appreciate every company that releases gay-oriented wrestling videos. All of the wrestlers and producers are amazing and I know that all have fans who would give them an award.

The Caveys are simply my way to recognize a few of MY personal favorite wrestlers, matches and promotions for the year. I use the word ‘favorite’ deliberately. I don't claim these are the ‘best’. That suggests some kind of objective standard and ranking. These are 100% subjective and 100% mine. And I doubt anyone will agree with me on all of these. And that's cool. These are simply my favorites based on my feelings about what I watch this year.

CLAW 3: Koke vs. Max ‘Big Daddy’ Dickens

This story is a reader commission

CLAW Ring: Practice Time

“Hey, I'm a big fan, Mr. Dickens.”

Ignoring my buddy’s hand, the masculine hunk sneers, “Of course you are. You got the ring all set up? I like the ropes real tight and you amateur crew usually leave 'em too loose.”

Koke looks back at the ring then at me then back at Max. He says, "I'm not crew. I'm a wrestler. Name's Koke."

Max lets out a snort, "A speedo and dreams don't make you a wrestler, kid." The indie pro star flexes his biceps, "Muscles, personality and talent makes you a wrestler. You don't have the first two, so I'm betting you don't have the skills either."

I grab Koke by the shoulder and squeeze before he responds, making sure he stays calm as he's insulted by Max “Big Daddy” Dickens. My name’s Kwame. My buddy and me are pro wrestlers for the Championship League of American Wrestling or CLAW for short. We're new to the game, but we're learning fast thanks to our boss, Ben.

My buddy Koke

Review: Myles Morales vs. Sam Reddy (Movimus)

We headed back to the mat. Myles Morales vs. Sam Reddy from Movimus caught my eye for a few reasons. Both these guys are new to me, but I was attracted to their contrasting looks and body types. So when I found myself in the mood for some simple, classic submission action with no gimmicks, this one scratched that itched.

It's a battle of the body types on the mats.

Review: Steel vs. Frey Custom Series (Thunders Arena)

Sometimes people hurt the ones they love, right? I'm pretty sure whoever commissioned this custom Steel vs. Frey match loves the stunning young muscle god, but what a way to show it. Not that I'm judging. I love Steel and bought this from Thunders Arena pretty much right away when I saw it was Frey relentlessly wrecking him. So I get it.

And it was the right decision.

It's all downhill for Steel as Frey dismantles him.

Review: Krush vs. Lionel (Krushco)

It's a crazy end to the year on the wrestling scene. Everyone is putting out incredibly hot stuff all at the same time. Like this season wasn't expensive enough already, now you could easily spend hundreds of dollars just buying all the great action. It might take me until March to catch up on it all.

With all the amazing options available, two things drew me to buy Krush vs. Lionel from Krushco: Krush's opponent and the premise.

Krush and Lionel make the most of a
simple, clear and exciting premise. 

Review: Jonny Firestorm vs. Kirby Stone (BGEast)

No sooner did I upload a review commenting that the matches I want are always last to be uploaded to VOD than I go to BGEast and see two of the matches I want are available. This happened a couple of weeks ago, so I could've changed Sunday's post, but I figured I'd leave it. It was true at the time I wrote it and the broader point stands.

Of the two, I decided to watch Jonny Firestorm vs. Kirby Stone second, but review it first. Why? Well, it's the far better one. More than that, it's great on its own merits. Yes, I expected it to be good, but it's even better than I thought it would be, so I was immediately motivated to pull clips and post.

Jonny and Kirby face off in a intense pro battle.

Review: Viking vs. Mack (Thunders Arena)

It's nice to see Thunders Arena taking preparedness to a new level after Hurricane Irma. They have one Viking, but still went out and got themselves a spare. Smart. Viking's new doppelgänger is called Mack, like the truck brand. It makes sense to avoid confusion, although I might've gone with Viking 2 or Bizarro Viking.

Anyway, I was intrigued by the idea of seeing OG Viking battle this new Viking 2 dude, so I jumped at Viking vs. Mack. How did it go? Is it possible to have too much Viking? And what of my love for contrasts between wrestlers? No worries. This one worked out very, very well.

You can never have too many Vikings.

