Sidelineland

…to be continued…

… to be continued…

It’s been a year and a half since I posted last. There have been a combination of reasons for my inactivity, but one significant reason is just running out of steam. About 4 months ago, I got a new iPad and pencil, and I found a drawing app that I went down the rabbit hole with. Climbing back out of the rabbit hole, I have something new to publish here, namely, my first attempt at a homoerotic wrestling graphic novel. The whole thing has taken me way back to when I was a kid, hiding how aroused I was by guys, getting totally turned on by staying up to watch pro wrestling by myself late at night, and drawing in my secret drawing pads images of hot bodied hunks populating my fantasies. I have no training as an artist. I know there are robust communities of comic artists with expertise and insights that I don’t have, and likely will never have time to learn. But this has been a lot of fun, and I’m already working on something new.

I’ll be publishing it in serial format starting in a day or two, but I wanted to introduce the effort first, and give lots of credit to what’s inspired me. First of all, if you’ve ever read anything on this blog, it will come as no surprise that BG East has fueled the majority of what’s shown up on the page. The wrestling action that you’ll see uses a lot of reference images from the outrageously huge BGE archive, and one character, in particular, is built almost entirely off of a long-time favorite crush who makes me go “mmmmmmm!” Bonus points for the first commenter to name the inspiring BGE wrestler. I developed other characters off of references from insta-influencers and random hotties who grab my attention. There are a couple of characters who are built off of real people in my life who shall remain nameless, but those who run in the same circles I do may recognize them.

My first foray into a graphic adaptation is drawn from the first chapter in a homoerotic wrestling series I wrote 12 years ago (!). Those familiar with the text version will note a lot of changes, some of which I made to fit the graphic format, others of which I changed out of the unceasing exercise of my homoerotic imagination. I hope that you enjoy the story and comment. If you say things that are too, too mean, I probably won’t publish your comments. As always, I’m offering this up for free to share with those who share some of my interests and tastes. Please don’t plagiarize the work, and if you share it elsewhere, I just ask that you give me credit and link back to this site for the original publication. I’m also posting some of the drawings out of context here, for those interested in watching for early previews of upcoming works.

Well fuck me. It appears that WordPress deleted my polls not long after I posted them on Monday. On the one hand, this fills me with a slightly irrational quantity of rage. On the other hand, of course technology reared its ugly head and thwarted me. That has been the most consistent theme of my life over the past 12 months. Literally, only about 8 votes were cast, although there were thousands of views of the post, so that’s about as reliable a gauge of the popular vote as the Electoral College. However, like Don Quixote, I’m not quite ready to give up battle. I’ve found a new poll widget to try. To those of you who voted, I apologize sincerely for disenfranchising you. I hope that you will weight in yet again, as we give this another shot. If this doesn’t work, this may be the end of my polls, which would be sad. Give it a go and let’s see. I’ll leave this up a few days, so spread the word.

Since “awards season” goes for months into the new year, I feel like it’s not too late to poll gay wrestling fans for a few of those “best” categories that BG East doesn’t award. We got to laud Rocky Sparks dazzling abs, Ty Alexander’s grabbable ass, Kirk Donahue’s notable bulge, and Alexi Adamov’s entire body. But what about the BG East wrestler with the best legs? Which stunning stud had the best pecs? What about best arms and best back? These magnificently sexy men craft every lovely inch of their bodies, and it seems a shame to me to not adore every part of them in exquisite, possibly even tedious, detail. We were enfranchised to award Jake Jenkins as Top Babyface again, Kayden Keller as Top Heel once again, and Rocky Sparks as Top Jobber for the first time in his career. But what about (and I admit, I may be threading the needle here on this one) the wrestler with the prettiest face (regardless of whether he’s a babyface/heel)? And this is definitely not the first time I’m lingering long and hard on wrestlers with the sexiest nipples, in particular.

