Drake Marcos – Sidelineland

A Few Are Familiar With Me

February 15, 2025 wrestlebard2 Comments

I’ve been flying a bit under the radar this year for Wrestlefest NYC, but I’m happy to report that I’m back to enjoy it again this weekend. It’s a bit wild how quickly events like this went from being crazy intimidating to me the first time to just cruising in and looking forward to seeing old friends. Reports are that this is likely the biggest fest by far, with more than 600 attendees having RSVPed. I know for a fact some of the RSVPs didn’t show, and there’s really no “registration” or check-in, so how many wrestlers have descended on Penn Station this weekend is unknowable. However, based on the opening kick-off party last night, I’m convinced there is a huge collection of wrestlers concentrated in just a few city blocks in downtown Manhattan right now, and it’s pretty exciting to be part of it.

The kick-off party last night was overstimulating in every way. Scooter and his tireless band of volunteer organizers put together an amazing event at a club devoted, for the evening, to just those of us here for Wrestlefest. Two floors were packed pec-to-pec with sensationally hot wrestlers in singlets, trunks, or less. The eye candy was dizzying. Bodies in all shapes and sizes were there, but one mantra kept echoing in my thoughts about absolutely everyone: “Fuck, wrestling does a body good!”

Everywhere I turned was another homoerotic wrestling celebrity sighting. Many of them I count as friends, but are nonetheless members of the pantheon that set alight the homoerotic wrestling fantasies of so many of us. Canadian Mickey Knoxx was there wearing nothing but irony (i.e., an American flag leather jacket and star-spangled ultra briefs). I also got a hug in on Bobby Carter, showing off the body that’s been setting BG East and Watchfighters on fire this year. It felt like coming home, getting sweaty hugs from Drake Marcos, Chase Addams, and Ollie Watts.

Just as exciting was meeting some new friends for the first time in person. I may, or may not, have awkwardly insisted on giving Beau Jordan a hug. I mean hell, I can’t really start my day without a strong cup of black tea and Beau’s fashion singlet morning jerk off on Blue Sky, so I feel like I know him intimately despite having never met before last night. It was Sir Dark who gave me an spontaneous hug after figuring out I’m the guy he’s chatted with on social media and who’s been swooning over his Watchfighters matches. I unabashedly fanboy-ed on Steve Mason, who managed to be disarmingly and smolderingly magnetic despite being one of the few there in street clothes.

It’s hard to describe just how overstimulated I was, hoarse from shouting over the noise, packed in tight with acres of sexy wrestlers, some of whom I only managed to admire from a distance. I’m not ashamed to say I swooned over JJ Allen’s tree trunk thighs, Lobo Gris’ magnificent ass, and Tarz Lando’s huge, hairy pecs. I clocked celebrity sightings of Matt Larsen, Rocko Mortis, Nero the Beast, Isaac Andrews, and Ben Monaco. I introduced myself to Ryan Reilly, who’s been grabbing my attention on social media lately, and discovered that’s he’s as adorably charming as he is stunningly sexy.

At one point, I caught sight of this blindly hot hunk across the way waiting for a drink at the bar. I didn’t get a good look at his face at first, distracted as I was by his hot body poured into this absolutely perfect singlet. When I did finally get a look at his face, I knew that I know him… like, know him well! But, still, it took me a good half a minute before I realized who I was eye fucking: Dio Characi. Dio traveled as part of a herd of devastatingly sexy, gorgeous young hotties in singlets, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to fanboy. I blatantly interrupted his conversation with his hot, bearded companion (truly sorry, bearded hot guy), and managed to introduce myself. Now, I’ve chatted just a bit with Dio by DM before, but for some reason, I was nervous as hell. He’s almost ethereally beautiful. I mean, one of the epiphanies for me last night was that every single wrestler I’ve lusted over watching wrestle on video was even more stunningly beautiful in person by at least a magnitude of 5. But Dio was even more stunningly beautiful than he is on video by a magnitude of 12 (approximately). I honestly kept thinking that I should probably let him get back to grazing with his herd of gorgeous hotties, but no shit, his face lit up when he placed that I was “that guy” who writes about him. Turns out, he’s charming as fuck (sorry Chase), seemingly almost as delighted to be fanboyed as I was to fanboy. I had to explain to a friend who was with us who Dio was (I know, and I totally agree with you… I need to slap that friend upside the head someday for somehow NOT knowing who Dio Characi is). And I was explaining, in front of Dio, that Dio is a wrestling superstar. And Dio quietly, demurely shrugged his big, muscular shoulders and shyly corrected me: “A few are familiar with me.” Lest my poorly informed friend believe the grossest undersell of the century, I repeated more emphatically that Dio is a fucking SUPERSTAR! And I kid you not, Dio practically blushed, and again, humbly insisted, “A few are familiar with me.”

I say all this for a couple of reasons. One reason is to just fucking brag that I had a delightful, real life conversation with Dio Characi. If I die in the forecast blizzard on my way home tomorrow, I still say it was worth it. But really, my point is just what a delight it is to get to swim around in so much good will in this wrestling community of ours. I mean, sure, there are egos. There’s drama. Literally, I overheard in the deafening din of the club last night conversations about ageism and racism and body fascism. It’s not like being united by a shared delight in homoerotic wrestling breaks down all biases and barriers and makes us better human beings. However, I do suspect it might make us, on average, happier human beings – and not in just an “I’ve got mine” sort of way. I suspect a large majority of the hundreds in attendance last night shared, at least briefly, the same sense of wonder and awe that I experienced at the size and scope of the community gathered there, and the unmistakable fact that who was there was just the tip of the iceberg. It’s bold and ballsy and beautiful, and it’s something to be celebrated. What divides us doesn’t surprise me at all, and I don’t mean to minimize it, but what unites us and what seemed to infuse that loud, sweaty club full of wrestlers last night, was a shared passion and the remarkable good will that can emerge from being community together.

About Beau

December 30, 2024 wrestlebard1 Comment

I feel like Beau Jordan is someone I’ve been getting off to for years, but honestly, I only discovered him a few months ago. My favorite frustrated jobber, Drake Marcos, texted me a pic of him getting choked out by this naked, adorably dimple-cheeked, handsome hunk. After admiring how hot it is watching Drake in full-blown panic getting thrashed, I asked him, “Who’s the handsome dude putting you out?” Drake sent me a link to Beau’s social media, and my infatuation with Beau’s gorgeous body, his Glen Powell smirk, and his scimitar monster cock was born.

There’s just something familiar about him, as he flexes in the ring like he owns the place. Before his match with Drake, Beau talks trash in this unhurried, unselfconscious way that’s sexy as fuck. He’s wondering if that “jobber boy Drake is even going to show. I knew he was scared.” And fuck, looking at that bod on Beau, maybe Drake should be.

But this is Drake 2.0, determined to shrug off the mantle of the hottest jobber in the business. So, Drake charges the ring from behind, laughing like a comic book villain as the hot new hunk thrashes in his sleeper. It’s a long, slow milking that drags Beau down, his hot muscled arms flailing uselessly. Seriously, in under 3 minutes, Drake has put the hot jock out cold, stripped Beau naked, and groped the unconscious hunk like sizing up a fresh cut of sirloin.

