The Cast: Who's Who (April 2020)

Guys,

Things continue to be nuts but safe, which is the most important thing. Only one new stud this month, but he's a beast and one of my favorite Twitter follows. Trace Trainer aka Foster Longhorn is also the subject of my "Editing Images 101" page, all in prep for this story! I did not include the transformations for the secondary characters this month as I didn't create new pics for them.

The Cave Undercard 30

Luke/Super Soldier = Logan Franklin (Model)

Review: Brendan Byers vs. Rex Brody (Muscleboy Wrestling)

Well, given that I, like many of you, are now on lockdown until June, it seems like we all need some good vibes. There are a lot of things that can make a good wrestling video for me. Some are internal, like my mood, and some are external, like the quality of the action. One of the biggest things for me is the chemistry between the wrestlers.

Muscleboy Wrestling clearly gets the chemistry right in Brendan Byers vs. Rex Brody.

What the world needs now.

Review: Johnny Lightning vs. Paul Perris (BG/Can-Am)

Well, my image problem was sort of resolved. If you don't know what I mean, on Saturday, many of my images disappeared and access to my albums was restricted. It hit more than just me, based on the cries for help over at the Blogger community help center. Still, being in the unlucky group is not a feeling I want during a pandemic. Yes, I know one thing has nothing to do with the other, but it's the symbolism. They were "aware and working on it" but once I could access my images again, I manually re-posted them in every post affected in 2020. I didn't go back before that because it seemed to impact recent posts only and it was both time-consuming and depressing.

Anyway, I'm back and with another old school Johnny Lightning match.

Two classic superstars meet in the ring.

Review: Brute Baynard vs. Zip Zarella (BGEast)

I'll be honest. I really don't get real masochism. However, seeing Zip Zarella play a cocky jobber boy with obvious masochistic tendencies in this video is fun. It's fun because I totally get the idea of wanting to make any match with Brute Baynard last as long as possible. Even if that means being ruthlessly manhandled over and over again. Or maybe, especially if it means that.

Zip's just begging for more punishment.

The Cave Unleashed 13: Beau vs. Buck vs. Foster Longhorn

Backstage: After the Foster Longhorn Concert

“That was incredible. ‘Preciate the invite, Buck.”

“You’re welcome, Beau. Nice to hang with another country music fan. Haven’t met any in LA, yet. And, selfishly, you kept me from feeling like a third wheel with Brody and Ram.”

Review: Kayden Keller vs. Rolf Fulton (BGEast)

You know, I really do like this Heel Bash series at BGEast. There's something fun and exciting about the whole thing, especially since at BGE, heel is usually synonymous with toughness and winning. There are a few babyface tough guys, but for the most part, the studs who dominate the matches are the ones who push the envelope, bend the rules and show contempt for rules and societal norms. And the series also answers those "who's the better heel" debates. Who are the real heels and who should stick to picking on prettyboys?

One guy gets some redemption.
One guy gets exposed (metaphorically) as a faux heel.

Review: AJ Johnson vs. Rob Palomino (Spotland Scrappers)

WARNING: This is my most visually deceptive review ever!!!

For those of you who just look at the images ... well, you probably aren't reading this, so I guess it doesn't matter. For those of you that read what I write, you know that I look at my posts as informative, not promotional, but in this case, my choice of visuals is completely misleading. I just couldn't help myself because you know what's as deceptive as my image selection? AJ Johnson! The kid comes to the ring looking like a soft-bellied jobber then acts like a big bad heel.

And I love it.

Yeah, AJ, show that cocky pony-boy who's boss!

Review: Axel vs. Ty Alexander (UCW)

Ty: "So what are the rules for this again?"
Axel: "Um, there are no rules. No rules at all."

Now, this was a very pleasant surprise. I never expected Ty Alexander to pop up in UCW, even though it makes perfect sense now that I've seen this match. He and Axel have wrestled before, so there is that connection. While he's made a great shift onto the indie scene with a lot of bookings (pre-pandemic, of course), I'll always be happy to see him in our neck of the woods.

Welcome to UCW, Ty.
Hope you survive the experience.

Review: Elite Eliot vs. Max Quivers (Wrestler4Hire)

Max: "I finally get the chance to face you."
Eliot: "Lucky you, huh?"
Max. "Yeah, pretty lucky, but I think you're pretty lucky, too."

Elite Eliot is one of those unique wrestlers who's great in any role or type of match. He's the complete package - an all-pro talent, great talker, sexy as fuck, and a deeply thoughtful and passionate guy. It's the last part that seems to have him talking retirement on Twitter. If he sticks with it, I'm definitely going to binge anything I can find while I can. And so, when Elite Eliot vs. Max Quivers showed up on Wrestler4Hire streaming, I just had to watch.

Max knows the deal - show off Eliot then
make him pay for being so perfect!

Review: Bull Barrett vs. Johnny Greco (Muscleboy Wrestling)

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

I don't ask producers for videos. I do get them occasionally, as you always see with my disclosure notices. Sometimes, I think "wow, they really know me" and sometimes, I think "wow, they don't know me at all". Bull Barrett vs. Johnny Greco lands squarely in the former category. It is exactly the type of match I love. It's the first catalogue 19 match I've watched (I bought Brad vs. Gabe and Brendan vs. Rex), but I suspect that it'll be my favorite because it doesn't get better than this for me.

Brand new big boys bring it to the MBW mats.

Guest Blogger: Mangler - "Enough Already"

Occasionally I feature guest blogger content. This showed up in my gmail box as a fun gift (I hope).

Enough Already by Mangler

"All right. Enough is fucking enough already. That asshole has been teasing us all too long. Time to put the son-of-a-bitch in his proper place."

"HENCHMEN, get your lazy asses up and about,” the scream came down the stairs.

The two musclemen lazing in the lair in the basement hopped immediately to their feet. They had NEVER heard the Mangler use that tone of voice before. They were in such a hurry to get dressed that they looked like the keystone cops in action. They finally had shorts on and were charging up the stairs.

"Well it took you worthless idiots long enough to get up here," the Mangler screamed. "When I say hop you hop, not shuffle along like a couple of girl scouts."

The Cave Undercard 30: Mimik vs. SuperSoldier

The Cave Backstage.

“Seriously, Cody? Ryan’s really not coming?”

I sigh, “No Jae, he’s really not. Ry doesn’t want to watch two of his men battle it out. He’s protesting the whole idea. You're sure you don’t mind working camera duty with Pete?”