Just to dot all my i’s and cross all my t’s, this poll is, in no way shape, or form, sanctioned by BG East. I have not been paid or in any other way compensated by any of the slate of nominees that I’m putting forward for your consideration, except for that time that Kayden Keller took my compliments about his legs and flexed his dizzingly hot quads at me as positive reinforcement. I consulted absolutely no one but my own tastes and preferences, and I’m sure I’ve mistakenly missed plenty of deserving contenders, and probably an army more of those I wouldn’t have picked, but many of you would have. It’s all in good fun. I absolutely lovingly adore and worship every single one of these hot bodied hunks… except for one of them who I actually, genuinely can’t stand to watch in the ring, but I have to admit he meets the criteria for the question at hand. There’s always an outside chance that the powers that be (aka, The Boss) at BG East could be irritated by my presumption and ask me to kill this entire post, which I’d do instantly, because I adore him and his genius, and I’m more than a little terrified of him at the same time. Vote if you’d like. Comment to lobby for your pick or to complain about my choices.

Best Legs

Best Pecs

Best Arms

Best Back

Best Ink

Prettiest Face

 Sexiest Nipples

 

Congratulations to all of the winners of the BG East 2020 Fan Poll! Excellent choices all around, as far as I’m concerned. My votes lined up with the majority for 3 of the 15 categories. Being on the winning side 20% of the time is only slightly better than random chance, and I’m not surprised that my tastes diverge that much with the critical mass of voters. It merely demonstrates the importance of a robust and diverse homoerotic wrestling industry. I don’t think of any of the results of the Fan Poll as upsets, really, but I do think there are some interesting takeaways.

Kayden Keller secures Top Heel title a 4th time in a row, and I think that accurately reflects his dominance at BG East. As his 2020 matches demonstrated, he’s an incredibly accomplished heel who ticks off all of the boxes. He’s so fucking lovely to look at. He possesses a sensationally deep arsenal of wrestling holds that he executes to devastating effect, as evidenced by the fact he features in the match with the Best Submissions of the year. He’s a magnificent sadist who savors the tears and whimpers of his opponents like fine wine, which really makes Tag Team Torture 22 such a standout for Best Overall Match. And the factor that really separates him from the heel rivals who also possess all of of those other qualities: wrestling, and dominating his opponents, gets Kayden off. This is a prime mover in what made me crush so hard on Grudge Match 6, and surely a key ingredient to explain why that climactic match secured the title as Sexiest Match of the Year. Honestly, what Kayden touches (and crushes) turns to gold. He’s been the heel to beat for years, and he’s unbeatable, yet again in 2020.

Kayden was the one who pointed out on social media the interesting factoid that Chase Addams has featured in the Best Submissions matches for the past 3 years. Having interviewed Chase several times, I have to imagine that this is exactly what he would want and expect. Chase’s contribution to homoerotic wrestling has always been about innovative and technically outstanding wrestling holds (well, that and his magical nipples). Back on social media, Chase’s submission match dominance has prompted Kayden to issue a challenge for a rematch against him, once the pandemic is over and we can get back to scheduling super hot wrestling matches. Just like their Learning the Ropes match, I’ll be incredibly torn as to who to root for!

Ash DeLeon is coming on strong in the category of badass heels, as evidenced by his half of the heel team in that Best Overall Match, as well as his singles match with Rocky Sparks that earned the Best Squash and Hottest Liplock title this year. If he picks up where he left off when the pandemic hit, could baby heel Ash come back and unseat his mentor Kayden? Considering he could have split the votes for Hottest Liplock, but still came out on top in that category, should Ash be crowned BG East’s newest Kisser-in-Chief? I think nothing can settle that last score like a liplock face-off against longtime kisser champ Christian Taylor!

Rocky Sparks certainly made a remarkably good showing, participating in Best Overall Match, Sexiest Match, and Hottest Liplock, and winning Best Abs and Jobber of the Year. This, on the heels of being Best Debut last year! Any one of those titles seems like a big red target on your ass, so all of them combined surely add up to a whole lot of hunks lined up to dish out a beating on Rocky, once everyone is vaccinated. And probably my most controversial opinion of this post, I’m also looking forward to Rocky getting a haircut.

