Wait for It, Wait for It ... Ahh, There It Is!

As he stated in his interview published yesterday, Ethan Andrews really does ultimately get the best of Jake Jenkins in his just released Rock Hard Wrestling match. It's a great moment, too. But my favorite moment in the bout is this one, close to the end, when Jake crab-holds Ethan's legs and bears down ever so slowly, savoring Ethan's groans.

Why should I enjoy seeing this slender young man broken like breadsticks? I cannot say. That his tormentor is a handsome brute? Yes, that's part of it. That the handsome brute applies the nerve-exploding hold like a gourmand pulling the pin bones from a salmon? That too is part of the appeal. Certainly Ethan's moans do much to sweeten the moment as well.

Can part of my enjoyment also be the anticipation of imminent justice? The clear perception that handsome Jake is crossing a line? That I already know the match is titled Payback? That he really should have thought twice before adding that extra downward pop? That he's doing the rough equivalent of dumping pig's blood on Carrie at the prom? That, oh man, is he ever about to get his?

Or could my feeling be more crassly physical? The lewd (but impractical) closeness of Jake's crotch to Ethan's butt? The thick roundedness of Jake's glutes as they descend to Ethan's shoulder blades? The way they skim down Ethan's own buns on their way down? The slight flexing of the red trunks as they (three of the strongest muscles of the human body) contract as Jake squats?

As usual, I'm over-analyzing. I should just accept that this moment and others like it are complex and rich and leave it at that. It's a moment that both wrestlers play well. As much as he looks like a fairy-tale hero, Jenkins has so far been at his best as a heel, and Andrews, as an underdog. (I also think they'd work well together as babyface tag partners, should Jake and Austin Cooper ever fall out.) Their pairing here as adversaries works well, but I can't quite get my head around a battle between two men so physically different from each other, though, to be fair, they are advertised as being the same weight. But that's more a personal preference of mine than a criticism: I like even matches, I like plenty of give and take, I like the drama of justice (and "payback"), and I like a handsome face and an impressive body. This match has plenty of awesome moments like this one, but, as I already said, this one is, for me, the best.