Review: Ty Alexander vs. Steve Mason (BGEast)

It's been about a year since I've been interested in more than three matches from a new BGEast catalogue, but the new catalogue 123 has four that I'm quite interested in seeing and three more I'm semi-interested in. Naturally, the ones I want most aren't available on VOD, yet. BGEast always seems to know which matches I'm most interested in and puts them up last. Perhaps it's an illusory correlation, but this time it's true.

While I wait, I decided to check out Ty Alexander vs. Steve Mason from catalogue 122. This wasn't on my initial list as it feels like I haven't bought a Wrestleshack match in a decade or more, but I like Ty and Steve seems cute, so I decided to give it a try. So how'd it go?

Steve's a handful for a dominant Ty.

Encounters: Model Roommates 1

This story is a reader commission.

Porter and Travis' Apartment. Los Angeles CA.


>“Just another couple of days, Porter. Next week at the latest. I swear I've got the money coming. I just got this booking for an underwear gig. What do you think?”

Me. Travis.

The Cast: Who's Who (November 2017)

Guys,

It was a busy month with two long-awaited singles debuts, an all-time favorite against a hot newcomer and a fan fiction encounter between two popular bodybuilders. You likely already know all but one of these guys, but a lot of the images are new.

The Cave Undercard 18

Paul/Storm = Daniel Rumfelt (Model)

Review: Duke Russo vs. Robert Biggs (Movimus)

So, Thursday is the cutoff for the 2017 Cavey Awards. If I haven't watched a match by then, it'll be eligible for next year, not this year. Duke Russo was co-winner of my Favorite Wrestler for 2016. So far, 2017 has been a quiet year for him with just 1.5 videos, but now he's back with a scorcher, getting in right under the wire.

Duke is back.

Fan Fiction 1: Brody vs. Ram (Part 5 of 5)

This story was written by Anonymous featuring characters from The Cave.

The Cave Unleashed: Brody vs. Ram

Round 4: Spear vs. Club

(Brody bending over to remove his posing trunks)

Brody tossed the Ram mask over to the corner where his faux-denim Country Boy trunks hung. "Then it's time for the grand unveiling," Brody stated. "We start by getting naked."

Fan Fiction 1: Brody vs. Ram (Part 4 of 5)

This story was written by Anonymous featuring characters from The Cave.

The Cave Unleashed: Brody vs. Ram

Round 3: Bodybuilder vs. Bodybuilder

Brody vs. Ram

Both men removed their shoes for the last round to compete in as little clothing as possible. Brody again suggested they compete nude, but Ram argued that Brody had seen him naked in his Cave videos while he had never seen Brody in the buff. Until then, Ram said he preferred to leave a little something to the imagination until he beat Brody and stripped him, causing Brody to laugh.

Before the two men entered the ring, Brody picked up his Country Boy trunks and Ram's mask from his chair, leaving Ram's gauntlets behind.

Fan Fiction 1: Brody vs. Ram (Part 3 of 5)

This story was written by Anonymous featuring characters from The Cave.

The Cave Unleashed: Brody vs. Ram

Round 2: Cowboy vs. Man-Beast

Brody aka Cowboy Chris Steele vs. Ram

"What's this?" Ram asked with an amused expression.

"I wasn't sure if we were going to work on gimmicks or not, so I wore my trunks from Rival just in case,” Brody said. “Y’all say howdy, now, to one half of the Rival Pro Wrasslin’ tag team champions, The Country Boys: Cowboy Chris Steele!" he added, now fully embracing and even exaggerating the country drawl he thus far worked so hard to conceal.

"It won't make a difference," Ram snorted.

"You betcha it will! We milk goats all the time on the farm, and that's all a ram is – just a big ol' billy goat," Brody twanged, then added in a much more serious tone, "Prepared to be MILKED, boy."

Fan Fiction 1: Brody vs. Ram (Part 2 of 5)

This story was written by Anonymous featuring characters from The Cave.

The Cave Unleashed: Brody vs. Ram

Round 1: Athlete vs. Athlete

Brody vs. Ram

"So how do you want to go about this, man?" Brody asked. "Do you want me to show you how to do some moves?" "Let's just start and see where things take us," Ram said, bouncing his pecs at his new rival.