I think Jake Jenkins dominance in the Babyface category over the years is entirely understandable, but as JJ appears in fewer new releases, I’m looking forward to seeing who the next breakout babyface heart throb is going to be at BGE.

Alexi Adamov winning best body merely amplifies the rant I go off on every year about just how amorphous are our collective standards for this category. It goes without saying that I’d slather every inch, bulge, and valley on Alexi with maple syrup and lick him dry, then wet again. I very well might vote for Alexi as possessing the sexiest body in the running, mind you. But I think of “best” to imply slightly more objective criteria, like conditioning, muscle size and proportion, and a balance of all of those other body-part categories like best abs, butt, bulge (and legs, pecs, shoulders, and arms). While I’m sucking the maple syrup off of Alexi, I’m also thinking that there are harder hunks with thicker muscle mass and even more stunningly, painstakingly built bodies. And no, I’m not only thinking of contest-ready Lon Dumont! Well, okay, I certainly am thinking of Lon, but other worthy beefcakes as well.

Best Bulge went to Kirk Donahue, and sure, I certainly get that. It depends on the gear Kirk wears, though. But from some angles, in certain gear, his bulge looks pretty porn-ready. When looking back at past winners of this category, I think Kirk is lucky that the likes of Joshua Goodman (that’s Mr. Joshua to you!) and Pete Sharp didn’t wrestle in new releases last year. But I’ll give Kirk his due, as long as we don’t have a repeat of Kirk’s Best Butt scandal of 2017.

Finally, there’s Ty Alexander’s butt. After lobbying the academy shamelessly for years, Ty started winning this title in 2018, and claimed the trifecta in 2020. Ty’s cheeks are undeniably juicy, round, and perpetually in our faces. For my tastes, I key off more on muscle butts, thick, powerful, granite carved ass cheeks that you can just picture flexing hard and holding on tight. But, clearly, the criteria that adds up to the Best Butt of the year is subjective, which is exactly the way it should be. Kirk Donahue as runner-up is concerning to me, as I think he needs a lifetime ban from this category for his involvement in past malfeasance, so there’s at least that silver lining in Ty’s victory. Congratulations to Ty (even as I’m over here, tongue out, a little faint, on my knees worshiping the seriously comic-book-superhero bodybuilder butt cheeks on Devil Devitt).

Cheers to you of the winner! I’m cuing up the Sexiest Match of 2020 again to keep myself warm on this frigid, winter day.

The Nominee Sale ends today, so I don’t know if that mean the poll closes today. In case it does, get your ass to BG East and vote! Here’s my voter’s guide for the remainder of the ballot. At this point, we really wade into the meat market portion of the categories. My buddy Mac emailed me after my last post to 1) agree with me that there should be a Best Legs category, and 2) point out that there’s also no Best Arms, Best Pecs, or Best Back category, so perhaps BGE limits the physical attributes to abs, butt, bulge, and body to keep the ballot concise. I just think this calls for a follow up Sidelineland fan poll for the missed categories, once the official vote has been counted and certified. In the meantime, here are the mouthwatering body parts you can vote for…

Best Abs

As I said earlier, there is no Lon Dumont, so I’m immediately frustrated. Have you seen his chiseled abs when he’s in contest shape?! Fuck me. Jax Atwell and last year’s Debut of the Year, Rocky Sparks were my #2 and #3 nominations, so my official vote goes to Jax, though it’s easy to get distracted from his washboard when you catch a glimpse of his entry for the next category. There are lovely abs to choose from across the slate, though, so take your pick.

Best Bulge

The Best Bulge slate of nominees that made it out of committee includes perennial contender Jobe Zander and his “Centerpiece,” of course. In addition to nominating Jax and Lance, I also nominated Van Skyler’s gorgeous tool, but Van didn’t make it out of committee. For my taste, I’m voting for Jax. I’m restricted from posting full nudity on this blog by BG East, but if I could, I’d be happy to demonstrate just how magnificent a candidate Jax is for this category once he flies his flag full staff. Short of that, let me just say that when Sarge unsnaps Jax’s breakaway thong mid-match, the meat that spills out would feed a herd of gay boys for weeks.

