Love Conquers All

Johnny Gargano and Tomasso Ciampa are relative newcomers to WWE NXT, but not to pro wrestling.  They challenged the Tag Team champs, The Revival, at the recent NXT Takeover event in Toronto available on the WWE Network.

What caught my eye even before the bell rang was the public displays of affection between the members on both teams.  Dash and Dawson gave each other their usual Good Luck hug (they always hug like that) but Team DIY upstaged them with this long, touching, dramatic, cock-stirring forehead press:

Of course the cutest guy in the ring must suffer.

The match begins with impressive displays of offense by both teams, but allow me to jump right to the good stuff — the punishment of Johnny Wrestling.

Oh the cruel and unusual things they do to Johnny.

I can’t say enough good things about Team Revival — I love Dash & Dawson!  These meaty studs have perfected the double-team offense and the ring psychology of classic Tag Team excellence.  They even wore pink and black trunks in reference the great Hart Foundation, and I don’t even feel like criticizing them for daring to compare themselves.

I think they call this a “Clubberin’.”

And Johnny Gargano as “Face in Peril” is pure gold.  You can tell he loves pro wrestling and loves his role, suffering and selling with abandon.  He spends much of the match either looking dazed and exhausted, or scrunching up his face and baring his teeth to express pure agony.  Here the brutes isolate him in their corner and wallop him with their fists.One reason why I love The Revival — and why wrestling fans are still buzzing about this fantastic match on social media — is their usage of classic pro moves.  Check out the awesome Body Scissor, above, which Dawson maintained for a good long while.

Then he stretched Johnny’s body in a Gory Special — a fucking GORY SPECIAL!   Go on Dawson, you bald & bearded Heel STUD!

We haven’t tried to break his leg yet, so let’s go with an Inverted Figure Four Leglock

So Dawson tried to cheat by bringing his gold belt in the ring.  Not seeing the belt, Johnny fires off a big kick, but his shin strikes the gold belt, totally injuring him.

Dawson capitalizes on the injury by tying up their legs in a big knot.  Have I mentioned that I love Dawson’s use of these gorgeous old moves that have excited me all my life?

After much grunting and emoting, Johnny Wrestling reaches the ropes and Dawson is forced to release his Leglock.  Poor Johnny looks hurt! (I love when he does that.)

Eventually Ciampa makes the tag, exploding in rage to punish The Revival for all the abuse they inflicted on his beloved Johnny.  Team DIY then destroys Dash with the dreaded two-on-one “Shatter Machine” maneuver — the Revival’s own patented finishing move!

Punished by their own Signature Move!

Somehow double submissions are more than twice as hot as a single submission.

Dash and Dawson are both forced to tap out at the same time.

Check out those beefy, powerful Alpha Males slapping the mat like jobbers!

THIS is the part of the match I keep thinking about.

Gargano and Ciampa celebrate their Upset Victory with the most intimate and profoundly touching displays of Partner Love that I’ve ever seen in a wrestling ring.  They embrace repeatedly and press their foreheads and faces together like the Quarterback and Head Cheerleader did at Prom.   Our take-away is that their intimate male-male bond is the source of their success.

Damn, even the Heel team is seen consoling each other with a warm embrace.  All this Bromance causes the viewer to crave having a wrestling partner of his own — a fellow shirtless Alpha Male who is into both rough fighting and intimate cuddling.  Where is my huggable Tag Team partner?

“I love this guy.” “I love you too.”

On the following episode of NXT, the new champs are seen continuing their celebration in the locker room.  Again they can’t resist pressing their foreheads together as they express their love for one another.

We get the sense that Ciampa realizes he’s not as pretty as Johnny — and maybe he’s a bit surprised that Johnny, who is out of his league and could get with anyone, wants to hug on him and partner with him.  So Ciampa is determined to maintain this rare bond and will do anything to protect Johnny.  This Doomed Love Affair scenario adds an element of drama and excitement to their matches, especially when Johnny is taking punishment and needs his lover to rescue him.