2019 Caveys: Promotions

And today is the final day of the fifth annual Cavey Awards.

Today, it's the promotions and producers. Rules are simple. I've spent money with each eligible promotion and watched at least one of their videos for the first time between 12/1/18 and 11/30/19. The promotion also needs to be open to being blogged about, which disqualifies one site where I bought some videos (featuring Jeff Clark and Dave Calbrese).

You might think that this should be the easy one, because there are so few options. The problem is that the options are incredibly unequal. There's probably no fair way to compare someone offering a ton of different videos in different settings with diverse talent and those that are more specialized. Or someone where I've seen two videos this year vs. someone where I've seen 20. BGEast and Krushco, for example, are completely different.

One of the ways I try to level the playing field is that I judge on my OVERALL experience, which includes several factors:

• Quality of every match I watched for the first time, not just the good ones
• Enjoyment of every match I watched for the first time, not just the good ones
• Appeal of their 2019 roster TO ME, in terms of personality, looks and talent
• Production quality of every video I watched for the first time, including video, audio, gear, setting
• Customer experience in 2019, including value (what I get for what I pay) and ease of doing business with them (e.g., distribution model)

The more focused guys still don't really get a fair shake, but I don't have a solve beyond just giving out like six awards, but then I might as well give one to everyone. I thought about creating two categories - full and focused, but classifying the groups made that challenging. This strategy would also work better in a year where I watched more videos from more companies, so maybe next year.

There are actually only nine eligible promotions this year, down from twelve last year.

• BGEast
• Can-Am
• 88Wrestling
• Krushco
• Muscleboy Wrestling
• Thunders Arena
• UCW
• Underground Wrestler
• Wrestler4Hire/Hero Hunks

Underground Wrestler is a new contender at the Caveys, while I did not purchase anything from Black Wrestling Network, Movimus, Muscle Domination Wrestling or Wrestlingmale in the past 12 months. That's not a slight. I came close to re-upping at BWN and there are some interesting looking videos at WM, but I had limited time to watch any more wrestling videos. It really is me, not them.

Last year was a rough year and I only gave out one award. This year, I think things were better but I was also more selective as I watch fewer videos in 2019. I'm handing out a Gold, Silver and Bronze, plus an honorable mention. Really, though, everyone had something worth celebrating.

So, on to the awards ...

Gold: Muscleboy Wrestling

Muscleboy Wrestling joins UCW as a repeat winner in this category. It's been a good year for the company across the board. Now that they're established, I know what I'm going to get but they're still surprising me on a regular basis in terms of talent, action and setting. One thing that hasn't changed is that they're doing a great job giving fans what we want.

MBW has perfected wrestling as foreplay with matches that are sexy and hard-hitting and fast-paced. It's this combination that makes them such a winner. And for me, their most erotic matches don't even include nudity or sex. I really like that this year, I noticed more matches where the wrestling kept going after the first sampling of eroticism (e.g., stripping, kissing, etc.). This made those matches a better balance.

On the talent front, MBW has awesome exclusives but what really amazed me was how superstars that I love elsewhere, like Scrappy, Brendan Byers and Austin Tyler, reach new and different levels in their tiny mat room. That's incredibly impressive. And they had some fun rookies, matching them up with the right opponents, gear and action for their skill set and interests.

Silver: Wrestler4Hire / Hero Hunks

Wrestler4Hire had a great year. I sample more videos from W4H than anywhere else because I stream. This gives me a chance to see videos I'd never buy and it's working out great. They have downloads, of course, but it's fun to see so many options and expand my comfort zone. Unique videos included the Scrappy/Dashing Dustin neck attack and the UK-based break-in scenario.

What really makes W4H a Cavey winner, though, is how they deliver on their primary skill set - showcasing pro wrestlers. Whether they're in private against each other or against underground wrestler and porn stars, they bring a unique vibe to the W4H scene. We get to see new sides to guys like Ace Owens, Elite Eliot, Caleb Klein, Garrett Thomas and Channing Travolta.

On the experience side, W4H made things easier by increasing the number of videos offered for streaming and abandoning the separate MAX site. It's amazing value and easy to use. And if I love a match, I can always download it. I've included Hero Hunks because the sites are basically the same. There are some really good videos like the Cavey Award winning Dark Detective vs. Vengeance.

Bronze: BGEast

This was a bounce-back year for the granddaddy of the gay wrestling video scene. There were a lot of winners this year and I watched fewer disappointments. Homegrown talent like Chase Addams, Ty Alexander, Brendan Byers, Ash DeLeon, Kirk Donahue, Calvin Haynes, and Kayden Keller all had good videos. Some of their best matches were clearly older and I can't think of a great rookie that debuted this year but that's not my business. All I know is that I really liked them.

BGEast also continues to have the best wrestling. Somehow, they just don't show the sloppiness that you see everywhere else. I really do appreciate their commitment to fast-paced, high-quality wrestling from pros, porn actors and regular guys hitting mats and rings.

Yes, I didn't really buy anything that wasn't at least good, but that's not entirely a compliment. I don't watch as much BGEast as I would like because they continue to hold onto DVD's and eschew downloads. It must be working for them but it doesn't work very well for me. At times, it's painful to do business with BGEast. It's why I often buy only 1-2 matches per catalogue, because that's all that's worth the effort it takes to give them my money.

Honorable Mention: UCW

When they're hot, they're the hottest. UCW is the main place that made me debate long and hard (no pun intended) about this year's awards. I compared it to the winners and while I couldn't put them ahead of any of them, I couldn't leave them out this year. To me, the highlights were Gabe Steel vs. Axel and the arrival of sexy new stud El Fuego. The ring is working out well and they do a great job with tag team action. In terms of experience, UCW is both affordable and efficient, which I also appreciate.

So, that's it for 2019. Nine wrestlers, ten matches and four promotions. It could be a lot more, so if you haven't already, make sure to tell me what I missed! I love reading what other guys would recognize if given the chance.

Alex