Review: Austin Cooper vs. Scrappy (Wrestler4Hire)

Scrappy: What’s this I hear about my girlfriend?

Austin: I trained you. I figured I’d train her, too. I mean, it was a good time. She was a little bit easier to train than you were.

Once again, the two most frequently discussed wrestlers on this blog face off. This time, it's at Wrestler4Hire. Because I stream, it was an easy decision to check out Austin Cooper vs. Scrappy, just a couple of months after I watched them roam around the Thunders Arena house in a gut bashing melee. Luckily, this squash job in the ring is a lot different, so there's no feeling of familiarity.

Austin's proud of his training technique.

There's a story here. Scrappy’s pissed. Austin slept with his girlfriend. This is not the first time I've seen this type of story. Similar setups that I've reviewed include Jonny Firestorm vs. Kip Sorell (Kip cheating with Jonny’s friend’s boyfriend), Marco vs. Blayne (Marco’s girlfriend cheating with Blayne) and Billy Gunn vs. Kenny Star (dating the same guy). And there are ones I haven't reviewed like Mark Muscle vs. Iceman18 (Mark fucks girl Iceman likes). I'm not exactly sure what the appeal is, but I guess it's a way to create extra drama.

In this one, Austin's boldly upfront about his actions and pretty proud as though it's no big deal. Since they're very direct that Austin fucked Scrappy's girlfriend, the opening quote does create an interesting, but likely unintentional implication, since Austin trained them the same way. Hm. Anyway, it’s all pretty misogynistic, especially since Scrappy and Eliot talk about fucking Austin’s girlfriend for revenge as though she has no agency, but I’m not sure how many feminists watch W4H videos. It's not one of my triggers, but I figured I'd mention it. Anyway, the unapologetic Coop manages to be both 100% asshole and 100% idiot, an interesting combination.

In general, I find that the biggest problem with this common storyline is that it requires higher-level acting to be engaging. The performances here aren't painful like the Mark Muscle/Iceman18 one, but it's still a complex emotional story. The girlfriend drama never approaches real or intense for me. Now the student-teacher squash thing is a believable and achievable story.

Scrappy doesn't think this is funny.

Austin might want to rethink his attitude.

Crushing's too good for you, Austin!

Action-wise, there's quite a bit in this 25-minute squash as Scrappy methodically strips and breaks down the betrayer. It’s a lot of the usual stuff that you’d expect, all with that extra OOMPH of bitterness. There’s a rack, suplex, slams, chokes … you get it. There are three piledrivers, which are executed differently perhaps more safely, although maybe not. I'm cool with it either way, as you still get the essence of piledriver from them.

Austin needs to pay for his betrayal.

Scrappy's rage has made him even stronger.

Austin's the perfect weight for squats.

In a surprise cameo at the end, Elite Eliot (looking very tall in comparison to our fireplug studs) shows up to break things up then briefly gets his hands dirty. It's in the description, so I don't think it's a spoiler. This is both a blessing and a curse. It's cool as a fun cameo appearance. However, he's a better wrestler than Scrappy. Suddenly, the earlier action looks less impressive because Eliot is suplexing and powerbombing like a real pro stud and directing Scrappy like a drill sergeant. They never explain his presence or relationship to Scrappy. I added the idea that he's been teaching his bodybuilder buddy and that's how Scrappy crushed Coop, but that’s only in my head.

I kind of wish the pro had been there from the start. A 20-minute Eliot Elite vs. Austin Cooper squash sounds cool. Maybe Scrappy should've repurposed that $400 from Vegas that Cason returned.

Scrappy's relentless.

The piledriver's a little different, but still effective.

Elite Eliot shows up to liven up the final five minutes.

In the end, I enjoyed this, mainly for student Scrappy crushing teacher Coop. It works as a squash, but does get somewhat bogged down by an unnecessary storyline. Coop certainly knows how to job really well, suffering and selling like the superstar stud he is. And Scrappy plays the heel well, menacing and gleefully cruel. Eliot elevates things for a couple of minutes at the end, but his appearance is brief and he only executes two moves.

What are other bloggers saying?

BODYSLAMFAN: SCRAPPY

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

Alex