Bazotter: The Art of Wrestling, 1 of 3

If you enjoy the vibe of classic pro wrestling — the brawny bodies in traditional gear, the struggle and strain, the physical contact, the grunts and groans — then you’re going to love the artwork of Bazotter.

This talented artist has a knack for capturing the allure, drama, and inherent homo-eroticism presented in Old School Rasslin’.  He created this image, inspired by the old wrestling magazines, to kick off our partnership. Notice the attention to detail when it comes to their old school gear — the hint of a star on the masked man’s backside, the jobber’s striped trunks.  The image is true to the look and feel of the wrestling I grew up on (and still love.)

Here is the artist’s inspiration for the above wrestling cover — an old “Wrestler” magazine from 1968.  We see one man on his knees (his face near crotch level) suffering the effects of a vicious chop to the throat.  The long-haired bully, ignoring the ref’s cautionary warnings, continues to attack without restraint.

This is the sort of violence and sado-masochistic brutality that served as porn for many young wrestling fans when porn was much harder to acquire.  Bazotter is able to intensify the eroticism of scenes like this, to emphasize their sexy body language and bare flesh, to distill the erotic aspects of the scene.

Here is a classic example of Bazotter’s work — a typical scene that you would find on his Yahoo group.  Many of the wrestlers seen in his drawings are not the young, cute pretty-boys, but rather ruggedly handsome, hairy Real Men with some meat on their bones.

According to the artist, this image was deliberately kept basic and “bare bones” (pardon the pun) to keep our focus on their body contact and facial expressions:

“When I did that particular drawing I didn’t want to over work it, and kept the shading to a minimum.  Keep it to the basics which is a bearhugging cock grind with satisfying expressions.”

Many Bazotter images celebrate frottage between the wrestlers — the pressing together not only of their bodies but also of their bulging trunks.  The imagery is meant to depict a comparison of Manhood and power — a dick measuring contest.  In the artist’s own words: “There’s something about two guys seeing whose got the stronger, harder dick that fires my imagination and finds it way into the work.” (But I notice that the men are also depicted as equals: neither is the clear winner of the struggle, neither is remarkably larger or stronger.  Their size and shape, the designs on their tight trunks, are nearly identical.)

The other crucial take-away of this drawing the artist wanted us to enjoy is their orgasmic facial expressions.  “There’s something about watching someone’s expression that’s also a turn on.”   So he depicted them both experiencing a state of arousal, their eyes closed in ecstasy.  If you’re into wrestling, this should be a familiar sight for you.

Here is another masterpiece by Bazotter — a Big Slam with coloring added to amp up the vibrancy of the scene.  A veteran wrestler holds his victim frozen in Body Slam position, preparing to hurl the jobber down but not quite ready to break contact with him yet. I also enjoy seeing pattern on a wrestler’s trunks (a Subtle Little Thing of mine) and this leopard print works for me!

(I will now admit to another secret turn-on of mine: I sure love a wrestler’s bare back — the powerful shoulder muscles, the indentation of the spine, the tapering at his waistline — I guess I’m a Back Man.  I must say, Bazotter did a remarkable job capturing the appeal of a wrestler’s naked back in this drawing.)

The artist himself was pleased with this drawing (as well he should be): “That was a lot of fun to draw. I quite like this one. it works for me… I really like crotch slams, that dominance.”

Speaking of dominance, we see the gripping hand motif repeated in this drawing and in many of Bazotter’s works.  He sees the hand placed on the other man’s body as an aspect of control (especially when placed on the curve of the ass.)

When applying the Body Slam, there is just no way to scoop the other man up without reaching in between his thighs and grabbing what you can.  John Cena talked about this in a 2005 article in Maxim where he said: “give his breadbasket a good squeeze to let him know you’re there. 

The victim must find somewhere to brace himself too and his hand often finds its way onto the knee or groin of the Slammer.  More images of the frequent touching between wrestlers, the placing of hands on bodies, can be found in my Touching Photos gallery.

When laying out his images, Bazotter is careful to place the hands of the wrestlers in a manner that highlights the intimacy between them and the aspects of control in their body language.

This is another example of a typical Bazotter drawing.  One wrestler applies the old Over-the-Knee Backbreaker combined with a painful Stomach Claw on his beefy opponent. There is an obvious age difference, the veteran in control while the younger man is taught a lesson in wrestling (and in how to have fun with another man.)  This contrast in age is seen in many Bazotter drawings (with the elder man usually in the Boss position.)

The victim reacts with a mixture of suffering and obvious arousal.  Bazotter is making the point that “wrestling is sado-masochistic. No matter how much is roleplay there’s always that in the background.”

I suspect that if you grew up on pro wrestling in the 1970’s and 80’s, you will appreciate the sex appeal of the hyper-masculine, bald veteran who is applying the Backbreaker.  Many of the subjects in Bazotter’s drawings are not what you’d call “pretty”.  The artist explains his attraction to these more bearish version of manhood as follows:

“My taste in men is varied but conventional cute boys…no.  I come from a place where rugby is considered a religion and everyone seems to play it, so growing up surrounded by guys like that has rubbed off.  Rugby players are not handsome but rugged.”

Bazotter explained to me that this image is actually all about anticipation, resisting the urge to move the hands just a few inches to claw that straining bulge or to tweak that hard nipple.  “Many wrestlers and viewers of wrestling I’m sure feel the same desire to grab crotch.  It’s all in there, what could happen..inviting the viewer to create their own story.”

We hope you enjoyed this introduction to Bazotter’s work and my attempt at being an art critic.  Stay tuned to this Blog for more pro wrestling drawings by this talented artist — or join his Yahoo Group if you really want to hit the mother lode.

To Be Continued…