Cucked

I’ve mentioned before my enjoyment of Tag Team wrestling and how I love seeing the partner outside the ring forced to watch the opponents work on his partner.

The “Watching Partner” just seems so pathetic and alone out on the apron, so deliciously constrained by the rules.  He obediently stands in the corner, isolated from the other men.  He seems weak and impotent, unable to assert his will power.

If wrestling is a metaphor for sex (as many have claimed), and if Tag Team partners represent a married couple, then this “Watching Partner” scenario shares many similarities to a husband and wife engaged in the sexual game of “cuckolding.”  A “cuckold” is a man whose wife cheats on him, even perhaps with him knowing about it and doing nothing to stop her (or even encouraging her to go for it.)  His inability to control his wife, to satisfy her, results in his humiliation, and this loss of power is intoxicating to him.  A “Cuck” who is turned on by the idea of another man pleasuring his wife may even watch the other man in action, sitting impotently across the room as the dominant man puts the moves on his wife.

Just like the cuckolded  husband, the wrestler outside the ring is forced to watch other men getting physical with his partner.  He is left out of the action, standing passively in the background as the more potent, aggressive men are showing off their moves.

The Watching Partner is isolated from the pleasure of body contact and bonding going on in the ring.  Unless given permission to get involved — unless “tagged in” — he must watch in jealousy.

A skilled cameraman is always careful to show us the Watching Partner — to frame him in the background, or to pan across his legs in the foreground so we remember he’s there.  Much of the appeal and tension of Tag Team wrestling lies in the fact that the Watching Partner is observing and thinking about the drama in the ring.  He should appear utterly frustrated that he’s not included in the fray, and outraged by the disgusting acts of desecration being inflicted on his partner.

Pornography related to cuckolding also makes a point of showing the husband watching with a mix of outrage, shame, and ecstasy as the lusty pool boy, or the pro athlete, or the Wall Street millionaire robs him of his wife and his manhood.

Another common practice in cuckolding is to set up strict rules the husband must obey.  This adds to his sense of powerlessness and humiliation. His wife or her lover make it obvious that they have the upper hand by imposing demands and restrictions on the Cuck, such as forcing him to sit alone across the room and watch, or ordering him to bring them something to drink, or even requiring him to clean up after them.  The empowered wife will almost certainly forbid or restrict the Cuck from having any physical contact with her.

When a pro wrestler stands waiting to be tagged in by his partner, he is also constrained by rules that limit his motions and access, his ability to take action like a man.  He must obediently remain outside the ring, holding the tag rope in his hand, forbidden from experiencing any direct physical contact himself.  This loss of power, this total submission to the rules, adds to the excitement of the scenario.

The third party brought into a cuckold relationship to pleasure the wife is known as the “Bull.”  He is normally more powerful or superior to the Cuck in some way (emasculating the weak husband by contrast.)   The Bull may be in better shape, or younger, or better equipped sexually.  His effectiveness at pleasuring the Cuck’s wife is made very evident.

The Bull also experiences pleasure from the act of cuckolding the other man, of establishing a superior power position over the husband.  Some Bulls will even interact with the husband, degrading him further by calling him insulting names or ordering him to come over and do things — nasty, shameful things.

In pro wrestling, the dominant Heel will also be presented as superior in some way — physically larger, or more aggressive and sadistic, or clad in black clothing for example.  The Watching Wrestler is made to appear even more impotent and weak in comparison to the Big Bad Heel in the ring.

If the Heel bothers to take any notice of the Watching Wrestler, he will often taunt, insult, or spit on the helpless man.  The Heel understands (just like the Bull understands) that much of the sexual tension and eroticism of the scene lies in his mastery over the enslaved, submissive man who is watching him — his flaunting of his superiority.

A cuckolded hubby will explain that he permits his wife to cheat because of his deep love for her.   He feels unworthy of her (especially if he can’t pleasure her).  Also, he places her on a pedestal and would never subject her to humiliating or nasty activities.  But he also wants her to feel pleasure, so he encourages her to get some strange.

The Tag Team wrestler also allows his partner to get physical with other men but is never seen wrestling his own partner himself.  The impression we have is that he could never inflict pain, or apply holds, or struggle against his beloved partner, but also doesn’t want to block his partner from the pleasure and excitement of wrestling.  So he lets his partner philander.

In some ways, we the viewers are all cuckolded by the wrestler in the ring.  We’re all forced to form a relationship with him (as he flirts with us and strips for us on his way to the ring) but we are then forbidden from getting physical with him.  We must sit impotently in the audience (or in our living room) as other men get to touch, fondle, torture, and hold him while we watch in jealous frustration.

We are rendered powerless and passive by the Alpha Males in action in the ring — and apparently we love it (just like the cuckolded husband) because we keep coming back for more.