Sometimes Thunder's Arena produces something that's not quite a wrestling match but something strange and wonderful in its own right. For instance, years ago there was Eric Fury and Uno's bedroom rumps, which is sexier than anything the Arena had released previously, yet strangely childlike, too. Also, there was Impact's extended prologue to his match with Mogly, in which he sits on the edge of his bed and details his morning regimen while scratching various parts of his body. It is hotter than the match itself, which is pretty damn hot. And, too, there was a bathroom and shower fight with Big Sexy and Zman a while back, a small one-of-a-kind masterpiece. Take all three of these and double the sadism and masochism, and you get this match between Blayne and Marco, which tops them all.
I can tell you what happens (I think), but for the full effect you really have to see it for yourself. (The still shots don't even begin to tell the story.) Blayne wakes Marco to ask him, he claims, a question. He's handsy, massaging Marco's shoulders, petting him, straddling his lower back. Marco threatens to beat him up if he doesn't get out of his room. Blayne unashamedly likes the idea of Marco kicking his ass. In fact, I suspect it's the real reason he's there. He doesn't seem to have a question at all. Marco pulls off his T-shirt and puts on his leather studded gloves. He means business. What follows is typical Marco-style verbal and physical abuse - laid-back and casual like a sleepwalker performing his daily chores. He plies Blayne with chokes, suffocation, punches, and ball grabs, occasionally dangling him upside down. Midway through, he locks the bedroom door to prevent Blayne's escape, as if escape is something Blayne would consider. The slow and finely detailed mistreatment continues, in which Marco is half dungeon master, half big brother hazing his pesty kid brother. In the end Marco holds Blayne under a cold shower, while choking him out.
NHB 99 is a small and seductively potent masterpiece that teases its Marco- and Blayne-hungry audience over what, besides athletic competition, draws fans to Thunder's Arena. It's the sexiest "match" Thunder's has ever produced. It's almost as if Marco is daring his fans not to pop a chub. And speaking for myself, he could have won some cash were I dumb enough to take the wager.
-Thanks very much to the Ringside Blog for the great review!!