Best Butt

I love seeing some new contenders in the Best Butt category this year. Sure, you’ve still got reigning Best Butt Winner, Ty Alexander going for the trifecta this year, who you can vote for, and be prepared to see him bitch for the next three months if he doesn’t win. You’ve also got Kirk Donahue back in the running, though I still can’t bring myself to seriously consider him ever since the whole Best Butt scandal centering around him from the 2017 BG East Fan Poll. My #2 and #3 nominations for this category didn’t make the cut, namely Kayden Keller and Elite Eliot, so my choice is straightforward and certain. Feast your eyes on Devil Devitt’s glorious glutes! He wins my vote and unending adoration for that mouthwatering ass!

Hottest Liplock

I think this is my favorite category every year. I fucking LOVE wrestling liplocks. I love them wet and sloppy and paralyzing. I love them hungry and fierce and long. My top two nominations made it through committee, leaving only Ace Aarons and Calvin Haynes’ tongue wrestling out of contention from my nominating ballot. I know, I know, I’ve been over the moon throughout this entire voter’s guide about how sexy Kayden Keller and Nino Leone’s work was in Grudge Match 6, but shockingly, I only put them in second place on my ballot. My top pick, and the liplock that gets my vote, belongs to Nino and Jax from Backyard Brawls 13. Clearly, there’s a common denominator there, and if I ever get the opportunity to interview Nino again at a BG East taping, I’m insisting on first-hand evidence to confirm just how intoxicating his liplocks appear to be.

Best Overall Match 2020

I telegraphed my pick for best overall match a few days ago, when I was bitching about the confusing state of the slate of nominees. Specifically, my top pick, Starr/Sparks vs. Keller/DeLeon in Tag Team Torture 22, doesn’t feature in any of the earlier Best Match categories. I sort of love and hate the fact that every nominee in this category is a ring match. I love that, because it’s my favorite genre for homoerotic wrestling, but I hate it because I know there are fans who will be frustrated by the limited options. I’m a little blown away that all 3 products from Ringwars 33 are in the mix, because that product didn’t grab my crotch that decisively. Obviously, vote for the match you think is best, but for my money, it’s a slam dunk for Tag Team Torture 22.

Best Full Product of 2020

I have to confess that I forgot to include this last category in my nominations form, and thus, my nominees for Best Full Product didn’t factor in, and it shows. I’d intended to include, far and away as the best, my passionate support for BG East Grudge Match 6. So fucking sexy from start to finish, including Zip Zarella joining in a three-way thrashing with Ace Aarons and Gunnar Baer, but mostly power packed with Kayden first taming and claiming Nino, then taking that show on the road against Mason. Absent that option, my vote from the worthy nominees that did make it out of committee is for Tag Team Torture 20, which offered sensational drama, my sentimental favorite of Charlie Evans lovely ass paired with fellow lightweight beauty Cap Landon, and a tag team betrayal setting up a 2-on-1 beatdown of muscle hunk Calvin Haynes. Pick your poison, though.

Demolition 29

Gazebo Grapplers 21

Learning the Ropes, The Hard Way

Ringwars 33

Sexy Showdown 11

Tag Team Torture 20

For being such a shit year for everything else, BG East managed to pull together an impressive set of catalogs with, what I believe, included (almost?) no new matches recorded due to public health concerns (good on them!). Vote, and show some appreciation for the gorgeous, hardworking hunks of homoerotic wrestling!

Have you voted in the BG East year-end Fan Poll? It’s still up, as of my writing this, but I don’t know for how long. So immediately go and vote. In case anyone is looking for a voter’s guide, here is another installment of my opinions and the slate of nominees.

