2018 Cavey Awards: Wrestlers

Welcome to the fourth annual Cavey Awards!

Each year of this blog, I've taken three posts to honor my favorite wrestlers, matches and promotions from the world of gay wrestling videos. Yes, every single man who puts himself out there and wrestles for us deserves recognition. Whether it's a stud that I rave about, one of the ones I don't, or the ones I've never even watched, you help keep this whole thing going. And I really appreciate every company that spends the money and time to release 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 favorites. 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. I respect your opinion.

The rules are simple:

1. Eligibility includes any and all videos purchased by me OR provided to me by producers for promotional purposes. My viewing in 2018 is what matters. If I didn't watch it, it obviously doesn't count. And there are no carryovers, lifetime awards or legacy picks.
2. Matches: I must have first watched the match between December 1, 2017 and November 30, 2018. It does not matter when the video was produced, released or purchased. It doesn't matter when or if I blogged about it. It is only the date of my first viewing that matters.
3. Wrestlers: I have seen all nominated and winning wrestlers in eligible action during the eligibility period. Only wrestlers who appeared in an eligible match (see above) were considered for an award. Wrestlers are judged ONLY on 2018 eligible matches and nothing else.
4. Promotions: I must have spent money with them during the eligibility period in order for the promotion to be considered. As well, the promotion can't have asked me or another blogger not to be covered. For the 2018 Caveys, there are a whopping 12 eligible promotions: BGEast, Black Wrestling Network, Can-Am, 88Wrestling, Krushco, Movimus, Muscle Domination Wrestling, Muscleboy Wrestling, Thunders Arena, UCW, Wrestler4Hire and Wrestlingmale.

In order to avoid any recency bias, I do look back at a lot of the videos that I watched earlier this year. In fact, 7/10 of my favorite matches happened in the first half of 2018 eligibility. Category-wise, I swapped some out to suit the year, as I usually do. So Favorite Hairy Hunk is no longer a category, while Favorite Jobber gets split and there are two new Muscle categories. You'll see what I mean.

If you think I missed something or someone that was awesome, tell me about it in the comments. If you want to share your favorites, the comment box is waiting for you. I'd love to read your opinions and it'll take you two seconds. Unless you're using Safari, in which case it might not work at all. It doesn't for me.

I always start with the guys who make it all happen - the studs in speedos who put it all on the line for our amusement. I think it was a rough year (as you'll see on Day 3), but there were way more than enough studs to do this three times over. These are just personal recognitions by me, so I hope they're not taken too seriously by winners or non-winners.

Who are my favorite wrestlers of 2018?

(1) Favorite Wrestler

Winner: Austin Tyler (Muscleboy Wrestling, UCW, Wrestler4Hire)

Wow, what a year for Austin Tyler. For me, he had the best match of 2018 at two different promotions (MBW, UCW) and just always showed up with a big performance. In fact, Austin aka Gorilla featured in my top four UCW favorites this year, including the two tag matches.

I reviewed Austin a whopping nine times this year as he proved to be one of the most reliable wrestlers in the business. I love his body - those thick legs, stuffed trunks and smooth strong torso - and that now-famous white gear. But mostly, I love his attitude and energy. Congratulations to the 2018 winner.

Congratulations Austin!

Yeah, hug your buddy, Austin.

Nick wants more? Me, too!

(2) Favorite Heel-Jobber

Winner: Ty Alexander (BGEast)

I decided to create a third category between heels and jobbers because I think there's more nuance to the category than the binary titles suggest. It was hard to compare one guy against another. I actually originally thought about just featuring this category with no separate heel and jobber choices, but once I mapped out wrestlers I wanted to recognize, I changed my mind.

Ty Alexander had a banner year. He was a mouthy doormat in his earlier-filmed matches, but in his newer ones, you can see how he's evolved into a more powerful badass who just happens to lose. He convincingly dominated Toney Rico and Brendan Byers for long stretches, plus the Trophy Boy out-heeled Jonny Firestorm at Wrestling with Pride. And that's what makes him my favorite heel-jobber.

Okay, that's the first qualification for this award.

And there's the second one.

Congrats, Ty!

(3) Favorite Face-Jobber

Ace Owens (Wrestler4Hire)

I went back-and-forth on this, but I'm happy with my selection. Ace played the good guy jobber beautifully this year. Even when he has an attitude, he's so cute that I think it's impossible for him not to be a hero. I love his hair (getting pulled), his silky smooth body (getting pummeled) and his adorable face (etched with pain). And of course, his tight little gold trunks at the end of the year cinched the deal.

Ace can hardly contain himself.

Winning for losing? Not everyone is impressed.

You're right, Max, Ace has earned a nap.

(4) Favorite Heel

Chase Addams (BGEast)

This is a tough division because it's debatable what makes a heel nowadays. And especially since I've differentiated between heels and heel-jobbers, who really belongs here? To me, Chase does. The guy is dominant, nasty and unencumbered by the rules. He delights in his work, which seems to be bending opponents like pretzels and making them beg for mercy. I watched him several times this year and he sure feels like a great heel to me.

A winning heel is creative.

A winning heel makes 'em scream.

A winning heel enjoys his job.

