I don’t think of myself as a naive consumer of homoerotic wrestling. I understand that many of the boys who strip to next to nothing and throw each other about for our viewing pleasure aren’t, themselves, gay. I realize that even some of the gay ones aren’t up for the full frontal fun that makes homoerotic wrestling particularly homoerotic. Hell, I suspect some of these boys are probably hater-hypocrites (not that I’m naming names… just statistically speaking it seems likely). But the boys that taunt and tease, shove their packages in our faces and never, ever actually display the goods are just driving me crazy lately.
Driving me crazy in a good way is someone frequently in my crosshairs for being oddly demure for drawing so much attention to his package. BG East’s Mr. Joshua Goodman could seriously poke an eye out with what he’s packing in those trunks (which might be worth it).
Mr. Joshua has built a career on the cock tease. Surely his most reliable move throughout his career has been sticking his hand down his trunks to rearrange the jewels. Contents that big most certainly will have shifted in flight, so it’s no wonder Joshua needs to repack the luggage on a regular basis.
Despite the infuriating tease, Mr. Joshua has other assets to keep me entertained and string me along, holding out hope after hope for a gander at the moneymaker. His roguishly cocky banter, his stunning six pack, and his mastery at telling the story of his awed self-worship keep me coming back over and over, despite my always being disappointed. If anyone is worried that we’ll lose interest in Mr. Joshua once he’s finally relieved our frustrated tension and displayed his bulging manhood, please, please trust me. I’ll personally buy two copies of any product that features Mr. Joshua setting free the dragon that’s always fighting to escape the cage of his trunks
My second case in point is Rio Garza, who, I think, is making me crazy in a bad way. Can-Am’s pay site, Can-Am Max has uploaded an online exclusive clip of about 4 minutes of Rio go-go-dancing and stripping. The stripping ends, though, with sweet Rio tugging at his trunks, but never actually showing the goods.
Now I’m a well-documented Rio convert, despite the risk he runs of being a bit overexposed in an underexposed kind of way. From out of nowhere, it’s hard to shake a homoerotic wrestling stick without smacking Rio in the face in multiple production companies (not that I’m advocating smacking Rio with a stick… unless that’s what he’s into).
My second case in point is Rio Garza, who, I think, is making me crazy in a bad way. Can-Am’s pay site, Can-Am Max has uploaded an online exclusive clip of about 4 minutes of Rio go-go-dancing and stripping. The stripping ends, though, with sweet Rio tugging at his trunks, but never actually showing the goods.
Now I’m a well-documented Rio convert, despite the risk he runs of being a bit overexposed in an underexposed kind of way. From out of nowhere, it’s hard to shake a homoerotic wrestling stick without smacking Rio in the face in multiple production companies (not that I’m advocating smacking Rio with a stick… unless that’s what he’s into).
When he made the jump into the Can-Am world, I held out hope that his new “exclusive” contract would combine the balls-out eroticism of Can-Am with the effortless Latino sizzle of Rio. I’ve been watching the serial release of Rio’s debut with the Can-Am boys in Arena 3, and I have to say, so far, the combination appears to combine the playing-it-gay modesty of Rio with the sometimes less than stellar wrestling quality of Can-Am.
I’m not turning into a hater here, by any means. I really, really root for Rio to make a boatload of cash on giving his gay fans just enough to make us pull out our credit cards, without compromising his integrity. That said, I’m not in the market for a go-go boy solo show that I could find for just a cover charge at the gay club down the street. I like beautiful boys, clearly. But that certainly isn’t the extent or scope of my kink, by any means. Rio could burn through my good will, I think, if he both continues to tease and fails to develop his wrestling chops. He doesn’t have to do a back flip splash off the top turnbuckle or anything. But absent some more naked flesh, I need Rio to tell me an entertaining homoerotic story to keep me coming back for more.
Am I being too harsh on our boy? I know a couple of you, in particular, will think so. I’m sticking to my guns here, though. Rio could definitely take some tutorials from the cock-tease extraordinaire, Mr. Joshua (I’d pay to see that). Let’s see the full monty, Rio, or invest the time in some serious wrestling training. Preferably, both, but absolutely essentially, at least one of the two. Otherwise, I’ll see you dancing the pole down the street.
Sidelineland 
I don't know if I'm one of the people you thought might consider this post on Rio Garza harsh, since I haven't posted in a while. If so, it may shock that I actually agree with you that he's not really a good fit for the gay wrestling world. It's like this…If anyone had written a post before Rio debuted along the lines of, "A well-known model who's done a lot of shoots and was just on the cover of the abs issue of a nationally distributed fitness mag will be wrestling for us," the reaction would have been a collective, "No way!" It simply sounds too good to be true, like a premise for an erotic wrestling story rather than something that would actually happen in real life. In fact, if Rio had merely remained an image on the page he might very well have qualified as a worthy candidate for your well-written wrestling stories.But once he stepped off the page and became a living, breathing, moving figure interacting with other guys, the dynamic changed altogether. There's at least half a dozen guys on the gay circuit working the "I'm a male model" gimmick: Dick Rick, Mitch Colby, Jobe Zander. It's a good, fun gimmick because it provokes so many fantasies. But having a guy who actually has modeling cred step through the ropes, his presence becomes a rebuke. He's a walking reminder that those guys aren't. And, by extension, that tells us that we're lacking as well.Your closing comments say it better than I could. Rio does a modified strip show not on a video for sale, but just as bonus footage on a wrestling company's pay site and the reaction isn't, "You go boy!" It's "I can see someone just as hot as you, no, hotter, at the dive bar down the street. So if you think I'm going to enjoy you just because you think you're hot, think again." His looks and body set the bar too high. He draws people in, but reflexive judgment makes it hard to enjoy him. Because he looks the way he does, the reaction is he has to be more than that, has to train, commit and work harder. And I don't think he or anyone like him (Nick Auger, Sean Sullivan, Rafael Verga) can deliver on that level.
