Four Years

Well, another year of blogging has come and gone. Well, not "gone", because all the posts are right there, but you know what I mean. I'm always proud of making it another year and this year is no different.

Long-time readers know this all started as a place to post my stories for what I believed was about 20 guys who read them on Bard's story group. There are a few more readers than that now with thousands of views every day (I can officially move from saying hundreds to thousands that now that I’ve consistently surpassed an average of 2,000 daily views for the past few months).

Why is this tweet leading my anniversary post?
Read and find out!

Story Preview: March 2019 (WARNING: SPOILERS)

It's time for another story preview. Spoilers abound!

The Cast: Who's Who (February 2019)

Guys,

Just a couple of newbies this month, but some new images of familiar faces.

The Cave Unleashed 9: Miguel vs. Pete

Miguel = Raul Lledo (Model)

Gold

Gold isn't just for award statues. It's for faces and heels, dominating and jobbing. Check out these golden winners from the wrestling world and my choices (not predictions) for Oscar gold ...

Best Picture:
Bohemian Rhapsody 

Review: Krush vs. Blaze (Krushco)

There’s a new Blaze in town and he's popping up at Krushco. Even though he’s also wearing gold trunks, he likely won’t be confused with the BGEast Blaze (reviewed against Mike Colombo here). No, this Blaze is his own man and one I was also attracted to as soon as I saw him. He proves his mettle by holding his own against Krush on the mats in this aggressive choke-driven submission battle.

No, not this Blaze ...

... it's a brand new Blaze from Krushco.

Review: Austin Cooper vs. Vasily Volkov (BGEast)

I was really excited to see Austin Cooper vs. Vasily Volkov on the latest BGEast catalogue. I was more than a little worried that big Vasily Volkov would be the subject of a future one-hit wonder post. The gorgeous hunk of Russian beef has been absent for over three years and a whopping 22 catalogues. Now, lucky number 23 saves the day as he comes back in a Ringwars match. Yay! Was it worth the wait?

Big musclemen battle it out.

Review: Alex Costa vs. Derek Bolt (Muscleboy Wrestling)

Full disclosure: This match was sent to me by Muscleboy Wrestling.

I've said this before, but one of the biggest challenges when I'm writing my stories is when I have two superstar characters facing off. It's why obvious battles like Cody vs. Beau or Ryan vs. Josh have been on my list every year and always get put off. It adds a lot of pressure because of the expectations and it feels like it has to be 'epic' in some way.

Honestly, I wasn't really clamoring for Alex Costa vs. Derek Bolt, but it's definitely a battle of superstars. And so, I dropped everything the same night this showed up in my inbox.

There's a lot of MAN in that ring.

Rival Pro Wrestling 4: Kerry O'Shea vs. Rico Bandana

Rival Pro Wrestling Arena. 1982.

Narrator: Slim Jim

'Slim' Jim Bartlett

“Once again, El Presidente has interfered in a match, targeting a talented wrestler whose only crime is that he won’t bend over for the boss. I’m sorry, fans. It was a real barn burner, too. I ask you, Jimmy ‘The Genius’ He-man, when will these intimidation tactics end? Don’t fans deserve to see a fair fight and a clean victory?”

Happy Valentine's Day 2019

Oh here it comes
That funny feeling again, winding me up inside
Every time we touch

Review: Masked Mayhem (Wrestler4Hire)

What good is a ring or mat if you don't have anyone to wrestle with? I often wonder this when I see a match start with the "this is my ring/mat, get lost" premise. It's a common trope in gay wrestling videos, but you'd think these selfish fellows should be happy to have someone come along who's looking to roll around with them. Fortunately, no one ever says, "Oh, sorry, I'll come back later."

In this match from Wrestler4Hire, the ring owner should be very happy. Two classic looking masked jobbers show up and he gets to play with both of them. Why so angry, Teal Justice? Enjoy it!

I don't get why Teal Justice doesn't want to share his
ring, especially with smooth young masked jobbers.

Reviews: Chase Squashed! (Underground Wrestler)

As I've been exploring Underground Wrestler, I've noticed a trend when it comes to uber-sexy stud Chase. Someone likes seeing him get knocked out. A lot. I don't know if it's multiple custom video commissioners with the same idea or one passionate guy, but Marco's making serious bank off the bearded blond hunk's narcolepsy.

I obviously get the appeal. Chase reminds me of a hockey player or college quarterback with his scruffy look over a tall-ish and chiseled body. I decided to summarize the three videos I've seen with Chase getting squashed and knocked out, to share the differences and maybe help you decide which one you'd like most.

Somebody really likes Chase getting knocked out.

Review: Alex Costa vs. Joey McCoy (Muscleboy Wrestling)

Full disclosure: The video was provided to me by Muscleboy Wrestling.

It’s nice to know that I can keep being surprised. Alex Costa vs. Joey McCoy looked familiar. It started familiar. Big hairy hunk versus much smaller boyish jobber is an age-old story. I own many versions of it, including Alex Costa vs. Armond Rizzo (review here), also from Muscleboy Wrestling. And yet, it wasn’t familiar. Thanks to two brilliant performances and stunning action, this becomes an amazing match that is (one of) the best ever with this story.

Alex is bigger and badder,
but Joey is a tough little guy.

Review: Kenny Starr vs. Luke Reel (BGEast)

TRIGGER WARNING: LANGUAGE

So, right off the bat, let me explain the trigger warning. Luke uses 'gay' as a pejorative to describe meditation multiple times. Now, you may subscribe to the whole 'we can use it' theory, but I do not. It surprises me when I hear 'gay' used in a negative context in 2019 and who says it doesn't change my reaction. Anyway, that's what the trigger warning is all about.

Kenny Starr vs. Luke Reel features two very different BGEast rookies going at it during some down time at the famous northeast headquarters. It's actually pretty cute and fun, with Luke Reel playing an annoying and persistent guy who really wants attention from Kenny Starr and will do anything to get it.

Luke wants attention.

Review: Cason vs. Cap (Custom Series) (Thunders Arena)

Alex: It seems to me that a lot of custom video commissioners like seeing their favorites squashed. Is that your experience? If so, why do you think that is?

Marco: I would agree with that. They usually focus on the guy that they want to be the jobber. I think they connect with how the wrestler sells the pain, or on the other hand, how the jobber secretly loves the pain and asks for more in a non-verbal way.

We sure do like to hurt the guys we love, don't we? In my Q+A with Marco, he confirmed my long-held belief that commissioners are way more focused on who the jobber is and how he'll get crushed than they are about heel. Obviously, there's an art to punishing a guy that most of us appreciate, but when our money is on the line, it's all about that suffering stud.

One of my favorite thing about Thunders' commissions is the frequency of revenge themes. Guys love to use their money to bring down the big boys at the hands of the little guys. And so, when a Cason fan plunks down his hard-earned money to see him take a dive, it's a perfect scenario to give Cap his revenge on his bigger alpha male bro Cason.

It's a relationship reversal as Cap gets to own Cason.

The Cave Unleashed 9: Miguel vs. Pete

Two Years Ago. 24/7 Fitness. Los Angeles CA.

“You need the rack, kid?”

I hesitate then say, “Yeah, yeah. The rack. Uh, thanks.”

Uh, yeah, I guess I need to work in.