The Strife of Riley, 4 of 7

Alex Riley wrestled on the May 24th episode of Superstars (that’s two weeks in a row!)  Here is another installment in my seven-part series on his destruction and humiliation.

The crowd erupted into loud cheers as Riley strolled shirtless to the ring — they just love this stud.  Playing the cool, friendly, likeable, charismatic Baby-Face, Alex pauses to High Five his many supporters and make eye contact with them.  This is what the Good Guys do, they give the fans some loving on their way to the ring.

Next, the creepy “Saviour of the Masses” Damien Sandow enters in a creepy bathrobe.  He calls for SILENCE, then tells the non-silent crowd that he will show them how he deals with
“incompetence.”

Alex Riley strikes a cute “Who Me?” pose — HEY, who are you calling ‘incompetent?’ (Yes Alex, he is talking about you, verbally humiliating you.)

Sandow seems to believe he is as perfect and omnipotent as God, introducing a religious tone to his matches.  His entrance music is the “Hallejujah Chorus” which is a song about the power and awesomeness of the deity.  The lyrics are taken straight from the Bible: “For the lord God omnipotent reigneth.”   Damien Sandow also calls himself the “savior of the unwashed masses” and the term “savior” normally refers to the Christ figure.

Riley, meanwhile, drops to his knees before the “Lord of Literacy” Damien Sandow. Why is Riley prostrating himself in this kneeling pose?  Is he perhaps genuflecting before his Master, showing respect and deference toward his Christ-like opponent?

Meanwhile, the commentators (Matt Striker and Tony Dawson) sell Alex Riley as the most holy and saintly Baby-Face, like he is some kind of altar boy.  They describe how Riley has a “kind heart” that prevents him from winning.

Alex Riley is portrayed as a classic Good Boy Baby-Face, the likes of which we haven’t seen since the 1980’s. They say he is too gentle to hurt anyone, as naive as a child, like newly fallen snow just begging for someone to take a piss on.

Sandow’s first name — Damien — is a clue that he may not be as god-like as he claims.  In “The Omen” series of horror films from the 1970’s and 80’s, the character Damien was the anti-christ, the son of Satan.  So giving our “savior of the unwashed masses” the first name of “Damien” signals the fans (at least those familiar with “The Omen”) that he is perhaps not as as holy as he pretends.  This turns our attention and adulation, our craving for a savior, to his opponent…

As we watch Riley suffer passionately at the hands of the superior Sandow, we see a large cross tattoo on his back — another religious reference.  It was Sandow who introduced this Godly tone to the match, but it is Riley who embodies the suffering, purity, and sacrifice of a true savior (like every good Baby-Face).  Riley wears the cross on his back, Riley received the adulation of the masses when he walked to the ring, Riley was described as having a “kind heart“, Riley is being whipped in the ring (while Matt Striker sadistically points out: “This is what Alex Riley needs to have done to him.  Sometimes you need to take a good hiding, a good whipping.”  It sounds as if Striker will be giving himself a good whipping later when he gets home.)

Throughout the history of pro wrestling, the most notable and popular Baby-Faces have reminded the audience of Jesus, suffering for our sins.  Roland Barthes, in his 1957 analysis of pro wrestling, said: “It is as if the wrestler is crucified in broad daylight and in the sight of all. I have heard it said of a wrestler stretched on the ground: ‘He is dead, little Jesus, there, on the cross.’”  Damien Sandow may claim to be our savior, but Alex Riley owns the Jesus gimmick.  The author of the excellent “Inner Jobber” blog has also written about “Jobber Jesus” where he identified which wrestlers are most Jesus-y.

I wonder if the reason they package and sell the Baby-Face as a christ-like figure is to make it acceptable for the hetero-sexual male audience to love him and cheer for him.  After all, it is considered a sin to have feelings for someone of the same gender, but it is OK to love Jesus — you’re supposed to love Jesus.

A-Ry knows exactly how to get everyone to cheer for him…

Damien Sandow destroys Riley with his deadly finisher, the “Silencer.”  As usual, Riley is humiliated, his body weakened, his legs spread open with his crotch exposed.  Even this creepy, somewhat effeminate Damien Sandow in his queer purple gear, proves to be a superior male as Alex Riley drops further and further in the pecking order.

Sandow has won the match, but the question before every wrestling fan is: which man would you want to see again next week?  Are you more entertained by the powerful, majestic, omnipotent, seedy figure of Damien Sandow, or the flawed, vulnerable, human, suffering Alex Riley?

We can figure out how many fans would answer this question based on the comments posted under a short video clip of this match on YouTube.  At least 40 commentors (I stopped counting at 40) begged and pleaded with the WWE to “push” Alex Riley — which means to give him a prominent story-line and a series of victories.  Hopefully the bosses in the WWE will see these comments on YouTube, will see me blogging about Riley here, and will cast him as the prominent Baby-Face of 2013.