I was wondering if you might disagree with my take on Rio's career trajectory. Sounds like we're entirely on the same page. I'm an eternal optimist, though, so I'll still hold out hope for him to build up some credibility on the mats/in the ring.
I'm not sure we're really on the same page. I don't think the shortcoming is Rio. I think it's all about his looks provoking both interest and an irrational level of expectation. I mean, he does his "job" so to speak: he draws people in based on his appearance and willingness to wear relatively skimpy gear. But because of that, people expect him to be more than a prettyboy, essentially demand him to be a top level performer so that the viewer doesn't have to think of himself as "just" a muscle mark.In the matches I've seen, I think the shortcomings have been on his opponents' side. Rio's essentially been a jobber in all his matches, so much of the tension and energy has to come from his opponents' reactions and the way they perform. So, if Aryx works the match like he's "not impressed" with Rio, the moment the match hits the one-sided domination thing, it turns into one guy effortlessly and disinterestedly kicking another around. It makes Rio look like he's lacking. And if a person bought the video primarily because of him, it makes it look like Rio was the underperformer when it was actually the other guy's lack of engagement.So, I'm saying Rio should be absolutely huge on the gay wrestling circuit, one of the most popular wrestlers ever. But I think the context of the companies themselves will cap his overall impact. Ironically, I think once he's no longer making wrestling videos, fans will quickly start asking "Where's Rio," and complain about his departure.
I think jobbing requires some significant skills and artistry if it's to be entertaining. Cameron Davis, for example, is jobbing all over the place for the homoerotic scene, and he absolutely makes most of his matches as entertaining as they are. He suffers nicely, but he also struggles to mount comebacks; he takes shots and slams convincingly; he moves, making his opponent at least give the appearance of working for it. Cameron has major wrestling chops to tell any number of stories, but I think when he's jobbing, he illustrates that skillful jobbing takes more skills than just wrinkling up your face in pain. NOT that I think Rio needs to be Indy-pro skilled like Cameron, but the two of them are on opposite ends of the jobber spectrum, and I'd strongly advocate Rio moving off the dime at least a little bit in order to be more than a go-go boy deer in the headlights… or he could lose the trunks… or preferably both… as it is, I'm watching him and already asking, "Where's Rio?"
A debate, a palpable debate–fun! Well, Bard, I'm not disagreeing with you on the tip that jobbing requires significant skill. And it doesn't necessarily require indy wrestling experience. Brad Rochelle, for example, is quite well revered for his aplomb in the role, and he wasn't indy trained in the way Cameron Davis is (though I add the caveat that there isn't as much quality in indy experience vs. BGE as one often thinks. After all, there's plenty of guys at BGE who could and have been trainers on the indy circuit, so the difference is mostly time invested). We could debate whether Brad was simply more talented than Rio (or Alexi for that matter), but I can't help but note another difference between the two.I've seen all of Brad's videos, but I never once saw one that opened with his opponent saying, "Who are you supposed to be?" and ended with him saying stuff like, "You're a waste of my time." Even in his biggest, most one sided squashes where he never executed a single offensive move, there was always an air of significance about Brad, to put it in as unsexy words and possible. It wasn't that Brad was a chump that other guys worked like they were out to prove he was inadequate. When Brad was taking a one-sided beating and selling his ass off, it was always with a feel that he was still the star, making it easy to believe (or willingly suspend disbelief) that the guy working him over truly enjoyed it. That's one of the things people say about Brad's matches most often when he comes up as a topic of discussion.Rio hasn't had the advantage of that set up, at least not as yet. At every match I've seen, and that's basically all of them, the overall set up is rather dismissive. He's not portrayed as a stunningly enticing hunk other guys look forward to wrestling. He's portrayed as a wannabe pro who's modeled on the side, who has to "prove" he's worthy. I think that has blunted much of his obvious appeal. How can people truly mark out for Rio and enjoy his performances if the things they like most about him, his arguable level of legit fame (if not money) via modeling, if it's negated right off the bat? It's not that I disagree with you over how well Rio sells or his level of talent. It's just that I think even if he was/is wildly talented as a jobber, it's not going to be so obvious, just because the way he's been presented so far as been so contradictory.P.S. I promise not to post a response every other hour!
No problem with the multiple responses. Much better to hear a lot from someone looking for a thoughtful conversation, than anything from a hater. First of all, I meant to say Cameron Matthews… Cameron Davis on RHW is not at all what I think of as a highly skilled indy-pro. That said, I think the "you ain't shit" banter is a pretty common device in a lot of matches, including matches that I find entertaining. It takes two to make that story hot, though. The jobber has to carry the chip on his shoulder; he has to curl his lip and assume the "I'll show you" position; he's got to move his ass and not just take it like a punching bag. So I still lay it primarily at Rio's feet that he hasn't pulled off the jobber-against-the-odds character that's written for him. Perhaps his opponents and his producers have some significant culpability as well, but Can-Am's retreat to having him go-go dance sort of epitomizes what's not quite firing on all cylinders for me with Rio. A little more of one thing or the other would make Rio a sure fire draw for me (more skin or more skill). His opponents have to sell as well, of course, but Rio's got to decide what he's putting on the table that could be considered homoerotic wrestling.
I have just discovered your blog, so I apologize in advance if you already posted this link but Rio/Ray/Alan has a posing DVD out:http://www.pumpingmuscle.com/AlanValdez.html