Review: Cheetah Boy vs. El Fuego #698 (UCW)

If you were designing a match for me, putting one of the wrestlers in a loincloth is one way. Or having both guys wear masks works, too. But combining masks and loincloths is unique and I'm all-in. In this case, there's also an early threat and implied promise of one guy actually losing his mask. That's always a thrill because let's face it, it's the ultimate humiliation for any masked wrestler.

Cheetah Boy: "You like that? It's been in my ass!"

El Fuego has received rave reviews here. He's a low-key tough guy. I love his soft-spoken calmness. Even as he is threatening to tame the rookie, it's with a relaxed self-assurance. To me, that's real confidence. El Fuego's ripped body is one of my favorites in UCW. He's bendy, durable and perfectly built for the UCW style of no rules mat action.

The rookie here is the aptly-named Cheetah Boy. The young punk wears his loincloth-style briefs well. In some ways, he's very similar to El Fuego - masked, lean and ripped - but once things get going, I realized he's very different. He's brash, loud and very heel-ish. Right from the start, he's threatening, challenging and degrading the UCW veteran. No respect between masked men, I guess.

Sign of a rookie ... during this moment
an off-camera voice yells "Sell the arm pain".

Who's getting tamed, bitch?

Locked and loaded.

#698 Cheetah Boy vs. El Fuego has a nasty vibe, driven by the rookie. Not in a bad way but you know how there are matches that are about two studs having fun? Yeah, that's not this. This is about domination. It's verbally nasty right away and gets physically aggressive almost just as quickly. El Fuego is more than willing to get his hands dirty, so expect a ton of ball-grabbing mat action.

There are interesting small nuances here. Like, Cheetah Boy wears a chain around his neck (suggesting someone has already tamed him), which El Fuego loves to grab (the rookie reminds him that's not his to pull, further suggesting there's a master somewhere out there). And the rookie brought a coordinating thong with him, which he uses to taunt El Fuego (who's taming who?). Stuff like that.

I get this is humiliating,
but honestly, I'd let the rookie do it to me, too.

Welcome to the ring, newbie.

Poor El Fuego gets more than he bargained for.

Action-wise, this is a mat match. I don't really remember them using the ring much. It's a ton of grappling. A lot of ball grabs and low blows. They stretch each other out and you'll get a great view of almost every inch of their ripped physiques. The masks are put on the line early and the winner does follow through with a fast unmasking in the end (no faces here, the loser quickly hides his).

When masks are on the line,
you can't hold back!

Cheetah Boy wants a win in his debut.

The masked studs deliver a winner.

In the end, this is how I like my mat action - personality, pro-style tension and heightened drama to drive intensity. El Fuego is always a lot of fun. Cheetah Boy is a rookie but he jumps right in and his attitude fits at UCW really well. I was already going to check out more El Fuego but now I think I'll addd Cheetah Boy to my pull-list.

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RINGSIDE: MASK VS. MASK

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

Alex