Best Submissions

This category always stumps me just a little, both on the nominations committee and in voting. I think I’m just not as into the technical side of wrestling as a lot of you are, so what I remember most isn’t the particular submissions in a match. Unless there was something particularly sexy about it, like Kid Vicious winding up an opponent’s joystick in an over-the-knee backbreaker. My top nomination had been Nathan Sargent and Jax Atwell’s Wrestleshack 16 match, because several of Sarge’s punishing submission holds do remain in my memory. But that match didn’t make it out of the nominating committee. Actually, none of my 3 slate of nominees got through committee, so clearly my taste in submissions is out of step with my esteemed colleagues. However, the slate that did get nominated is fully of lovely, sexy options for you to pick from. I’ll go with Alexi and Devil’s match, and it’s entirely possible that Devitt’s incredibly sweet ass is still playing a role in my vote. And I’m not ashamed one bit. Here are all of the nominees for your consideration…

Best Body

The Best Body category has got to be one of the most contentious topics every year. I learned long ago that my criteria for what makes a wrestling body “best” is different than a lot the rest of you. Lon Dumont is ALWAYS on my nominations slate, because… fuck, his gorgeous bodybuilder-bod rocks me hard. But he never wins. I always feel like I need to apologize to Lon afterward. In any case, this year I’m actually throwing my vote to Austin Cooper. Austin’s bod is a moving target, of course, and his conditioning varies from match to match, but I think he’s peak Coop right around his Demolition 29 release this year. I’m only a little ashamed of myself to admit that my second choice would have most definitely been Damien Rush, because I fucking HATE that guy, but his huge, hairy muscles make my mouth water, and I think his legs may be the best in the field this year, though I’d like to see Calvin Haynes and Damien sort it out in a Science of Scissors 4 (why do we STILL not have a Best Legs category?!). But, of course, you be the judge…

Top Heel

The nominations committee is tasked with nominating up to 3 nominees for each category, but I only put up 2 names for Top Heel. My taste in heels is growing more articular over time, and to be honest, I’ve been keying off on babyfaces lately. But there were exactly two heels who held my rapt attention this year. My top choice, and my clear vote in Fan Poll this year, is 3-time running winner of this category, Kayden Keller. He’s the perfect example of the rare heel who dominates my attention, no matter how tasty his prey is. I’m always convinced Kayden loves his sadistic work. And when I enjoyed the opportunity to interview him in person a few years back, Kayden tauntingly flexed his gorgeous quads for me, so he’s always a sentimental favorite. But he was absolutely everywhere this year, and his work in Grudge Match 6 and a Tag Team Torture 22 were the highlights of the year for me. My number 2 nominee was Austin Cooper, who didn’t make it through the nominating committee. Dr. Cooper is such a sensational bully-sadist in matches like Forced to Flex 3 and Undagear 33. Of the slate that did make it through committee, if I had to pick someone other than KK, I guess I’d go with Jonny Firestorm as a sentimental vote, but I don’t think Jonny’s work this year was his best heel work. Seriously, I only see Kayden as a legitimate option, but here’s everyone you can choose from…

Top Babyface

Shockingly, all three of my nominees for Top Babyface made it out of committee. 2018’s Debut of the Year, Kenny Starr, was my first choice. Such a beautiful babyface bro, and he worked his fine, fine ass off last year. My second pick was last year’s Best Abs winner, Kip Sorell. Honestly, his credentials are stronger for the next category, but he’s dazzlingly pretty, and I’ve never seen him break a rule. My third choice was Calvin Haynes, who brought his beef to an impressive range and depth of matches last year. Seriously, you can’t swing a cat without hitting a gorgeous, brave, earnest young babyface at BG East these days, and I love that! You also have a few of other excellent options to choose from, including past winners, and honestly, you can’t go wrong…

