CK Won
Harrison South Worth's thrilling photos of Sunday's Premiere Wrestling Xperience show in Charlotte, give us a few fast-freezed moments of Southern wrestling glory, featuring some of my favorite regional wrestlers: Jake Manning, Corey Hollis, Mr Elite, Cedric Alexander, and, in a wish-I-had-been-there main event (see above), PWX champ Caleb Konley, 6', 207#, defending his belt against the formidable Davey Richards, 5'8", 202#. Reportedly Konley won the suspenseful match using his patented "oh-face" submission (sounds like I made this up, but I swear I did not).
The first live wrestling show I went to (in 2011) featured Konley, and I bought a compilation video from him at the merch table. The DVD chronicles the first couple of years of the eight he's been a pro wrestler. He struck me then as a basically decent guy, soft-spoken, and unexpectedly hot--sort of like actor Michael Pitt on steroids, with hair by Joan Lunden's stylist. For years he was "The Obsession," a male model gimmick, predictably with heel overtones (yeah, I know, I'm a sucker for that, too), but in that first show, the video I bought, and the couple of other live shows I've seen him in, he's been a consistent high performer, a catch-style wrestler who's good at both winning over a crowd and turning it against him.
Recently he released a promo for DGUSA/Evolve, in which he apologizes to his fans, himself, everybody but God (though the video has the creepy stylings of evangelical kitsch) for his misspent youth and past associations with heel manager Larry Dallas, skeezy women, and underhanded (read: "killer") moves and holds. He rededicates himself to the principles of "hard work," to make up for the last couple of years' worth of spectacular opportunism and barely concealed sadism (for which I love him). Whether the "face turn" is genuine--or successful--remains to be seen. But I do think he's a talent whose best years are ahead.
The first live wrestling show I went to (in 2011) featured Konley, and I bought a compilation video from him at the merch table. The DVD chronicles the first couple of years of the eight he's been a pro wrestler. He struck me then as a basically decent guy, soft-spoken, and unexpectedly hot--sort of like actor Michael Pitt on steroids, with hair by Joan Lunden's stylist. For years he was "The Obsession," a male model gimmick, predictably with heel overtones (yeah, I know, I'm a sucker for that, too), but in that first show, the video I bought, and the couple of other live shows I've seen him in, he's been a consistent high performer, a catch-style wrestler who's good at both winning over a crowd and turning it against him.
Recently he released a promo for DGUSA/Evolve, in which he apologizes to his fans, himself, everybody but God (though the video has the creepy stylings of evangelical kitsch) for his misspent youth and past associations with heel manager Larry Dallas, skeezy women, and underhanded (read: "killer") moves and holds. He rededicates himself to the principles of "hard work," to make up for the last couple of years' worth of spectacular opportunism and barely concealed sadism (for which I love him). Whether the "face turn" is genuine--or successful--remains to be seen. But I do think he's a talent whose best years are ahead.
CK Won...I see what you did there. ;-)
ReplyDeleteI'm a sucker for a wrestler in animal print...
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