I know I’ve mentioned before how much I LOVE a heel turn, and there’s no one’s heel turn that I’ve anticipated longer than Drake’s. Watching him own hardbodied Beau is such a vicarious bullied boy’s revenge fantasy, the handsome, skinny kid tormented in the past by the cocky hot jocks, now all grown up and unpacking some seriously hot baggage. Honestly, though, I’m yelling at the screen when Drake is claiming his trophy (Beau’s singlet) and ready to climb out of the ring when this match has literally just gotten started. Failing to take full advantage of that defenseless, rocking bod on Beau and milk that beautifully curved slice of meat hanging from the hot jock’s crotch is fucking criminal. Even I’m over here thinking Drake needs to be punished for this erotic wrestling party foul.

Happily for me (and you… and Beau… and, let’s face it, Drake), Beau rouses just in time to gather his wits and intercept Drake before my buddy has a chance to flee the scene. “Is that what you want, Drake Marcos,” Beau demands, smothering Drake with his singlet. “You want to smell that?” We never hear Drake reply, but as an old friend, let me be so bold as to answer for him: yes, yes, he wants that very much. Just like he’s not exactly hating it when Beau’s mounted in a schoolboy pin and dick whipping his face.

The real magic here is watching Beau’ beast grow before our eyes. There’s no cut scene, no fancy camera work. We just get to watch this gorgeous hunk, who clearly gets off on the same things that you and I do, get hard and hungry. And FUCK, that cock is mouthwatering. There’s some obvious honesty in marketing right there, because there’s just no faking the story Beau’s ferocious beast is telling us.

The remainder of this 32 minute match is all for the other side of that hot fantasy equation. This part of the story is for those are hungry to see a hot, cocky jock humiliate and absolutely own a paper tiger opponent. Beau snorts and rolls his eyes at Drake’s futile attempt to win an arm wrestling diversion mid-thrashing. “This would be funny, if it wasn’t so pathetic, little jobber boy,” he sneers. He challenge Drake to a full nelson contest and let’s the would-be heel go first. And fuck, watching Beau’s naked hotness stretched out and thrown around a bit is intoxicating, but it’s all just to add to the total humiliation when he effortlessly flexes free and makes Drake pass out in his full nelson moments later. What was I saying earlier about dying to see Drake heel? It’s all hazy to me now. All I can remember is Beau’s gorgeously fit naked hotness totally picking Drake apart and then flexing in victory over top of my vanquished Sisyphus of a friend.

But wait, that was just act 1. Act 2 picks up right there, when Rocko Mortis storms into the ring. “Beau FUCKING Jordan, what the fuck did you do to my boyfriend!?” Fuck, Beau’s gotta pitch a double-hitter, and Rocko seriously looks pissed. Rocko shoves an assless singlet at Beau and demands that the hot jock put it on and wrestle him. For the record, let me quickly just state that Beau’s magnificent ass will ALWAYS belong in an assless singlet. Like, FUCK, where in the fuck did that body come from!? But let me do my best to hold onto the thread of this epic story arc and say that whereas act 1 was a squash, act 2 is delightfully back-and forth.

There’s that hot jock bully vibe that continually blows the headwinds in Rocko’s face as he tries to tangle with Beau. Six minutes into their match, Beau has planted that magnificently bare ass of his on Rocko’s face and uses it to smother him into a limp dish rag. With casual, cocky grace, Beau spladles Rocko’s legs apart and helps himself to ring out screaming pain from the bearded avenger. And no shit, Beau’s monster cock will NOT be contained in the low-slung fashion singlet. I’m literally applauding the beast’s entrance to the scene when it comes out to play with a mind of its own.

Trading ball claws leaves Beau rocked by vicious Rocko, and at almost exactly 13 minutes into this 37 minute marathon (not quite 2/3rds of the way through the Beau’s iron man double hitter performance in both matches), Beau loses his singlet again. Fuck, this man should always wrestle naked! Again, it’s a back-and-forth battle, with both vicious low-blowers fighting mean. And speaking of blowing, it’s a fucking work of art when Beau’s got Rocko’s hands pinned over head in another schoolboy and he force-feeds the frustrated BF that curveball beast of his.

Honestly, I don’t blame Rocko one bit for how the tide turns once they’re both naked. It’s really a totally unfair handicap match, with Rocko doing his best to handle both Beau’s gorgeous muscles and that monster cock that, I swear, has a mind of its own. Flat on his back in another schoolboy pin, Rocko dials in Cleveland on Beau’s tasty nips, totally putting the hot jock over the edge and deserving the cum load that ends up painting face.

Fuck, fuck, AND fuck, this is scorching hot. And, again, I have to say I feel like I’ve been watching Beau work this N.E.W.T. level wizardry for years. He’s got an understated charisma that’s just so fucking at home in a full-on erotic wrestling match like this. I’m still stubbornly clinging to the fantasy of a bullied-boy heel-turn getting revenge on the high school quarterback, but no shit, if that all-grown-up hot jock quarterback is Beau, I will be seriously satisfied any way it plays out (as long as his cock slithers free and comes out to play). These days, my morning can’t really start until I’ve watched Beau flex and stroke himself in his daily singlet fashion show at BlueSky, and I am aching (ACHING) to get a ticket to see him at WrestleFestNYC this February, tag teaming with Mason Brooks and taking on Rocko again along with another fiercely hungry infatuation of mine, Mickey Knoxx in tag team match. Check out Beau’s swoonworthy videos on WatchFighters, and if you see me ringside at WrestleFest, I will beat you into the back row if you block my view!

Cry for me, jobber boy!

July 10, 2024 wrestlebard1 Comment

I started episode 3 of Sidelineland Sounds sampling the exquisite suffering of Drake Marcos at the hands of Shane McCall in BG East’s Demolition 27. In the podcast, I mentioned that I have this running back and forth with Drake that I think he’s way overdue for a heel turn, and I know for a fact he can be a mean, punishing fucker. Well, I heard from a wrestler named Rocko Mortis soon afterward, telling me if I’ve been waiting to see Drake heel, I need to check out Rocko’s recently released match with Drake on Watchfighters.

In The Jobber’s Jobber, Rocko shows up to take on Drake as a stepping stone to Rocko making a name for himself in underground wrestling. “The famous Drake Marcos,” he says with a contemptuous sneer, bumping foreheads with Drake in the middle of the ring and daring the veteran to blink. I had the pleasure of crossing paths with Drake a couple of times at Wrestlefest NYC last February, but this is my first chance seeing him in action since I last saw him wrestling for BGE and W4H several years ago. He’s as handsome as ever, maybe even more so, in the way that some guys just look more and more like a boss the older they get. He’s bigger than I’ve seen him wrestle before, and in a fun script-flip from his early wrestling career, he most definitely owns the size advantage over rookie Rocko. What really grabs me in the opening stare down, though, is the smile on Drake’s face. It’s bright, bordering on delighted, as he stares at his challenger. I’ve seen that full on look of unabashed excitement on Drake’s face before, and it’s the look of someone who’s already picturing how he’s going to fuck up and humiliate an opponent. Sure, sure, Drake’s wrestling record doesn’t have a lot of examples of him actually pulling that off, but it’s clear from the start that Drake’s pretty sure he’s got Rocko’s number.

