Audience Participation

If Adam Cole is wrestling, I’m on board with watching it.  I don’t really care if he’s playing the Arrogant Prick as he’s been for the past few years, or the Loveable Sincere Fan-Favorite from his rookie days.  His matches are always so damn good.

This recent YouTube posting of an October 2014 Empire State Wrestling match features Cole as the Fan-Favorite, high-fiving his beloved fans and basking in their cheers as they chant his name like he’s a rock star.  He is usually such a hateful dick so it was refreshing to see him as the lovable rascal.

Cole’s opponent – the ESW Champ, Chris Cooper — is a new find for me.  Wow — great look: the fancy trunks, the tan, the body.

Both these handsome dudes can really wrestle, what a pleasure.  At 6:17 into the match, they work the classic old spot where: (1). Cole secures a Headlock, then (2). Cooper curls up his legs to Headscissor his way free, then (3). Cole slips his head out and re-applies his Headlock.

It’s just a basic series of three holds we’ve seen millions of times.  They probably teach you this bread-and-butter series on like the second day of wrestling school.  But these two Maestros execute the moves so crisply and flawlessly (and they’re both so fetching in their spandex briefs), that you’re like: HEY, that was pretty sweet.

The match gets really interesting when they take the fight outside the ring.  Cole invites the fans seated on the East side of the ring to restrain the Champ’s wrists, bending him back over the steel fence.  The scene takes on a bondage vibe (with the audience readily participating) as Cole slaps the bound man across his unprotected nips.

To prevent the fans on the North side of the ring from feeling jealous, Cole next drags the Whipping Boy over to that side and permits them to participate in the torture as well.

Allowing the audience to put their hands on the wrestlers is the ultimate fan experience.  No longer limited to merely dreaming about groping the spectacular bodies and inflicting pain on the competitors in their fantasies, now the voyeurs can partake first-hand in the punishment.

We’ve seen Adam Cole participate in this Hold-His-Arms gimmick before as shown in my “Excellent Cole, Part 2″ gallery.  At that time, Cole was playing the spectacular (but stuck-up) Whipping Boy with his arms entrapped by the audience while his opponent pinched his nips.  I wonder which role Cole prefers — torturer or torturee.

The fans on the West side are jealous, itching to inflict pain on the community play-thing.  So Cole drags Cooper to that side for more chest-chopping torture.

Of course the neglected fans South of the ring immediately begin to chant “One More Time!  One More Time!” so that they will get their play time too.

Once back in the ring, it’s time for Cole to suffer.  He now must pay for his transgressions outside the ring; for bending the rules; for involving the audience in a homo-erotic S & M orgy.  Whenever a  pro wrestler engineers a potentially gay scenario, the fans at first enjoy the naughty friskiness, but then they expect to see a gay bashing in retaliation.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention the superb camera-work by whoever filmed this match.  Normally I don’t feature matches filmed on a single “hand-held” camera because it’s usually jittery, poorly focused, and forever out of position.

This camera-person is a master technician, keeping the lens focused on those bodies; running all around the ring to put us in the best vantage point ASAP; and frequently sticking that camera right inside the ring for gorgeous close-up views.  PLEASE — whoever filmed this match — PLEASE go train all the other Indy wrestling videographers on how to do this the right way!

We get to see Cole using his awesome Figure 4 — WHOOOO!   Then he suffers a kick to the crotch which drains the masculine power right out of him and he loses the match.

Adam Cole is a popular star on the Indy scene, world renowned for his mad skills and indomitable spirit.  So how can they justify him losing to the less-known local Champ?  They explain Cole’s eventual defeat by having Cooper leg-bash him in the balls, which no Real Man can withstand.

This willing self-sacrifice only makes me appreciate Adam Cole even more — putting any ego aside and emasculating himself (rolling around clutching his shattered nuts) while also losing the bout to a less-famous personality.  Cole graciously puts over the local stud as a legitimate Alpha Male — THAT is the mark of a great worker.