Jobber of the Year

Selecting the best jobber requires us to define the jobber, and therein lies the rub. On the one hand, there are those who point to jobbers as wrestlers who get squashed. On the other hand, I think of a jobber as characterized by more than just one match, and not limited to getting squashed. From my perspective, a jobber is a wrestler whose career arc is such that they regularly, dependably lose, inevitably putting over their opponents. So I think a jobber can put up a good fight, even dominate for a while in any given match. But the fates have determined his course to be flat on his back and beaten by the end of his matches, and you, and I, and his opponent, and he, probably all know it. As part of the nominating committee, my top pick for 2020 was Tim Messina. He doesn’t get the credit he deserves for his body of work, and he makes victory look so, so sexy and sweet (i.e., the victory of his opponents over him). My second-choice nominee was Jake Jenkins, which feels like a bit of a cheek because JJ wrestled in only one 2020 match (but fuck, those cheeks are so lovely). My third nominee was Charlie Evans, because I love watching him fiercely charge into the fray with guys twice his size, give them a run for their money, but sooner or later get tenderized. My esteemed colleagues on the nominations committee gave you a full slate of options to choose from, but I’ll give my vote to Jake, because the second he steps into a wrestling ring, you know he’s going down in a blaze of glory.

The poll is still up, so vote today! I’ll try to round out my voters guide within the next day or so, hopefully before the polls close.

Just to prove to me that last year wasn’t the complete shitstorm that I remember, BG East has released their year-in-review 2020 Fan Poll! I was honored to be on the nominations committee again this year. I was pouring over the possibilities so long, in fact, I almost didn’t get my slate in before the deadline passed. I don’t see the deadline for the official fan ballot that’s available now on the website, so vote soon. In the meantime, I’ll obsessively reflect on the nominees that made it through committee. For your consideration….

Sexiest Match

We’ve only come to the first category, and already the match I ranked first on my nominations form didn’t make the cut. Technically. I put in for Kayden and Nino’s matroom match as sexiest, but close enough, the sequel to that match on BG East Grudge Match 6 did get nominated. And it’s hard to argue against the value added of including Mason Brooks alongside of Kayden and Nino, and putting them all in the ring, and the tasty addition of double teaming. If I could, I’d still vote for the smolderingly sexy 1-on-1, but of my options, I think my choice is pretty clear. A close second place for my vote would be the Wrestleshack 26 match, the military erotic fantasy I had no idea I needed. Here are all the nominees:

Best Mat Battle

As you could probably guess from my deliberation about the Sexiest Match category, I picked Kayden and Nino’s Grudge Match as my top nominee for Best Mat Battle. Hands down, that’s my vote. So. Fucking. Great. My 2nd and 3rd place nominations didn’t make it out of committee. But if I was pressed to pass over Kayden and Nino, I’d probably give a nod to Brendan and Ethan’s Sexy Showdown. But this one isn’t close for my vote. Here’s the full slate:

Best Ring Match

I’m just going sit here and stir the pot when it comes to the nominations for Best Ring Match, because how in the living fuckity-fuck did Tag Team Torture 22 (Starr/Sparks vs. Keller/DeLeon) not get nominated in this category?! That match did get on the slate for Best Overall Match, so I just don’t get how it didn’t even make the cut for Best Ring Match. I’ll just sit here and fume about it, but I should acknowledge that my vote most definitely goes to the match I listed #2 on my nominations form, Hunkbash 22, starring Alexi Adamov and Devil Devitt. They set that fucking ring on fire, and I got completely hypnotized by Devil’s delicious derriere. My third pick on my nominations form was the part 2 to Grudge Match 6, the aforementioned sweat fest with Mason, Kayden, and Nino, but they didn’t squeeze out a nod for Best Ring Match, despite getting it for Sexiest Match. If I was pressed to dig into the bench for another pick, I’d give it to Ace and Chase. Here are all your options:

Best Squash

Squashes have never really been my favorite in general, but oddly, I’m getting off on a lot more squashes during the pandemic. I’m not sure what that means. But my vote will go to the match I listed first on my nominations form, Braden Charon and Jake Jenkins in Backbusters 2. Fuck. What a squash, and JJ broken in half is a revelation. My other 2 nominations didn’t make it out of committee, and I have to scratch my head that the product entitled Training Day: Squashes, didn’t feature at all. But if I had to vote elsewhere, I’d tap Richie Douglas’ ass… I mean, I’d pick Richie and Toney’s match.

Knowing me, I’m apt to keep writing up this voter’s guide until after the polls have already closed. So I’ll post these first few categories now, in the hopes that it inspires a few more of you to vote.