Rocko is called a “newbie brawler” in the match description on Watchfighters, and it’s apt. He’s all blunt force and shock-and-awe, with a little edge of nearly-unhinged about him. Within seconds of them scrambling at the start, Rocko takes Drake’s back and has the veteran in a full nelson, and suddenly this is feeling so, so familiar (speaking as someone who’s watched Drake’s entire BGE catalog). “Seems like you’re a little rusty after all those years,” Rocko gloats, wringing the big man out. “Yeah, yeah, it’s been a minute,” Drake admits in this flash of authenticity and immediacy that reminds me of a few more reasons I’ve always enjoyed his wrestling. It doesn’t cost him a penny to admit that it’s been a while since he was battling it out in the ring like this, and that flash of honesty is worth twenty other wrestlers who spend their matches trying to convince themselves and their opponents that they’re invincible and unassailable. Drake can lose. He’s lost plenty in the past. So it’s not like he’s giving away ground to let Rocko’s taunt bounce off of him.

But holy fuck, Rocko’s eating his words when “rusty” Drake busts out of the nelson and slams the brawler to his back with authority. Nobody’s lightweight any longer, Drake nails the rookie to the mat in a schoolboy pin and slaps Rocko in the face hard. “Who the fuck do you think you are!?,” Drake demands with sudden passionate rage that grabs everyone’s attention. “I’m sick and tired of people underestimating me and thinking I’m just a stepping stone!” Like I said in Sidelineland Sounds episode 3, Drakes got a ton of technique and skills, and he starts to fucking roll all over the impudent rookie. He wrings Rocko out like laundry in those bodyscissors of his that may, or may not, have cracked one of my ribs many years ago. He manhandles the squirming rookie into a nasty Boston crab, cranking on Rocko’s spine and letting gravity and his new heavyweight status drive the rookie to the edge of panic. At one point, Drake breaks the 4th wall and stares into the camera with that hungry look of sheer delight I mentioned earlier and gloats, “You see? This is how you tame a fucking jobber!”

It’s a back and forth battle, but seriously Rocko’s pushing a boulder uphill against a bigger and badder Drake Marcos with nothing to lose. I’ve been on record many times, in text and now in audio, admiring Drake’s famous suffering sell, but holy fuck, Rocko tells the story in this match! He’s legit getting buried under an avalanche of pent up jobber frustration Drake’s been letting accumulate for years, apparently, and Rocko goes through every stage of grief in rapid succession. “No! NO!,” he screams as if he can deny he’s getting thrashed relentlessly. “Get off me! Get off me!,” he demands in an attempt to bargain with Drake, with this adorable note of command in his voice, like just by sheer force of will he can convince his opponent to obey him. He rages and roars like the Incredible Hulk about to rip off the tattered remains of his clothes and go ape shit on his bully. And as Drake is wearing him down to a raw nub, Rocko starts pleading and begging, “Oh, no, please! Please, no!” Damn, he’s all in so hard I almost start to feel sorry for him. Until he gets a reversal…

Holy fuck, Rocko on the pitching mound, working offense and laying down some hot, hard punishment on Drake is almost as compelling as his suffering sell. He laughs like a Batman villain, with this spontaneity that borders on maniacal. “Is this a pin?,” he snarls down when he’s got Drake flat on his back and unable to dislodge the rookie. It’s a rhetorical question, meant to point out the obvious fact that Drake is in danger of picking up his jobber career where he left off, and newbie Rocko is chomping at the bit to use this rookie victory to climb to the next rung on the ladder of being the sadistic, unhinged brawler bully he aspires to be. Rocko’s got a vicious mean streak that I suspect is attached to nerve endings in his crotch, because he sure seems to be getting off on making Drake hurt.

So, like I mentioned, Rocko gave me a heads up that we’ll see Drake’s heel turn in this match, and it’s sweetly satisfying after I’ve been anticipating it all of these years. He wears the would-be bully brawler out and leaves Rocko in that final stage of grief, bitterly accepting that the most infamous jobber in homoerotic wrestling just pulverized him. “Let’s leave everyone on fucking notice that Drake Marcos is fucking back!” It’ll come as no surprise to regular readers that I strongly endorse Drake’s repetitious use of “fucking” to drive home the point that there’s a whole new Drake Marcos climbing into the ring in 2024. “Clean yourself up bitch,” he snarls at Rocko as he walks away, writing his own script and being is own badass wrestling heel self.

The Jobber’s Jobber is intense and fun and chaotic and spontaneous. There are no washboard abs, so if you need that, this may not be for you. But if you like hard, mean, ego-fueled brawling with heavy doses of shattered dreams and brutal punishment to the point of weeping panic, this is most definitely for you.

WrestleFest – Historic

February 24, 2024 wrestlebard11 Comments

There’s just so fucking much to reflect on when it comes to wrapping my head around my experiences at WrestleFest NYC 2024! As I mentioned last week, a major item on my schedule for WrestleFest was moderating a panel discussion and question & answer session centered on the History of Gay Wrestling. It started off as this cool idea that I’d fit in on top of wrestling and socializing at the fest. Then it grew and morphed into this spectacular and historic opportunity to gather together an unprecedented collection of wrestlers, in-front-of and behind the camera talent at BG East, and around 100 fans to reflect on how far we’ve come as a community. As it took shape, it had a special focus on the homoerotic wrestling video production industry as it relates to meet-up wrestling, wrestling clubs, BJJ training facilities, and other fascinating branches of the diversity of who we have been and who we are as the gay wrestling community today. In the weeks leading up to the event, I somehow went from being a talking head moderator for the event to chairing the planning committee. Lest “chairing” sound more self-important than it really was, let me clarify that it was largely devoted to trying to channel an ever growing number of creative, innovative, talented wrestling hunks into arriving at the same place, at the same time, in order to (roughly) accomplish the same task. No mean feat, trust me. By the time last weekend rolled around, I was showing up to WrestleFest to take care of panel business, and hopefully squeeze a little wrestling and socializing in on the side.

In the very early days of thinking the panel through, a few of us honestly didn’t know how this type of event might resonate with the rest of the WrestleFest vibe. We arranged to book a room at the community center that could seat 60 people, taking it on faith that we’d manage to raise the funds to pay the rental. By the time we showed up this past Sunday afternoon, we’d had to upgrade the room rental to accommodate the more than 100 people planning on showing up, and had secured pledges to cover the cost of the larger space and equipment. Watching people start to stream in when the doors opened was sort of surreal, to be honest. Guys looked curious and excited as they kept filing in, browsing the tables of memorabilia that panelists brought as well as silent auction items available. I was a bit of a nervous mess, frankly. The nerves were firing on several levels, including this being my first “public” appearance for me, after almost 15 years of relatively anonymously blogging here. I was also just nervous about speaking in front of 100 friends and strangers. And, sure, I was nervous about whether our planning was sufficient to wrangle the egos and anecdotes and honors necessary to pay proper respect to the shoulders on which an event like WrestleFest NYC 2024 rests. I had more than a few sleepless nights in the previous week imagining 1,001 things that could go catastrophically wrong. And, to my continued amazement, it went beautifully from start to finish!

