In yesterday’s match against RVD, young Randy Orton was placed in this degrading and suggestive position.
RVD is perched on the ropes, his crotch hovering over Randy’s mouth, one hand palming Randy’s head as the other hand pounds him in the face. This is a very common wrestling move meant to excite and titillate the audience.
I call this move: “Cocked in the Corner” because obviously the victim is getting repeatedly cold-cocked in the face by the hammering fist. Also, on the more subversive level, the positioning of their bodies implies a blowie — the attacker’s crotch area becomes the apparent focus of the victim’s attention (and our attention).
When the attacker grips his victim’s head to steady himself, the BJ reference is even more pronounced because, well, I’m told that is often where the recipient’s hand ends up resting, oftentimes even controlling the other’s head movements.
Just yesterday, Joe from the Ringside at Skull Island blog wrote in praise of this same move. Great Bloggers think alike I suppose. Here is how he described what he termed the “Corner Beat-Down”:
“YES! Corner beat-downs, because something in me likes to see one roughneck trap another roughneck in the corner and give him a bruising. The appeal is basically the crush of male bodies against each other and the intense focus of the manhandler’s attention on the man being ruinously manhandled. The corner ten-count has the added appeal of elevating the dominant wrestler so that his cock is about level with the victim’s mouth.” — Ringside at Skull Island, 1/28/14.
The rhythmic pounding by the fist, with the audience often counting along, is meant to imply the repeated thrusts of the attacker into his willing victim. The fist becomes a phallic symbol, and each punch symbolizes a penetration. He is “cocking” the other guy in the face.
When the Corner Cocking begins, the camera will often film from a position where we can’t actually see the attacker’s groin. Either the back of the victim’s head is concealing the dominant male’s junk, or we’re watching from across the ring and only see the pounding man’s backside. Not being able to see the innocence of this move actually makes it easier to fantasize that something naughty and inappropriate is happening.
The domi
nant man will often pause to enjoy his crotch-to-face pose. He will turn to the crowd as if to ask: “Should I punch him, or do that other thing?”
One important aspect of the Corner Cock is the submissive, accepting pose of the victim. His arms should rest passively on the ropes, as if the ropes are as sticky as a spiderweb and he can’t raise his hands to protect his face. This is a subtle little thing, but it adds a lot of sexual tension to the scene.
With his arms draped on the ropes like wet laundry flapping in the breeze, the victim sends the message that he is agreeable to what is happening — he will do nothing to prevent the pounding from the dominant man. If this move, in fact, implies a sexual position, then the victim’s agreeable body language lets us know he is on board with this humiliation — he perhaps wants the Corner Cocking just as badly as the powerful man who is thrusting away making it happen.
And ideally, the victim’s head should bob forward with each blow, nodding in rhythm with the attacker’s thrusts. That head-bobbing really helps to make it appear as if the victim is just humming away.
Some victims will also reach around to hold the dominant man’s knees or waist while in this position and pull him in closer, to let the audience know he enjoys having the stronger man in his face and he doesn’t want them to separate any time soon.
Many other techniques are used to further sexualize this pose: the victim may stare intently at the attacker’s bulge; or the attacker may bend his knees to press his ballsack even closer; or the victim may let his mouth hang open invitingly; or the attacker may reach in for a tight fistful of hair. I think most wrestlers fully “get” what this maneuver is all about — that it’s supposed to look like a rough, violent face-fucking. The Corner Cock, like many other pro wrestling moves, is all about the sexual power imbalance.
