One of the many things I appreciate about Dio Characi is his unabashed readiness to appreciate another man’s body. He’s definitely not the sort of narcissist that’s so self-absorbed that he can’t admire someone else’s physique. “I can see why you’re proud of your abs,” Dio acknowledges, after Ricky Clayton has gone to great lengths to point out the superiority of Ricky’s washboard.

Ricky is not so generous with praise, to say the least. “You’ve got the body of a little boy,” he snarls derisively at Dio. “If you want the body of a bodybuilder, a true pro like this,” he points unnecessarily at his sculpted muscles as if Dio wasn’t already soaking in the sight of him. “Then you’re really doing to have staring paying attention.”

In BG East’s Muscle Worship 1, Dio pays really, really close attention to every abdominal exercise Ricky demonstrates for him. But nothing Dio can do is quite exacting enough, quite perfected in form and function, for Ricky’s satisfaction. When Dio’s reps are too fast, Ricky punches him in the gut to drive home the point that the Brazilian hottie needs to slow down. When Dio’s leg lifts aren’t quite high enough for Ricky’s liking, he stomps the living shit out of Dio, tosses him into a corner, and spears the stunned stud’s gut with a barrage of shoulder blocks. “It’s like I’m talking to a brick wall,” Ricky bitches.

It’s not like even Ricky, as self-obsessed as he appears, can fail to notice the spell his muscles weave over hungry Dio. He can tell Dio wants an up close tour of that fucking gorgeous physique. Like a sadistic cock tease, Ricky voluntarily peels his red trunks off, showing off that magnificent ass of his free ranging in a black thong. “Go ahead,” he demands of Dio. “Give it a feel! Yeah, that’s right. You like that!” Holy fuck, we all like that, Ricky, including Dio who gets busy stroking and caressing and squeezing Ricky’s phenomenal muscles. Dio is channeling all of us with the look on his adorable babyface conveying absolute awe that I believe deep down inside.

Then Ricky interrupts the truly hot muscle worship to beat his awestruck admirer to a pulp. I mean, sure, I’ve seen Dio take his licks before. He’s top shelf in terms of wrestlers who sell suffering wholesale. But there’s something just extra cruel about the way Ricky leads him along, gives him just a taste of getting to grope those mouthwatering bulges, and then stomps his infatuated fan into oblivion. I’ve been known to root for a hot heel, but Ricky is just such a killjoy bitch about it, I’m so pulling for Dio to turn this ship around.

It’s Ricky’s cocky overconfidence that opens the door. Laughing off Dio’s punch to the gut, Ricky holds out his arms and invites more. “Do it again! Go ahead.” Something almost audibly snaps in Dio. He winds up again and again and goes to town on Ricky’s pride and joy six-pack until he’s backed the cocky fucker into the ropes. He’s got a head of steam going now, and Ricky’s been digging this hole deeper and deeper for the last 15 minutes, so Dio, going ape shit on, is so fucking satisfying.

And not just going ape shit on him… Dio takes what Ricky offered, but so cruelly took back earlier, absolutely possessing Ricky’s gorgeous muscles unchecked. When the muscle man is reeling, Dio twists Ricky into a half nelson and uses his free hand to grope the scorching hot contours of Ricky’s pecs. He catches the smart ass in a dragon sleeper that gives him free rein over Ricky’s heaving abs. “Pretty hard,” Dio observes, and I’m honestly not sure exactly where his eyes are looking when he says it. “But I bet it can get harder.”

Holy fuck, the premise of this match absolutely sends me. Taunting cock tease gets ridden hard and made to pay up for being such a relentless bitch earlier!? Now, that is rich homoerotic wrestling drama! It reminds me a lot of my reaction to Randy Stanton’s match with Joshua Goodman (that’s Mr. Joshua to you!) way back in Matmen 21. Randy is openly crushing on Mr. Joshua’s body from the start of that match, and Joshua eggs him on, sort of laying out “if you can win it, you can have it.” Randy gets some riding time in that match, but he doesn’t win the prize. In Muscle Worship 1, Dio gets riding time and absolutely makes the most of showing exactly how much he appreciates Ricky’s rocking physique.

There’s a bit more to the story, with Ricky catching a second wind right around the time Dio is thanking the homoerotic wrestling gods for serving up this meal of beefcake. Sure, sure, Ricky tops Dio off with a bit more punishment to soothe his bruised ego. But I feel like Dio would agree with me when I declare that it was totally worth it! In fact, Ricky isn’t exactly trying to put his objectified humiliation behind him when he asks, at the very end, “You want a body like this?” Every second of this match confirmed that the answer is yes, though perhaps not exactly the way Ricky intended (maybe?). “I know you do,” he purrs. “Come back for your next session tomorrow,” he commands, treating his rapt muscle worshiper to a few final flexes to make sure Dio does.

Fuck, I love everything about this match. The wrestlers. The intensity. The storytelling. And most especially, the unapologetic centering of the gay gaze on a fabulously worthy object of lustful attention. I hope we see a whole lot more additions to this new Muscle Worship franchise!