The BG East crew video recorded the panels, and I don’t know what their plans may be for the recording. But the panel discussion in the first hour turned into a fascinating glimpse into the evolution of gay wrestling from the perspective of 6 wrestlers who haven’t just lived it, but have actively shaped it. No one had sufficient time for us to really get their full stories. We knew all along the time constraints were going to leave us all a little less than satisfied at any one step along the way. But the collegiality and camaraderie of all of the featured panelists wove its way into this fun, funny, inspiring narrative about guys just making it up and figuring it out along the way, and slowly and surely, what they were making up and figuring out became the geography of gay wrestling community we take for granted today. Like the evolution of finding wrestling opponents in personal ads in the Advocate, to regional wrestling club newsletters, to AOL chatrooms and Global Fight and MeetFighters. They talked about how wrestling with gay sensibilities have charted a path through freestyle wrestling clubs and jiu-jitsu training gyms still today. And there was this fascinating interplay between meet-up wrestling culture and the evolution of the homoerotic wrestling video production industry, with even pre-BGE roots in companies like AMG and Old Reliable, and then us largely focusing on the role of BG East, and the dozen or more other wrestling companies that have come and gone, modeled on BG East’s eye for the art, athleticism, and dramatic production behind their wrestling videos. Fuck. It was seriously deep and layered and flew by just way too fast! But it was exactly what it needed to be in that moment and for that occasion.

The panelists were the cream of the crop, starting with our featured speaker, Kid Leopard, himself. One of the early New York Wrestling Club contributors, Bill Erland talked about his journey from pro wrestling fan to wrestler. Shane McCall shared a glimpse of his transformation from a quiet, relatively nonathletic gay kid into the LEGEND Shane McCall, babyface battler and rookie of the year turned dangerously badass erotic warrior. Scott “the Man of my Dreams” Williams took the podium to talk about his journey from solidly accomplished submission wrestler in his BG East filming days to finding his way into a BJJ gym, where he’s been training and accepted as a gay man in the often hypermasculine world of MMA. Kid Leopard reflected on his storied career as a performer, a pro wrestler, an on-camera wrestler for BG, and then his entrepreneurial genius in building BG East into the pillar of the gay wrestling community it has been for the past 45 years. And Kid Vicious reflected on embodying both one of the most notorious sex fight characters in gay wrestling iconography, while also transitioning to behind the camera, directorial, and management responsibilities, helping to navigate BG East through the increasingly turbulent and uncertain waters of technological revolutions and the gig economy of self-produced wrestling fare. Fuck, how did we get through that much depth and breadth!!!?

Scott Williams and Shane McCall seemed to enjoy themselves

Despite how wound tight my nerves were to start with, the event turned quite emotional for me, as I’ve heard it did for several other folks who were present. I was already getting chills just listening to Shane talk about the liberation of letting his inner gay wrestling badass out. When Scott was bearing witness to just how accepting and affirming his jiu-jitsu training gym was, I was seriously torn between having my heart warmed and my cock hard, because… Scott. The heartstrings really took a tug, though, when Kid Leopard started his remarks off by awarding a trophy, in absentia, to Jonny Firestorm, who at the last minute wasn’t able to join us at WrestleFest. And then, Kid Leopard delivered another surprise award to my co-moderator and legendary ring announcer, Bob Wood (watch BGE’s Wrestlefest 1, Live at Metro, or Live at Campus for a taste of what Bob brings to hot gay pro wrestling drama).

Ricky Roma and Gabe Steel were in the house

Kid Vicious and I had a little surprise planned of our own, though. I think we genuinely caught Kid Leopard off guard by handing him an award in honor and gratitude for his lifetime contributions to promote and elevate gay wrestling. He got two spontaneous standing ovations from a room full of passionately grateful fans and colleagues. I think it may be the first time I’ve ever seen Kid Leopard at a loss for words, and it was sweet and powerful and brought a tear to my eye. Of course, Kid Leopard’s speechlessness only lasted about a minute, but, fuck, yeah. I think the weight of a ton of gratitude and respect landed just right.

Shane McCall and Scott Williams feeling the love from fan and friend Tarz Lando

We switched up the panel for the second half of the event, populating the front table with 8 or so BG East wrestlers, which honestly was a little random, because there were at least that many more of them still in the audience. Here’s where I got to ask questions I gathered from the live audience assembled that day for the event, as well as from blog readers and social media followers. So, for example, I did deliver the question that Alex posed in the comments here last week, asking Kid Vicious “who coached/trained him originally to be so amazing at erotic wrestling, and how did he get into it?” The answer can be boiled down to Kid Leopard, and he sought out Kid Leopard. But it was this spontaneous and funny answer where, I kid you not, Kid Vicious looked almost a little embarrassed by the praise! Again, I’m not going to do the answer justice, so I’m hoping folks may have an opportunity to watch the recording sometime soon. I was expecting the wrestler Q&A to be mostly fun and cheesy, maybe with a mix of kayfabe and BTS glimpses. And it was totally that, but holy hell, it was also astonishingly moving, too! One audience member anonymously wrote a question, asking for advice for an aspiring jobber looking to finally follow his gay wrestling dreams, now that he’s in recovery from addiction. Woah. WOAH. I got chills just reading the question, and I honestly had no idea who among the wrestlers might answer or how they’d respond. And they lined up to share their words of encouragement and concrete, serious as fuck gems of advice (e.g., make sure you negotiate ahead of time and trust who you’re wrestling so you stay injury-free, and sell your heels!!!). Another question from the audience asked about the desire to see more wrestlers of color and trans men in gay wrestling, and, again, I didn’t know where that was going to take us. And it took us into some real talk about the BG East audience, profits, and the marginal return on investment when the studio recruits and tapes wrestlers of color knowing that their existing customer base doesn’t respond the same way as to white wrestlers. It wasn’t the sad truth and the realities of racism and transphobia in the market that gave me chills, but the earnest opportunity this audience member was taking to talk to the powers that be and have that real conversation, and then the willingness of the wrestlers and the wrestler-producers on the panel to wade into those waters and respond with an authenticity that doesn’t solve the problem, but respected it and named it. Where in the FUCK else do we have those conversations so spontaneously and respectfully like that!?!?

Early BG East wrestling hunks back in the day

There was also this subtle moment in the Q&A that snuck up on me in terms of how powerful it turned out to be. I asked a question my buddy AR had suggested that I ask, inquiring of the BG East wrestlers who they wish they could have wrestled, but who had already left the scene before they arrived at BG East. The instant I asked the question, Mason Brooks’ hand shot up like Hermione Granger in charms class. With eager earnestness, Mason said, “Brad Rochelle!” That started this popcorn of earnest answers from the panelists, and then the BGE wrestlers in the audience, and then anyone and everyone else, naming their favorite BG East wrestlers who’ve starred in our personal fantasies. Alexi Adamov, Mike Columbo, Blaze, J-Rock, Aryx Quinn, Dark Rogers, Nick Archer, Justin Pierce … answers kept coming, and with each name, there were spontaneous corporate sighs and grunts of agreement rising up from the entire room. It felt like we were tapping into some collective unconscious, naming out loud our lustful objects of fantasy and discovering 100 others were right there with us. I honestly got chills as the names and sighs and collective moans kept coming, not only because it was just cool to witness BG East stars tapping into their own inner fanboys, but because it felt like this visceral manifestation of the way in which wrestling videos have helped to weave each of us, independently watching our own screens in privacy, into a community of shared passions and common experiences.