Brody smiled. "If you think you got what it takes," he warned, bouncing his pecs in return. "Do you want to change into some workout clothes or something?" he asked.

"I'm good like this," Ram replied. "Wrestling in our skivvies!" Brody grinned. "Is that OK with you?" Ram asked.

"You're asking a guy who wrestles semi-professionally in public wearing only a Speedo if practicing wrestling moves in private wearing boxer-briefs is OK?" Brody asked rhetorically. "Heck, this is downright modest compared to my usual gear!"

Fan Fiction 1: Brody vs. Ram (Part 1 of 5)

This story was written by Anonymous featuring characters from The Cave.

The Cave Unleashed: Brody vs. Ram

Saturday Afternoon

"Hell yeah – that's what I'm talkin' about!"

Having just finished a phenomenal workout, Brody admired the results of his efforts. Standing shirtless in front of the locker room mirror, his muscles pumped and glistening with the sweat of a heavy lifting session, he struck pose after pose with his 5'10", 230-lb frame. A lifetime of athletics – beginning with gymnastics at a young age, to wrestling in middle school, to powerlifting in high school, and finally bodybuilding post-graduation – created a body for him few men could achieve.

Brody.

Fan Fiction Starting Tomorrow!

Guys,

Some of you might remember that in the comments of The Cave Undercard 18: Ace vs. Moneymaker an anonymous reader mentioned that he did his own story using a couple of my popular, but under-utilized Cave characters. Specifically, it's an encounter between Brody and Ram. After some scrambling on his part to fit within my ever-changing broader narrative, it's now set about a week before before Rival Pro Wrestling 2: Country vs. Cave.

Brody

Ram

Folks were curious, especially when I mentioned it was 147 pages long. Well, after almost a year of work on this anonymous reader's part (he started last December, shortly after The Cave Undercard 14: City vs. Country), he gets to see his creation published starting tomorrow morning and curious site visitors get a bonus story to read.

The reader wants to remain anonymous, but he really went above and beyond, even sending me a revised version after my October stories posted. Anonymous also included over 124 images, but they were unedited and I simply couldn't help with that. So, Anonymous taught himself photo-manipulation and spent 100+ hours changing them himself! Wow.

With so much passion, dedication and creativity, I wanted to share this story with all of you. Due to the length, I'm posting it over the next five days. It works, because there are natural breaks at almost equal lengths. This also seemed like a perfect window. It's right in between my stories. Plus, in the US, this is Thanksgiving week, so 57%* of you will have more time to enjoy a daily entry (*source: Google Analytics).

Please enjoy and please comment!

Alex

PS. Anonymous even did a fancy disclaimer, something I've never even done. I've included it here and at the bottom of every chapter. Some of the names are familiar sources of enjoyment and inspiration to me, but a lot are not. Guess I have some googling to do.

Randomness (Thunders Arena Edition)

After the success of my Twitter-focused randomness post, I was going to do a Tumblr one, featuring pics like this:

Why jobbers are jobbers. For the view.

Anyway, Thunders Arena was going to be a big part of that story, because their Tumblr account is awesome. So instead, I decided to do an entire post about random Thunders thoughts. They have two great things that you need in your life, if you don’t have them already.

Review: Marco vs. Blake Starr (Wrestler4Hire)

I will freely admit that my enjoyment of this Wrestler4Hire video is mostly due to personal nostalgia. Does that mean you won't like it? No. Does it mean you will? No. I'll explain what this video is and why I like it then you can decide for yourself.

Marco's casual as he wrecks this rookie.

Review: Scrappy vs. Steel (Thunders Arena)

With Thunders Arena's sales, I often buy videos in bunches to get the savings then they sit. I've owned Scrappy vs. Steel for a really long time, but somehow it got lost in my collection until now. Surprising, given the talent involved, but a lucky bonus for me now that I've re-discovered it. Yay!

Steel and Scrappy fit together nicely.

The Cave Unleashed 5: Bird Boy vs. Cage

This story is a reader commission

Outside The Cave Facility

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Who the fuck are you?"

The huge black bodybuilder ignores me as he shuts off his phone and puts it away. I guess this is the guy I was just talking to, but who is he? He slams the door of his big black SUV then casually slips the strap of his bag over his shoulder. It cuts over his bare big fat pecs. The 35-year old guy is probably 6'1"/230-lbs with wide shoulders and thick arms. His jeans are stretched tight over tree trunk legs and a huge fat ass. There's a big bulge in front, too.

