Wrestling an Angel

Adam Bridle, or “Angélico” as he’s known in Lucha Libre circles south of the border, was born in South Africa and raised in Spain.  This well-traveled cutie now lives and wrestles in Mexico where he’s known as the “Spanish Sensation” (love that nickname), the “Spanish Heartthrob” (love that nickname too), or “Superman Rubio” — i.e., the “Blond Superman”  (really love that nickname!)

Why is it that this wrestler has been granted so many great nicknames?  And why do they call him “Angelico,” or angel?  What is it about angels that has people so obsessed with wrestling them? Let’s take a closer look at this Angelico and the whole wrestling angel phenomenon.

1. Angels are beautiful

I believe that one reason people want to wrestle angels, going back to the Biblical story of Jacob wrasslin’ around all night with an angel, is because they’re so darn good looking.  Angels are usually depicted as physically perfect, never out of shape, never blemished, so how fun would it be to get your arms around one and force a submission out of him?

It’s just human nature to want to get with the best looking partners in bed, and the best looking opponents in the wrestling ring. The idea is that, through prolonged contact, their perfection will rub off on you. It validates your own physical attractiveness if you’re able to get with a real looker, and how much more impressive it would be to get in there and match yourself up with an angel?!

If you Google it, you will see that hundreds of artists over the years have depicted the famous all-night session where Jacob tangled with some beautiful but relentless winged stranger.  Some of these works of art are more erotic and some are more tender.

Clearly people have been obsessed with this image since the scene was first described in the bible.  And usually the angel is shown to be sublime and beautiful.  Wrestlers who adopt the name “Angel” — such as Justin Angel in the WWE as well as this man “Angelico” — are usually physically striking, something too perfect to be from this cruel, nasty world.

Adam Bridle definitely has an angelic appearance — handsome, ripped, nice abs, pouty and intense.  He definitely looks like he’d be fun to wrestle all night with — I’m sure  old Jacob would’ve jumped at the chance.

He never would have made it as a pro wrestler 30 years ago when you had to be massive and beefy to be selected, but luckily for us, the public is more accepting of lighter and smaller fighters now, more willing to watch them.

In fact Angelico is so young and lean, he is almost fragile looking, the sort of pro wrestler you feel sorry for when you see him getting in the ring to face the inevitable physical wear and tear on his vulnerable little body and exposed torso.

2. Angels Can Hurt You

Wrestling an angel is the ultimate challenge. You may think angels always behave holy and generous in their white choir robes, but angels can be vengeful bad-asses too.  They sometimes get angry and dish out painful and ruthless justice.   Just look at the Angel of Death — I sure wouldn’t mess with him.  And it was some cold-blooded angels that went around killing the Egyptians’ eldest born sons.

Even the angel that wrestled all night against Jacob used an illegal submission maneuver to dislocate his hip joint (ouch!) when Jacob refused to release his body scissor after the angel tapped out.  Go check out the match recap in Genesis if you don’t believe me — it was a real slobber-knocker.

Also, check out Angelico on YouTube and you’ll see that he knows an impressive array of submission holds, twisting and tangling his opponents’ bodies into all sorts of knots.

He also likes to swing his body around and jack his opponent in the face with a round-house kick or a stiff knee to the noggin.

So cute little Angelico can definitely can be the ruthless, vengeful angel when the mood strikes.

3. Angels Fly

Angels are a challenge to wrestle against because they aren’t bound by gravity like us regular mortals.  They’re usually depicted having wings and can fly up out of your reach — then come swooping down on you like a hawk when the field-mouse least expects it.

Like many lean young wrestlers, Angelico is also a high flier, as athletic and dexterous as a swan.  He likes to leap off the ropes and crash with both feet using his victim’s belly as a trampoline.  Or he likes to flip off the ropes and slam his back onto the other guy’s front, which they call the “Superman Senton” (Nice.)  Eventually you just want him to sit still for a minute so you can get a better look at that chest and beard and stomach.

Anyway this Angelico caught my eye recently in some photos looking like a sublime young talent with “angelic” features who is fun to watch.  Check him out on YouTube or coming soon to a barrio near you…