They’ve been cracking each other up for decades!

My head is still buzzing from just how incredible I felt the panel turned out. It was about history, and it was fucking historic. Things were said there that needed to said. Appreciation long overdue. Praise that’s never quite been articulated in that way before. I had this powerful impression that there was a lot less dividing the panelists up front from the 100 or so audience members watching than I’d imagined there to be before the event started. I’m left with this profound appreciation for the way that gay wrestling pioneers before us blazed a trail that was never a sure thing, but yet has led us to a place where we can celebrate homoerotic wrestling in more ways than ever before. And I’m left with this sense of awe at the way that homoerotic wrestling videos have shaped not just my tastes, but my sense of myself. And clearly I’m not alone in that. Seeing a diversity of wrestlers celebrating homoerotic wrestling, making themselves vulnerable on camera, and lending their voices and bodies and creativity to giving form to what we find most erotic leaves us feeling a little more seen and heard and respected. I may not be the LEGEND Shane McCall or Scott THUNDER Williams. I’m definitely not the legendary erotic warrior Kid Vicious, or the godfather of gorgeously sadistic heels Kid Leopard. But thanks to them, I feel more powerful and attractive and interesting and empowered. I feel like I’ve got a place in the world that seems like it was just handed to me, but in reality, was hard-earned from thousands of acts of courage and innovation. My sincere thanks to all of the panelists and the wrestlers who showed up and treated your fans with such authentic and spontaneous respect and love.

At the risk of forgetting someone, I just want to personally thank BG East’s Kid Leopard, Kid Vicious, Sailor Rob, Shane McCall, Bob Wood, Bill Erland, Mason Brooks, Drake Marcos, Ricky Roma, Ben Monaco, Mickey Knoxx, Ollie Watts, Seon Cruz, Randy Roberts, Matt Carleton, Ethan Andrews, Kayden Keller, Brian Powers, Gabe Steel, and… fuck… I’m sure I’m missing some more. Chime in and remind me!

Classic wrestling hunks loving what they do and the community they’re part of

And deep gratitude for photo permissions from Ricky Roma and Tarz Lando, and, as always, BG East!

Have You Heard?

September 7, 2022 wrestlebard10 Comments

I received a DM late last night asking me if knew some point of contact with the classic BG East wrestler Nick Archer. Quick answer: no, sadly. I’d love to know what Nick is up to, and if he still puts his incredible arsenal of submission holds to good use. So damn handsome. So fucking hot!

It’s not uncommon that I get this type of question. I assume it’s because you all know that I’m a self-avowed low-impact stalker. I’ve spent an unreasonable amount of time in my life obsessively combing the internet for updates and clues to know more about the gorgeous hunks I lust over. I’ve also enjoyed the privilege of conducting interviews with wrestlers over the years, and it’s also true that I’ve had the amazing privilege to get to meet in-person several of the wrestling studs who step into the ring for our pleasure. I’m honored to even call a few of them friends! So, you’d be forgiven if you overestimate my behind-the-scenes, insider access to information about homoerotic wrestling stars.

Friend of the blog and the blogger, Drake Marcos

However, sometimes current and former wrestlers read these pages, and even respond in the comments or reach out to follow up by email. In case Nick Archer’s eyes ever fall on these words, I hope he knows that there’s an army of homoerotic wrestling fans who wish him well, and we’d all be delighted if he’d drop a comment to let us know he’s well.

Sal Bruno has found memories of Ken Canada!

Sal Bruno reached out to be my email a couple of weeks ago, after he recently read my interview from several years ago with Ken Canada. Sal says reading Ken’s reminisces brought back good memories for him, mostly of pounding the perkiness out of adorably sexy jobbers like Ken. I’ve lost my direct connection to Ken, but in case he’s reading this, drop me a note, buddy, and I’ll be happy to get you back in touch with Sal!

Troy Baker haunts our homoerotic wresting dreams!

There are recurring subjects of “have you heard from” messages I receive. I get hit up at least 2 or 3 times a year with questions about Troy Baker. Trust me, I get it! Troy’s monster quads show up often in my fondest wrestling fantasies. The only intel I have on Troy came from the Boss, who once told me that Troy left the world of homoerotic wrestling on good terms, but an old hockey injury knocked him out of competition. In case Troy ever reads these words, I’d like to suggest that he consider sending up a flag to a whole lot of us fierce fans, and I’d bet he’d rake in some cash with a OF glimpse of himself!

Some other common questions I field focus on babyface heroes like Brad Rochelle, Alexi Adamov, Chris Bruce, Mr. Joshua Goodman… I don’t have any lines of communications with those guys, either, but just listing their names here leaves me with all sorts of feels. I will always, ALWAYS be thrilled to hear from any of them, and pass along the passionate appreciation their fans have for them still!

Of course, I have my own personal wish list of wrestlers I’d love to have a direct line to. Kid Vicious has teased me cruelly over the years (because… he’s Kid Vicious!) about the possibility of an actual sit-down, full-on interview. Sadly, that’s never happened, and he hasn’t even teased me with the possibility of it in a couple of years. I’ve heard various rumors that he’s retired from active wrestling, or not… that he now lives full-time in the UK, or not… that he actively trains new BG East recruits, or not…. He’s been edging me ruthlessly for years, so I can only imagine how hard I’d pop if I ever actually landed that interview. I’ve got SO many questions. And I’d donate a kidney to get to see one of those training sessions!

Feel free to send me your “where are they now” questions, though I don’t promise to have the answers. But I’ll be happy to put out the call to the ether, and hope that our favorite homoerotic wrestling hunks might just read, and respond, to the passionate appreciation of their fans!

Tan Lines

June 21, 2020June 8, 2020 wrestlebard4 Comments

0401_lg The first time I posted about my appreciation of the value added by tan lines, I received some surprising back channel heat. There are, apparently, some guys who find tan lines unsightly. I honestly had no idea. I’ve always found them provocative and tantalizing. There’s something that much closer to naked about tan lines. They signal something vulnerable, something delicate, to otherwise hard bodied beefcake. They allude to modesty unmasked, to an uncommon intimacy shared with those who get a glimpse of them. Tan lines serve as a literal and figurative boundary, and in the homoerotic gaze, they seem to inherently speak to disregarding boundaries and propriety and self-restraint. All my respect to the hot hunks on a quest for that all-over tan, but as for me, I get an extra hard heart pump from an impossible to miss tan line!

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Calvin Haynes’ sensational ass turns me on that much harder when Mason Brooks’ reveals his beautiful tan line in their match on Calvin’s Wrestler Spotlight.

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Drake Marcos, bless his heart, tanned like a mother fucker before getting his turn riding muscle cherub Gabriel Cross inX-Fights 34. The bike shorts he was soaking up the sun in left an indelible mark in my memory.

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When Alexi Adamov got to be the first at BGE to get his hands on Mitch Colby on Alexi’s Wrestler Spotlight, I was shocked by how enticingly distracting Mitch’s tan line is, even with all of that ripped, gorgeous, sweaty muscle everywhere to look at.

rhino

Rhino taped several matches for Thunder’s Arena sporting bike shorts tan lines that somehow make his massively thick thighs look just that much more gargantuan. Here, he’s got Scrappy draped across his shoulders like wet towel in Mat Rats 105, and somehow all I can see are those sexy-as-fuck tan lines.

alex

I feel in my gut that Alex Oliver doesn’t really get just how crazy-sexy he is getting plowed under in a made-for-gay-eyes wrestling match. His deep, deep, dark tan contrasting with his lily white upper thighs on display in Cameron’s manhandling of the boy makes me want to lick him so, so much.