Who the fuck is this?

Review: Mike Columbo vs. Blaze (BGEast)

I've never fully reviewed a Mike Columbo match, but he's one of my all-time favorites. After my quick summary of his match in BGEast's Hunkbash 3, it's been in the back of my head to give Mike his due. It's tough with a mega-superstar, because there are so many choices. After some debate, I finally decided on one of my favorites, Blaze vs. Mike Columbo from Demolition 4.

When is a ring match not a ring match?

Review: Coop/Jake vs. Ethan/Jason Kane (RHW 1.0)

Now that Rock Hard Wrestling is officially defunct and replaced (my post here), we can't be sure how long its website will be up and running. So I figure I better have what I want before the cost outweighs the income. Luckily, I probably have everything I want, including every Jake, Bruce, Dash and Alex solo match.

During the recent Jake Jenkins sale, I completed my Jake collection adding the four tag team matches that I had previously skipped. Out of all those tag matches, I decided to review Coop/Jake vs. Ethan/Jason for some variety and nostalgia. Coincidentally, it's also the "Encore Presentation" right now.

Three huge stars in one match!
Jake plays the concerned partner perfectly.

Review: #550 Chase Michaels vs. Max Ryder (UCW)

In the comments for my Austin Tyler vs. Erik the Viking review (here), I received two recommendations for other matches. Chase Michaels vs. Max Ryder was the second one. It's another UCW video in the classic style with a couple of twists - one at the start and the other at the end - that were inspired by a reader of this this blog.

Chase and Max go for it.

Review: Dash Decker vs. Tanner Hill (88Wrestling)

Full disclosure: This video was provided to me.

Dash Decker vs. Tanner Hill pits RHW 1.0 against RHW 2.0, but proves to me that 88 Wrestling is more than just a re-branded Rock Hard Wrestling. Like Tanner's first match in the promotion, it breaks from the standard format, challenging my assumptions and keeping me on my toes. And it does it while still delivering a really good video that I enjoyed a ton.

Dash vs. Tanner is the best 88 Wrestling
video I've seen so far.

Review: Bruno the Beast vs. Steve Tanner (Muscleboy Wrestling)

Steve Tanner is kind of like this year’s Biff Farrell. He's a big, seemingly capable wrestler who could be tough, but fate has cast him as a jobber. In Biff’s case, I think it was his all-American good looks and fireplug physique that just looked so poundable. In Steve’s case, I'm 100% convinced that it's his preference. After watching multiple videos with him, the guy likes being dominated. If he doesn't, he's an amazing actor.

Bruno the Beast has a new plaything in Steve Tanner.

The Cave Undercard 19: Storm vs. Valet

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

The Cast: Who's Who (October 2017)

Guys,

Well, it was all returning studs this month. Corey and Ramsay managed to get in twice, while Ryan, Brody and Buck saw their first action in almost a year.

The Cave Unleashed 4

Ramsay = Nick Sandell (Model)

 

Review: Dozer vs Eagle x 2 (Thunders Arena)

I pulled some images from these two matches a while back, but never got around to posting about the videos. Even though these two videos feature the same guys, they're pretty different. One is a typical Thunders Arena. The other is a short specialty taste featuring some tickling and very, very light and brief bondage.

Match 1 is a familiar scene ...

... while Match 2 stretches things a little.

Review: Chet Chastain vs. Mark Muscle w/Brendan Cage (Wrestler4Hire)

Today, I'm covering a video from Wrestler4Hire featuring what I'd call a specialty taste, but it's likely one with broad appeal. Why? Well, it's based off a classic pro wrestling trope. You'll know the one. The one where the evil rich guy (e.g., a promoter, manager, etc.) uses hired muscle to hurt the handsome face. The one where an emotionless brute for hire uses his superior muscle to abuse a cute young stud for his employer's enjoyment. Yeah, that one.

If this scenario appeals to you, you'll likely love this video. The talent and elements of that story are all pretty much here and Chet makes a great victim.

Brendan: "It's nice to be rich. Just have people do what
I want them to do. Like kick your little pussy ass."