Project Doughboy: Mind Your Elders

A young husky spandex-clad grappler strides toward the ring.  Here’s a youngster with more than “an inch to pinch” around his waist, a welcome contrast, at least for Doughboy admirers, to the seemingly prerequisite six-pack ab physiques of most rookie wrestlers these days.

The shiny green singlet that snugly corsets the Doughboy’s bulk is another aspect of this wrestler’s appearance that seems to hearken back toward a time when weekly pro wrestling broadcasts featured a variety of jobbers clad in colorful tights and singlets, unabashedly highlighting every curve and bulge of the enlisted enhancement talent

Are we set for a competitive match in which this handsome Doughboy-in-green will go up against another youngster, likely a trim, hipster in baggy trunks with an attitude? Or is there a jobber-squash match in this boy’s future? We note that the line-up listing for this match features a wrestler named “Pretty Boy” and we conjure up images of a buff, muscular Alpha Male, a competitor along the lines of a Razor Ramon, set to teach this young rookie a lesson or two.

Then we notice, as the Heel enters the ring, the lettering “Pretty Boy” proudly emblazoned on the seat of his trunks and realize that this wrestler is none other than Doug Sommers, who worked in the American Wrestling Association (AWA) in the mid 1980s as part of a tag-team with “Playboy” Buddy Rose, managed by Sherri Martell, a proud, grappler long past his prime who still cuts an impressive figure in the ring.

His competitor is a youngster named Seth Cruise who, most likely, was still in the crib when Sommers was in his heyday.  Add to that the fact that Cruise, with his cherub-like appearance still looks to be a teen—and Sommers, with his massive belly and spindly legs, appears at least five years older than his 55 years—and we’re set for an inter-generational match, with a young inexperienced Doughboy going up against a veteran who looks old enough to be his grandfather.

Though my allegiances are drawn to the boy-in green, clearly this is a no-win situation for the young rookie.  The more seasoned Sommers dominates the action and the age disparity between the two lends an air of humiliation, as though the naughty Doughboy is being taken to the woodshed for a very public spanking.

Of course, jobber humiliation, if not as old as wrestling itself, is at least as old as pro wrestling telecasts—and is part and parcel to a match-up like this, with Cruise suffering splendidly as he is pummeled, slapped and poked about the ring by his disapproving elder.

And unlike many televised jobber matches in which the camera lens remains tightly focused on the featured hero or heel, this match (available for download for a buck from clickwrestle.com) features many shots of Doughboy action in appealing close-up.

Later in the match, when Cruise briefly gets the upper hand and slams the much older Sommers down to the mat, it raises alarms (can this older guy’s bones endure this kind of punishment?)

Ethically speaking, should a young 20 year-old even be engaged in body-slamming a senior citizen? Isn’t this something akin to elder-abuse?

Thoughts such as this prove to be fleeting, though, since it’s the youngster who’s taking the bulk of the abuse in this bout.  A poke to the eye sends Cruise back to the mat in pain and once again into the defensive position.

As the match ends and the Doughboy painfully hobbles away from the ring with the assist of the ref, I’m left to ponder the future of talented jobber-boys like Cruise.  A generation ago, a heavy-set guy like this could find a niche as a “ham-‘n-egger” along with the likes of Brian Costello, David Isley, Dale Wolfe and others, who, for some of us, remain the unsung heroes of our pro wrestling experience.

Though the WWE appears to be a very different animal these days, with hardly a place any longer for the jobbers of yore, it’s encouraging to see smaller federations across the country welcoming guys of all shapes and sizes.  Here’s to a new generation of Doughboys and to more mat action featuring young wrestling talents like Seth Cruise…