Help me out and let me know what more sexy-as-fuck tan lines to watch for in homoerotic wrestling!

Peekaboo

August 8, 2018 wrestlebardLeave a comment

Watching Drake Marcos stretch out before his Masked Mayhem 13 match reminds me all over again how much he turns me on. His handsome face. His pouty lower lip. His long lean torso. And those legs. Fuck, those legs. They’re just so pretty and punishingly strong. Trust me, Drake’s long, meaty legs can squeeze the juice right out of an opponent.

I’ve mentioned before my opinion that Drake is an epic underachiever on the mats. He’s been trained by the best. He’s got a short fuse against bigger opponents who try to bully him. It’s magnificent to watch him clench his jaw and shift into overdrive to battle back from a deficit. Drake has this raw, fiercely competitive edge to him that belies his well-earned reputation as a powderpuff jobberboy. Every time I settle in to appreciate a new Drake match, I’m wondering if this will be the breakout moment when finally lives into his potential as a vicious, erotic badass.

So I’m lusting over Drake’s legs and fantasizing about that long-awaited heel turn when Gold Shaft silently steps onto the mat behind Drake. It’s like a horror movie, with me yelling at the screen, “Turn around! He’s right behind you!” Gold Shaft admires the view a few seconds, which makes me love him more than ever (which is saying a lot). Gold Shaft likes what he sees, and Drake doesn’t even realize he’s already pinned between my gaze bearing down on him from the front and Gold Shaft’s gaze locked on from behind. And then just like that, Gold Shaft snaps his right arm across Drake’s throat from behind, pulls him to the mat in a padlocked sleeper, and peers around Drake’s head to soak in the sight of Drake’s handsome face going slack. Holy fuck. The fastest victory in BG East history? Possibly.

Gold Shaft rouses Drake to face his humiliation.

Fuck, Gold Shaft is pretty. Sure, the mask exponentiates his erotic allure, but that body?! I don’t quite understand how none of his opponents ever seem to lick his honey dipped muscles from head to toe. I feel like Pavlov’s dog, salivating uncontrollably at the sight of him. When it comes to Drake, part of his attractiveness is how he doesn’t quite seem to recognize how hot he is. But as for Gold Shaft, he knows exactly what a sexy mother fucker he is, and every flex and stretch and angle is dripping with erotic beauty. The way he possesses Drake, slack in his arms, stroking his torso, sliding his hands inside the front of Drake’s briefs and massaging his cock, is entrancing. He feels entitled to lick his opponent’s face and mount him, shockingly slapping Drake to consciousness again.

For his part, Drake suffers like nobody else. The pathos streams off of his twisted, twitching body in waves. I’m sure it’s what keeps him chained to jobberhood, but nobody wrestling today sells his own jeopardy anywhere nearly as compellingly as he does. There’s a bitter panic pulsating off of him when he’s trying to suck air into his lungs with Gold Shaft’s figure-4 choke almost pinching his windpipe closed. Drake’s muscles spasm involuntarily when his opponent throttles his crotch violently. He has no poker face. When he’s getting buried under, every muscle fiber and choking gasp of air communicates clearly that he’s on the edge of terror and genuinely fears for his safety. Drake goes there in this match and every match, because facing down his own panic and potential humiliation is dizzyingly sexy, and Drake loves erotic wrestling just that much to dance on the precipice of his own horror and degradation.

Perhaps Drake’s jeopardy and terror are what turns Gold Shaft on. Maybe it’s just stroking and humping and tasting his opponent’s sweet body under his control. Whatever it is, mere minutes into the match, he’s working hard to keep a lid on Drake’s bitterness coming to a boil. He cranks hard on a side headlock, smashing Drake’s cheek against his smooth chest. He’s on his knees on the mat, pumping viciously, Drake groaning in pain, and there’s Gold Shaft’s golden shaft stretching excitedly out of the top of his white trunks. We’ve seen his beautiful, erect cock come to bear in past matches, but there’s something so sincere and earnest about the appearance of the head of his cock rising like a periscope. He hasn’t touched himself. He’s just so entirely turned on by wrestling Drake that his cock refuses to be contained. I so fucking love watching wrestlers who are experiencing the same erotic thrill I am.

My take is that this is not a squash. Drake is a tough mother fucker who can give opponent’s twice his size a full dose of hurt, so he gives Gold Shaft a serious run for his money. In fact, there’s a lush, tit-for-tat revenge sleeper just a few minutes after his own shocking undoing out of the gates that momentarily strokes those hopes of mine that Drake may harness all of that sensational wrestling skill and competitive drive to drag an opponent kicking and screaming to the edge of terror that he knows so intimately. But soon enough, Drake starts getting buried under, submitting as much to his own demons as to his opponent. Gold Shaft knocks him out again and again, possessing Drake’s vulnerable body repeatedly, and then slapping him back to his living hell. It’s not a full on squash, but Drake should definitely be in the running for jobber of the year again.

The standing headscissors submission tops me off magnificently. Drake’s trunks violently wedged up his quivering ass are sensationally sexy. Gold Shaft mounting his unconscious victim from behind, thrusting his shaft grinding victoriously between Drake’s cheeks, is everything right about homoerotic wrestling. Gold Shaft is irrepressible. Drake is desperately struggling to uncork that vicious sadist he’s got bottled up inside. Everyone is turned on, especially me.

And the Nominees Are…

January 8, 2018 wrestlebard5 Comments

The first half of the BG East Besties ballot never seems to generate as much controversy as the second half. Turning our focus on individual wrestlers seems to incite even more fevered debates about tastes and types and loyalties. BGE has gone six deep for each category, so there’s bound to be someone for everyone to fight over. Definitely don’t just take my word for who you should vote for, but by all means, vote. And in case you aren’t sure who you want to rally behind, feel free to take some inspiration from how I see things.

8. Top Heel

Last year Jonny Firestorm brought home the title as Best Heel at BG East. Jonny has owned this category for quite a while. The only time he hasn’t won, he wasn’t nominated, in which case Kid Karisma stepped up at grabbed the ring. This year pits these two legendary heels against each other and an equally diverse field of styles, attitudes, and interpretations of the word “heel.”

Cole Cassidy
Jonny Firestorm
Lane Hartley
Kid Karisma
Kayden Keller
Kid Vicious

What a field! I’m punching an enthusiastic button for the increasingly rare opportunity to vote for the legendary heel, Kid Vicious. Although he only appeared in one product this year, it was classic KV, through and through. No one else on this list takes nearly as much erotic pleasure making an opponent suffer. My second choice would see Kayden Keller jump the line ahead of both Jonny and Kid Karisma. Kayden has become one of the hardest working wrestlers in homoerotic wrestling, and like KV, he’s growing increasingly comfortable in the role of the erotic sadist. I’m guessing that the popular vote may still break Jonny or Kid Karisma’s way, and obviously they deserve the heel-appreciation. But as for me, KV remains in a league of his own, with Kayden quickly filling the void left by KV’s sparser and sparser appearances in the ring.

