Seize and Destroy









Panther, in particular, catches my eye here. At 6'1", 185#, he towers over Jayden Mayne and commands the squared circle. This is pretty much his show. He slips into the ring, sizes Jayden up, and asks, all sneering attitude, "Do you have any idea ... whatsoever ... what you are in for?" Jayden mumbles a retort, but Charlie ignores him, preferring a self-appreciating gaze into the room's spacious mirror. The peacock heel thing has been done to death perhaps, but Charlie Panther imbues the gimmick with a glint in his eye and loads of macho style.

He has always had muscle, but it's never been this sharply chiseled, and thankfully he decided to dump the Race Bannon hair styling of the past. He looks awesome now. Jayden has a solider core than we've seen in previous matches, part of an improved upper body in general. He's been a pistol since his first match three years ago (in Ringwars 19, a banner BG East release like this one), and he's getting only better with time.

For the most part Panther dishes up the pain, and Jayden sells it, every second of it. Besides never resisting the impulse to scissor his opponent between his iron thighs, Charlie also targets Jayden's backbone, playing amateur chiropractic with a sadistic twist in a series of kicks, jabs, racks, stretches, and clutches, polishing them off with a sharp elbow grind to the lower abdominals. From time to time Jayden goes into hero mode for a glorious hope spot, during which he aims for Charlie's thighs and neck. He doesn't seem daunted by his opponent and proves that pretty much anything the big guy can do, he can do too.

The opener (Horton versus Loko) is weak, in my opinion, but this second match is one reason Demolitions 17 now ranks high on my list of all-time great BGE videos. Panther still has far to go before he measures up against tried-and-true demolition men like Firestorm in the third match and Genatto in the main event. (It might be fun, in fact, to let Guido loose on Charlie's new Michelangelesque muscle, and watch what happens.) Whether Panther or Mayne rises in the company's ranks is a matter of luck and persistence. After all, BG East is no "small pond." But these moments in the squared circle are covered in stardust. This might not be the best work Charlie and Jayden are capable of, but it definitely is a shining indication of their potential.


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