Review: Frey vs. Professor Muscles (Thunders Arena)

I watched Frey vs. Professor Muscles last year? It seems like ages ago. I was going to review it at the time, but after viewing, I just couldn't get interested enough to do it. However, after an off-hand remark in another review, an anonymous commenter (or maybe two) requested that I explain why I felt how I felt. And so, as a bit of fan service, I decided to write about it. It still took me a while to think of an angle, but I finally hit on something.

I bought this because I was really interested in the new muscleman because of his name and look, plus Frey is usually great with rookies. Unfortunately, things didn't work for me.

I bought it for the promise of Professor Muscles.

I don't get the impression that Professor Muscles is returning to Thunders Arena. He appeared in two videos then went on his merry way to be a bodybuilder. I can't say that I miss him, like at all, but every wrestler has fans and I wish him luck. Physically, he fits at Thunders. He's short (5'8") with a smooth powerful physique. He looks good in his shiny and skimpy posers as he shows off his beefy muscle. So, from an appearance standpoint, he's a winner.

The biggest challenge for me was the complete lack of chemistry here. The guys didn't work well together. The holds are few, basic and repetitive, but I've gotten past that before. It's the personality chemistry where things fall apart hard. The new muscleman comes across as confused and not ... uh, let's just say not professorial? It feels stilted and he verbally stumbles around. Frey doesn't help by emphasizing every mistake, which reinforces that this guy is no professor.

In the end, I was actually kind of embarrassed listening to this video and that negatively impacted the entire experience. Even with the sound off, you're still left with a basic rookie intro video and Thunders has made way better ones of those.

It takes more than glasses to make a professor.

Frey hides his shame at having to sell this non-hold.

C'mon, teach someone something, Professor!

And so, I figured I could break from my usual format and use this post to explain how this might've worked better for me. Not that I'm some expert. There's a saying in football that coaches who listen to the fans end up sitting with the fans. It's the same with comic books where fans have a lot of terrible ideas and creators are better off ignoring them. I get that, but I'm going to give my POV anyway, because why not?

Now, I'm not opposed to the idea of a character named Professor Muscles. In fact, I think there's a ton of potential in the name, which combines two things that society often portrays as opposites - brains and brawn. Love it. And I'm not opposed to this particular muscleman, either. Like I said, he appealed to me enough to buy this video. It's the combination that throws me for a loop. A wrestler by any other name just does not make as much sense.

Is there a way to make a bearhug seem smarter?
If there is, we'll never see it in this video.

Frey's elbow is the most creative move in the video.

Don't get me wrong ... basic is not necessarily bad,
if the chemistry is there.

You can't just throw glasses on a strong guy and call him Professor Muscles. Well, you can, but it distracts me and is a bit of false advertising. What is a professor? He should be smart. He could be book smart or ring smart or mat smart, but I think he should come across as clever and ingenious. Here, we see brawn, but not the brains. Scrappy bragged about using  science as the way to take down Viking. That's a Professor Muscles moment right there.

Scrappy's scientific method might not exactly
 earn him a MacArthur Fellowship ...

... but it was smart enough to change the odds.
Just ask Viking.

So what I would've done differently was set up my Professor Muscles as a guy who outsmarts his opponents as much as he outmuscles them. Have him use creative holds and leverage to attack joints or stress points. And know how to reverse and counter things using a combination of his strength and intelligence. Get a good talker with great skills. Easy, right? No, I get that it'd be a tall task, but that's not my department. I'm ideas, not execution.

Okay, there are the muscles ...

... but where's the Professor?

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

Alex