9. Top Babyface

The field for top babyface highlights how these awards reflect so much more about the fans than the wrestlers. Some of these guys I wouldn’t classify as babyfaces. Past winners like Biff Farrell and Jake Jenkins are as absent from the poll as they were scarce in new releases this year. So one of these guys is going to take the title for the first time:

Gil Barrios
Mitch Colby
Kirk Donahue
Richie Douglas
Payton Meadows
Zip Zarella

As with the heel category, I’m picking a dark horse candidate for as much sentimental reasons as anything else. Mitch Colby epitomizes the erotic-forward babyface that can only inhabit the world of homoerotic wrestling. His epic dismantling of the legendary heel Cage Thunder demonstrates perfectly the distinction that I think so many fans struggle with in distinguishing between a hot jobber and a babyface. And as his opponent has acknowledged, Mitch was in the best shape of his life for that match. I do think it’s criminal that Christian Taylor did not make the ballot. If pressed for a second place, I’d probably go for Richie Douglas. I’m uncertain what character type Zip Zarella is growing into, but he could easily get my vote for top babyface or top heel with a couple more matches under his belt to signal his underlying moral compass. This category seems wide open for predicting a popular vote getter, but I’m thinking things could swing Richie or Mitch’s way.

10. Jobber of the Year

There’s some serious range in interpretations of a jobber among the field for Jobber of the Year. Last year’s winner Ty Alexander is back in the offing, despite his pretty decisive heel turn this year. In fact, I think at least of couple of the nominees this year lack that inevitability about them that I expect to see in a jobber. Take a look at what I’m talking about:

Ty Alexander
Trey Dixon
Kirk Donahue
Charlie Evans
Drake Marcos
Van Skyler

On the one hand, I do love watching Kirk Donahue get his awardless ass beat again and again. But honestly, the perfect depiction of a jobber is Drake’s match trying to reinvent himself as El Favorito. El Favorito is Drake’s acknowledgment that he’s a jobber, that he’s destined to get plowed under, despite his impeccable skills. Perhaps with a new name, Drake muses that he can start over as something other than a jobber. And then Thrash thrashes him like the jobber he is, in or out of a mask, under any name. If I were a betting man, I’d guess that Ty, despite openly acknowledging on tape that he is no longer a jobber, may take this again because… social media.

11. Debut of the Year

There was some insane, out of the blue drama a few months back with last year’s Debut of the Year winner, Beauxregard. The category is, by no means, a guarantee of success or respect. In some ways I think Ty Alexander may be the exception when it comes to parlaying the Debut of the Year award into a solid BGE career platform. Beaux, Kip Sorell, Eli Black… it may be possible that this is a “peaked too soon” award for most (though, of course, I’m always hoping to see Eli elevate his BGE game). So this year’s nominees should beware, take nothing for granted. Winning Debut of the Year is, at best, just the start of your hard work on the way to success. The newbies who should heed this warning include…

Ace Aarons
Ash DeLeon
Bruno LaBestia
Steve Mason
Toney Rico
Zip Zarella

I’m a huge backer of most of these guys, so this is another tough call for me. When push comes to shove, I’m casting my vote for one of the classiest acts to jump over from indy pro success, Ace Aarons. Ace had the skills to turn the stink bomb of Luke Lonza into a relatively satisfying squash, because he took seriously what Luke apparently couldn’t. I’m particularly impressed with his most recent mat match, laced with tons of sweat and lust, with fellow nominee Ash DeLeon. An indy pro who successfully translates his skill set to the mat and to an erotic text is quite an impressive debut, indeed! A second place pic for me would be a close call between Ash (who suffered from having only one match published for his debut year) or Zip Zarella (who classes up the place like Ace, but without the erotic twist).

12. Best Abs

2017 provided a feast for six-pack lovers. Last year’s winner Chace LaChance failed to make the cut, and personally I think it’s largely because the competition was so spectacular this year. Also absent were previous award winners Z-Man and Eli Black. So this is another category where someone new is guaranteed to take home the trophy this year. The possible breakout abdominal stars are…

Carter Alexander
Devon Britt-Darby
Mitch Colby
Richie Douglas
Kid Karisma
Payton Meadows

Everyone’s a winner in this category, but when I cast my ballot, I’m going to vote for Payton Meadows. Every inch of Payton is dazzlingly gorgeous, but his abs are exceptionally ripped, balanced, and abs-olutely beautiful. Please, please, please let us see more of him (in every sense of the word) next year. His releases are far too far in between. Second place for me this year is, astonishingly, not Kid K. It was Carter Alexander’s superhuman core that was the standout star of his squash against Kayden, and as I said earlier, his side tat screams for worshiping his sweaty eight-pack. Playing the odds, I’d guess that Richie Douglas could take the title in the popular voting this year, though I never count out Kid K.

13. Best Bulge

After years of there being one standout each season for best bulge, this is suddenly one of the most competitive categories. Last year’s winner, Kirk Donahue, is back to defend his title. Mr. Joshua, who wasn’t nominated last year but has owned the title more often than not, is back in contention. Cage Thunder’s throbbing rod not only blazed to full glory, but got used and abused by his babyface nemesis. And then there was the collective gasp throughout the homoerotic wrestling world when Steve Mason’s debut revealed one of the biggest power tools I’ve ever seen. The full slate looks like this…

Ace Aarons
Kirk Donahue
Joshua Goodman
Steve Mason
Cage Thunder
Jobe Zander

I’m sticking with Mr. J in this year’s vote. His bulge continues to be so huge that it gets in the way of his wrestling. He continually has to adjust the packing. It walks into a room about 5 seconds before Mr. J does. And Cole Cassidy managed to display Mr. J’s legendary bulge from entirely new angles this year. I’ve got my eye on Steve Mason’s leviathan, though. I think there’s a chance I might be in the middle of the normal curve this time, and the popular vote might also swing to Mr. Joshua, though I wouldn’t be surprised to see Steve knock the competition out of his way with that billy club of his.

14. Best Butt

This is always one of the most hotly debated categories. I’ve already seen a certain nominee launch a full scale social media campaign to finally take home this trophy after coming in second place last year. Here’s who you get to pick from…

Ty Alexander
Gil Barrios
Kirk Donahue
Kid Karisma
Noah Samson
Van Skyler

I’m more ambivalent about my vote than in past years, but honestly, who am I kidding? I’m voting for Kid Karisma’s phenomenal glutes again. They’re perfect. Magnificent, functional muscles resting atop those massive upper legs. Damn. A second place for me would be either Ty or the epic last minute debut of Noah Samson. Holy fuck, Noah’s ass is unbelievable. Not as tightly muscled and powerful, but aesthetically a work of art. I keep expecting Ty’s social media campaign to pull the rug out from beneath Kid K’s long ownership of this title. Perhaps this will be year Ty can sway a majority of voters to take their eyes off of Kid K’s glorious ass.

