The Cave Undercard 7.4: Independence Day

"Fuck. Really?"

"Yeah. I wanted to be the one to tell you."

"Okay. Thanks."

We just stare at each other. We don't show any emotion. We don't get worked up. We don't cry, 'cause guys like us just don't do that. We don't react at all, but it's tense.

He says to me, "Okay, well, good luck, Echo."

I respond, "Same to you, Squatch."

"When?"

"Tomorrow. Oh-four hundred."

"Shit. Fast."

"Yeah, they don't waste time."

Squatch just nods as he stands there in his underwear in front of his locker. I mean, what else can he do? I'm going home. He's staying. Half a world away. The big stud is happy for me, but I get that it's bad for him. He's a lifer in the army. I'm not and never was. We knew this day was coming, but it's still a tough thing, me getting my discharge. It's especially tough for two guys who've been as close as we've been.

Sasquatch aka Squatch

Review: The Enforcer vs. Marauder (BGEast)

So when I was trying to think about what to review this week, I was stumped. I did just finish a good match from Heel Bash 1, but it's been talked about elsewhere and I didn't have anything to add.

That match did get me thinking about how much I like heel vs. heel action. I originally thought it was rare, but then I realized that's it's actually not that unusual to have two guys who act like heels wrestling each other. It's seems like it's actually the default persona for a lot of guys nowadays.

What is kind of unique is to have two established guys with full-on, undefeated tough guy reputations face off. Chet and his opponent are rookies, so having one lose isn't that big a deal. But having an established heel lose, in character, to another heel is a big deal. I say "in character" because there are heels like Jonny Firestorm who often morph to their role.

A good example is Joe Mazetti at BGEast, who has faced guys like Aryx Quinn, Bulldog Barzini and Cole Cassidy. All of them are well-established heels with dominant records for whom losing would be rare (except for Aryx, who loses a lot). Or when Alex, Dash or Ethan Andrews face off in Rock Hard Wrestling.

Two beefy heel beasts - Mazetti vs. Barzini

Review: #430 Ryder vs. Hammer (UCW)

This review could also be titled “UCW Saves the Day!”

So last week, I was whining about a few mediocre/bad matches I'd watched. And I was all settled on Jersey vs. Talon as the one to reverse the trend. However, I was checking out UCW and noticed a brand new match featuring two guys I really like - Max Ryder vs. Tyson Hammer.

Now, I already have the #399 Ryder/Hammer match. I liked it, but I wasn't looking to buy another. I tend not to buy match-ups more than once, unless there's a compelling reason to do so. With this one, that compelling reason was right on the UCW cover page.

This image definitely got my attention!

The Cave Undercard 7.1: Canada Day

"Ryan? Hope you don't mind me let-- oh, Corey. Didn't know you were here. Where's Ryan?"

Corey turns then takes a big bite of the apple he's holding. CRUNCH! I'm a little surprised to see this young (19 years old) musclestud standing buck naked in Ryan's kitchen, but it does explain why my best friend and business partner didn't answer the door. We're supposed to be meeting, but we all went out last night (including the under drinking age Corey). Ryan obviously enjoyed a very late night.

Corey leans against the kitchen counter, confidently relaxing as I wait for a response. The young stud chews slowly, with his usual smirk on his face. When he swallows, he finally says, "Shower."

The Cast: Who's Who (September Part 3)

Guys,

Here are the stars of the latest stories ...

Route 69 S309: Zanesville OH (Jeff)

Jeff = Steve Kuchinsky (Model)

The Cave Undercard 6: Mimik vs. Mr. X

"Okay, let me check you out before you head to the ring."

As the handsome young stud drops his white robe to show me his gear, I don't know what to say for a second. Corey just smirks as he pulls on his mask and adds a long red cape. The look in his eyes tells me he knows what I'm thinking, but he's only 19, so I give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he's just confused.

I finally ask, "Is this a joke?"

Review: Dozer vs. Bolt (Thunder's Arena)

I’ll start with a warning. I’m feeling a little salty after watching several disappointing matches in a row, including this one. This review might come across as a little more critical than my usual fair. This match isn't horrible, it's mediocre. Bolt is apparently popular and this match in particular has four 5-star reviews. I, however, am in a different place.

Grrr, I'm on a bad run with my video choices.

I've been buying a lot of Thunder's Arena stuff lately, thanks to Jersey, the massive volume of their recent releases, some decent sale prices, and my lack of interest in what other folks have been offering. To wit, at the time of writing ...

• Rock Hard Wrestling has only posted one match, but I'm Austin-Coopered out
• BGEast's catalogue 109.3 had only two matches I was interested in, one of which I already reviewed here and Bard reviewed the other here
• UCW hasn't featured the guys I'm most interested in, although #429 (Diesel/Victor) looks interesting
• Same with Movimus, but I see that Nero Angelo is back, so I probably will buy that

Anyway, so lots of Thunder's Arena. I find them kind of like the arrogant bad boy of the gay wrestling world. They are often openly derisive of other sites and wrestlers, like an obnoxious heel who has an inflated view of themselves and disrespects everyone else (like a Xaq).

I bring this up because when they profiled the 5'7"/150-lbs Bolt, they made sure to point out that it was Rock Hard Wrestling that found him, but he "refused" to wrestle for them because their guys are too small. He wanted the challenge of TA's bigger guys.