(5) Favorite Rookie

Alex Costa (Muscleboy Wrestling)

This is the most shocking result of the year in the wrestler choices. I was sure Cason would win. Like 100% sure. I actually would've lost a bet on it and I'm the one who makes the choices. What happened was this ... when I was looking at my favorite matches, Alex had several in contention right up until the end and one winner (find out which one tomorrow!), while Cason had none after the first cut. This made me re-think everything. And here we are.

Alex Costa is my favorite rookie of 2018, because of his amazing hairy body, his sweat, his personality and his wrestling. At first, I thought he was a one-dimensional jobber, but boy, he proved me wrong. The guy is delicious to watch, whether he's winning or losing. Every one of his videos was a winner, whether he was or not.

He's the right size, but no, Alex, he's not your Cavey.

Alex: "Want to get fucked by a Cavey winner?"

Bruno enjoys Alex's winning taste.

(6) Favorite Erotic Wrestler

Bruno the Beast/LaBestia (BGEast, Muscleboy Wrestling, UCW)

This was surprisingly easy once I looked at my favorites matches where he had two semi-finalists and one winner (find out which one tomorrow!). Bruno had some amazingly sexy erotic matches with Ty Alexander, Alex Costa and Ryan Sparks, but the guy oozes so much sex appeal that even his PG-rated match against Chase Addams felt incredibly sexy.

Guess what, Alex? Bruno's a winner, too.

Come on, Chase, Bruno's win doesn't diminish yours.

Ty's more than happy to celebrate with Bruno.

(7) Favorite Porn Crossover

Aspen (Muscleboy Wrestling, Thunders Arena)

This was a surprisingly hard choice. Until I started to work out these awards, I didn't realize just how many porn guys also worked hard to impress on the mat and in the ring. Most of them were at Muscleboy Wrestling, but there were a few spread all over the place. It's great to see them use their hard bodies for hard-hitting action, too.

Aspen stood out the most to me, because he really seemed to throw himself into the wrestling side of things. Not that standouts like Gabriel Cross, Derek Bolt and Quin Quire didn't, but Aspen added a few wrestling-only appearances against muscle studs like Brute, Joey King and Nick Flex, which I appreciated.

Smile big, Aspen. You're a winner.

Aw, a big happy hug.

Nick, don't hate. Aspen has to announce his win.

(8) Favorite Pro Crossover

Elite Eliot (Wrestler4Hire)

This one might seem counter-intuitive. After all, Austin Tyler is a pro crossover and my favorite wrestler of the year. How can he not be my favorite pro crossover? The reason is that Elite Eliot maintains that pro persona in his style and action, while in most of Austin's matches, he doesn't play it up. Am I splitting hairs? Maybe, but no matter how you slice it, Eliot deserves an award and I'm happy to give him one.

Eliot: "Hey, did you hear? I won a Cavey!"

Garrett: "What the fuck is a Cavey?"

Congrats to two winners.

(9) Favorite Young Muscle

Cason (Thunders Arena)

Well, in an upset, Cason didn't get my favorite rookie, but he certainly couldn't lose this award. What is this award? After all, age is just a number. The Young Muscle Cavey is about more than just age, it's about that youthful cockiness that certain wrestlers have. That "fuck, I'm amazing, I can do anything" arrogance that so many young studs have. It came to me as I thought about a heavyweights category and I was looking at Cason and Vinny. I realized how different they were and made it about age.

Cason is physical perfection, but more than that, he's cool, charming and always down for whatever comes along. The amazing hunk frequently referred to his age in relation to his muscles - "I'm only 20 and I look like this?" His swagger and looks combined to make him one of the most watchable and entertaining wrestlers of 2018.

As one of my 2018 favorite wrestlers who won't appear on my 2018 favorite matches list, I don't think he's had a signature bout yet, but he's had signature moments. Blayne's climb of shame. Bicep kisses (both ways). The pool in Vegas. Bolt's birthday party shenanigans. The Halloween Scream parody. I'm definitely look forward to a lot more from him.

Yep, that's a winner.

Dude, wake up ... Cason won!

Sorry, Scrappy, Caveys aren't for sale.

(10) Favorite Mature Muscle

Butch.J (Wrestlingmale)

And last, but certainly not least, the Mature Muscle Cavey. The counterpoint to the Young Muscle award. While many only value youth, these bodies are just as beautiful, just as watchable and just as lustable. But what sets them apart is that they carry themselves with a different kind of confidence. These guys have seen more, done more and have nothing to prove other than that they can kick your ass.

Of all my award winners, I watched Butch.J the least. It was only three matches, but what matches they were. I absolutely loved the hairy, beefy muscle stud this year. He more than held his own against hairy young bucks, dominating Muscle Beast and jobbing for Stefan. And no matter what, he's simply a gorgeous, confident slab of beef.

You won! You won! You won!

Uh, that's a trophy, Stefan, but not a Cavey.

Enjoy the hug then get back in the ring, big guy!

Congratulations, men. Ten Caveys handed out to ten deserving wrestling studs. You all deserve the recognition and appreciate your hard work this year.

Now, faithful reader, I need something from you. I only watch a small percentage of the videos put out every year. Who were your favorite wrestlers in 2018? Write your reactions and choices in the comments section. There's no right or wrong and it only takes a few seconds. Just be respectful of my choices and anyone else's.

Tomorrow, I will award Caveys to my top ten matches of 2018!

Alex