15. Best Body

I was so thrilled last year, after years of promoting the obvious physical perfection of Kid Karisma, that I was finally joined by a majority of voters. This year’s field is, as always, hot competition to try to wrest this oft-traded title away:

Carter Alexander
Mitch Colby
Richie Douglas
Kid Karisma
Payton Meadows
Van Skyler

For my vote, this is a horse race between Kid Karisma and Peyton Meadows. I’d give Payton the edge for his pecs and abs, and Kid K the advantage for arms and shoulders. But the balance of power tilts on Kid K’s full, muscular leg development (including the often overlooked calves). So I’m inclined to, once again, worship at the feet of Kid K as the Best Body at BG East in 2017. Just to confirm my evaluation, I’d love to see these two physical specimens side by side… and then on top of each other, pounding into each other, squeezing, shoving, and grinding each other. As for who the popular vote will tilt toward, I most frequently guess this one wrong. But my (probably wrong) guess this year is that it will go to Kid K or, perhaps, Van, though I do think Payton is slowly accumulating an audience of gasping fans (in addition to me), with the slow trickle of his new releases over time.

This was a spectacular slate of nominees, and I’m not just saying that because I was on the nominating committee. In fact, several of my top choices changed as a result of seeing the official ballot and being reminded by other nominators of choice contenders that deserved a second look. In the coming days, I’ll keep reflecting on categories that aren’t reflected on the official ballots, but matter a lot to me. In the mean time, give your best argument (respectfully) for your votes in the comments below.

“I have no shame”

August 9, 2017December 19, 2022 wrestlebard5 Comments

As I mentioned, on my last pilgrimage to BG East North this summer I was given the thrilling opportunity to sit down, face to face, and interview several BG East wrestlers in those moments between them taping matches. Ty Alexander seemed particularly keen to cozy up to my mic, and it is no surprise to me in the least that my interview with the Trophy Boy was long, intense, and peppered with several unexpected twists and turns. If you listen to our interview below, you’ll hear what I mean when I say that Ty is the master of the inside joke. I’ll do my best to let you in on the jokes, but honestly, with Ty, I always feel like there’s another layer of meaning I have yet to discover. It may help (or not) for you to know ahead of time that Ty has repeatedly called me out to kick my ass, and the more muscular he gets, the more actively I’ve tried to steer clear of a Trophy Boy ass kicking (judge me if you will). It also may, or may not, provide helpful context to know that a little while ago, Ty gifted me with the pair of Calvin Kleins that he and Drake fought so bitterly over in Babyface Brawl X. As with my interview with Kayden, Ty’s tightly toned body was distracting, and I don’t believe that’s by accident. Ty wore the least amount of clothing of any of my interviewees, and he drew attention to his tanned muscles repeatedly. On the one hand, if you know Ty, you know it’s always about Ty. On the other hand, I strongly suspect that there was considerable method to the Trophy Boy’s madness in showing up to his interview in his green Nike compression briefs and pretty much nothing else.

Ty Alexander: “I’m a lot more lean and muscular now than I have been previously.”

In this first portion of the interview, we learn about the ongoing evolution of Ty, both physically and his prospects to dig himself out of the deep jobber hole he’s been in. Ty discusses what fans really long to see, and what the chances may be of there ever being a Ty heel-turn. Learn about Ty’s big weakness, and his impression of how BG East is living into the age of social media.

Ty Alexander Interview – Part 1:

20641928_2034314276802715_15437980_o In the next portion of our interview, talks about his favorite classic BGE wrestlers, and exactly what it’s like to meet your gay wrestling hero in person (and get your ass kicked by him). He explores some of the differences between Ty the wrestler and Ty in the rest of his life. Hear Ty’s response to my direct question of whether he is Our Man Inside. We bond over the prototype of the wrestling nerd hunk. And as further evidence that he is the master of the inside joke, delve into the mystery of who Ty may, or may not, be roommates with.

Ty Alexander Interview – Part 2:

0404_lg In the final portion of the interview, learn about the likelihood of seeing Ty naked in a future match (hint: it’s really, really high). Discover how this post got its title, and how that relates to a description of Ty covered in cum strolling around BG East after a particularly explosive match. I give a shout out to Kid Leopard for my next invitation to visit BGE (Ty is involved). Ty answers the question of which BGE wrestlers are hooking up with each other (“who isn’t!?”). And finally, listen to how this particular interview ended with Ty’s hands down my pants. No kidding.

Ty Alexander Interview – Part 3:

Ty: “Mike Columbo was one of my favorites to watch and get off to.”

Ty: “My first filming I was just kind of very shy and very quiet. It was one of those things where I think *I can’t believe I’m actually doing this*! I watched this for so long, and I’ve always wanted to do it. And I never thought I actually could do it.”

Ty: “Everybody deserves the right to wrestle and have fun with it.”

Ty: “There’s nothing better than a hot nerd.”

Bard: “I think readers of my blog will think that I’m bullshitting them when I say that Ty really is the gear maven on shoots.”

“I tend to want control”

August 3, 2017 wrestlebard2 Comments

This summer I received the golden ticket I’ve been dreaming of for pretty much my entire adult life. BG East Boss Kid Leopard extended the invitation for me to be on site during a week of recording new matches. I was able to take a day for this latest pilgrimage to the BG East compound outside of Boston, and it was everything I’d hoped for and significantly more. Gorgeous, hot hunks were arriving throughout the day. The Boss was there (of course). Pretty much every formal member of Bard’s homoerotic wrestling boyband was on hand, as well as several honorary inductees. In other words, I was in heaven.

I have a lot of reflections I’ll share about my latest BG East pilgrimage in the coming weeks, about the business, about wrestlers, about fans, about me. But to kick off my debriefing of this epic experience, I want to jump right into the most enjoyable part of the visit: the interviews. I charmed several of these gorgeous men into agreeing to sit down with me at the lakeshore and answer some questions. They were generous, playful, flirtatious even. And several of them were open to letting me record our interviews and make the audio file available here on the blog.

The first interview I want to share was with stunningly sexy Kayden Keller. I tend to think of Kayden as relatively reticent in action, so it was a deeply pleasant surprise to discover that he is, in person, downright loquacious. Take a listen and learn a little bit about what pushes Kayden’s buttons, and how Kayden pushes mine. And just listen to his deep, sexy, ominous laughter throughout, as he muses about taking control, losing control, and his current record of how many men he’s had sex with at one time in the BG East ring. To start off, we talked about Kayden’s experience of these intense days of wrestling multiple matches on camera, his philosophy on the eroticism of being in control and, occasionally, being under the control of someone else, and how becoming a homoerotic wrestling heel has changed him.

Kayden Keller Interview – Part 1:

0103_lg Next, we talked about what pushes Kayden’s buttons, the difference between a bully and a heel, and how completely distracted I was by Kayden’s gorgeous, long, muscled legs. What you can’t tell from the audio is that as soon as I disclosed to Kayden the effect his legs were having on me, he began flexing them and rubbing them, pulling up his shorts and quite intentionally pushing my buttons.

Kayden Keller Interview – Part 2:

As our interview came to its conclusion, we were briefly interrupted by Nino Leone looking for his lighter (and, I suspect, also drawn by the sight of Kayden showing off his flexed quads). We also hear about a particular unpublished opponent of Kayden’s who found exactly what buttons to push, and we learn the truth behind our fan fantasies about massive orgies breaking out with all of these gorgeous wrestlers being in the same place.

Kayden Keller Interview – Part 3: