Three things I need no further proof of, having watched Ring Wars 58 -
- That Viking has wrestling chops
- That Thunder's Arena knows how to work a ring match
- That Brute fully deserves his ring name
One. I expected to see Viking job his way through this match because he's a little lighter and rangier (6'6', 260#) than Brute, who's built like the proverbial fireplug (6'2", 265#). Viking also looks on the refined side, which I mistook to mean that he lacked the fire and fury to oppose a beast like Brute. Not only is the match not one-sided, but Viking holds up his side with grit and resourcefulness, which a match like this one requires. I guess I've grown used to babyfaces, especially (in underground wrestling) powerfully built ones, to be heel fodder. Viking is anything but.
Two. When Thunder's Arena first trotted out the idea of offering pro-style events in a wrestling ring, I had concerns. Some underground sites had done well with ring matches, but the majority of them had not. Many of these sites' wrestlers lacked the charisma and ring savvy to dominate the squared circle. Most of them seemed dwarfed by it. They looked like fifth graders in a bounce house, some of them. On top of that, the Arena had such a good thing going with mat matches and frathouse-style hijinks it didn't occur to me that some of these same wrestlers had the gravitas of the best pro wrestling (my kind of pro wrestling, anyway). Yet wrestlers not only did not embarrass themselves in the ring but commanded it with authority.
Three. Truthfully, I already knew Brute deserved his ring name, based on his performance at other internet wrestling sites. But Brute has become even more daunting and colossal over the past year or two. In RW58, he is beet red with rage for most of the match, and at times I could swear I saw steam rising from his big shoulders. Nostrils flaring, he looks ready to chew up and spit out the turnbuckles. He wrestles barefoot, too, one of the great tokens of natural prowess in a ring wrestler. And for the multitude of times when Viking is in control, Brute sells the agony and humiliation better than almost anybody else on the Arena roster.
-Thank you to the Ringside Blog for the great review!
