Review: Cason vs. Joey King (Thunders Arena)

Full disclosure: This video was provided to me by Thunders Arena.

The "tension" of this match is really relatable to me. When I'm writing stories, most of my characters are a lot younger than me. And the gap only gets wider as I age and they don't. Cody, for example, was 28 when he debuted in 2012 (80's baby) but now he won't turn 30 until 2020 at the earliest (90's baby). Someone who's first waking memory happened in the mid-1990's definitely won't use the same cultural references as I would.

In Cason vs. Joey King, things start out in the same way as Joey King is hit by the reality that his favorite Christmas movie came out 10 years before his opponent was even born.

It's Gen-X vs. Gen-Z at Thunders.

Cason is ridiculously sexy, but what I really love is that he is such a chill guy. He's so fun and easy-going, which makes him sexier than just his awesome body. I can see them telling him that they want him to wear the fishnet gloves and him shrugging those broad powerful shoulders, "Whatever, dude." Same with jobbing for Joey. I'm sure he was all, "Whatever, dude."

Joey King is less chill. Well, Joey the man is obviously pretty open to whatever, too, but I mean as a character. As a character, he's a pro wrestler who believes in certain things and is easily frustrated by rookies and wannabes. Cason is neither of those, but just being 21 is enough to set the hairy hunk off and motivate him to lay down the law.

Cason's feeling superior.

Joey understands fan service.

Cason and Joey King are two of Thunders' best and most reliable wrestlers. They've met before, in the ring (reviewed here), but that was early in Cason's career when he was in his introductory unbeatable muscle dude phase. Now that he's been at Thunders a year, wins and losses are as irrelevant as rules and coherent storytelling. Now, it's all about fun, sexy moments.

The fun here is provided by the generational disconnect as Joey's cultural references (e.g., Die Hard, Whitney Houston) fly right over the 21-year old muscleman's head. It's all played for laughs as Joey insists on explaining Die Hard to the young buck while he's dominating him. After Cason goes out the first time, the question is whether he was knocked out by a sleeper or boredom?

Joey puts a wrench in Cason's plans.
(A wrench. Get it?)

These gloves are made for choking,
and that's just what they'll do.
(Now there's a reference Cason would never get.)

Boys just wanna have fun.

The sexy moments are the wrestling moves. The "action" is extremely limited, but the slow-paced knockouts with the generational mocking works for me as a storyline. Joey is mostly dominant, although Cason gets a brief period on top, as well. The hairy pro wrestler knows how to dominate and Cason knows how to sell. The young stud looks amazing suffering and passing out as his superior muscles can't compete with King's superior skills. And I'm glad to see Joey recognize and exploit Cason's knee brace. That's good storytelling.

Kids are so lazy these days.

Cason knows that that's a gut worth punching.

Cason commits to selling.

In the end, this is as light-hearted and casual as it comes. Even the cameraman is laughing. If you want intensity, look elsewhere. If you want a fun video with an older hunk dominating younger muscle, this could be for you.

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

Alex