My favorite match from this 1985 show from the Philadelphia Spectrum was Paul Roma vs. Johnny Rodz from near the top of the card. Has there ever been a Johnny Rodz match that wasn’t a pleasure to watch? For me, he is a Sure Thing.
Here the hairy-chested Daddy Heel puts young Roma through his paces, teaching the kid how to suffer and sell.
This match has a ton of hot visuals as Rodz digs deep into his bag of tricks to torture the buff boy-toy. I had a hard time deciding what images to capture and share in this write-up.
Here we see Rodz applying an Armbar on the kneeling rookie, then clamping those thick thighs on like a vise. That big red spandexed ass pours on the pressure.
This is a long match, giving us plenty of time to savor the suffering, and Roma gets punished by the beefy bully for at least 85% of it.
I miss these long, slow-paced torture-fests — the jobber’s agony growing incrementally. It felt as if they were making love to the audience, gentle and patient, unlike the Wham, Bam, Thank You Fan that we get nowadays.
I’ve mentioned before how much I dig Johnny Rodz — his in-ring skills, his sweet moves. My article Legalized Murder further describes why I dig Rodz so much — even though many of you probably find the swole Paul Roma far more attractive and you’re wondering why I’m not drooling over him more I know, right??
Maybe this really pretty Knee Drop onto the helpless victim’s neck will help explain why I dig Rodz so much. Roma’s a turn-on too, don’t get me wrong.
In my defense, the crowd at the Spectrum prefers Johnny Rodz too — they cheered for Rodz and booed Roma when the wrestlers were introduced! During the bout, we can hear fans yelling encouragement to the Heel: “Get him, Johnny!” Don’t they know you’re supposed to love the gorgeous young muscle-man, not the thick-bodied, hairy Heel?! They can’t help it, Rodz is just too fun and dominant not to worship.
Rodz patiently mangles Roma with all the old Heel tactics, pulling his hair, gouging his eyes to blind him, tossing his pretty spandexed ass out of the ring.
And he takes his sweet time, methodically dissecting the hunk. One commentator even mentions: “Rodz must have a late plane or something. He’s not in a hurry. He said: I’m just gonna make this guy ache in pain a little bit by tomorrow.”
We get the sense that a long weekend in Rodz’ condo would be an experience you’d never forget.
Good selling here by Roma — dropping like a ton of bricks after that stiff Upper-Cut, clutching his aching jaw, raising his hips off the mat to express his exquisite anguish.
Wearing those snug little wine-colored trunks just adds to the visual appeal. It also helps that he’s muscular as fuck.
I think Roma was exhausted late in the match because Rodz begins to tie him up in some long Rest Holds. My favorite was this Armbar paired with a Scissor late in the match.
Roma’s gnashes his perfect white teeth in anguish as Rodz ties him up and pulls his hair. God, how can anyone watch this without getting turned on??
Scissoring Roma’s thick arm, Rodz begins to grind his rod all over it. Is he humping Roma’s shoulder like a dog?
I guess I shouldn’t judge — I’d probably be compelled to do the same thing if I ever had Roma’s arm caught between my legs.
I enjoyed this camera angle, with Johnny’s yellow boots locked together in the foreground and Roma’s spectacular body sprawled out before us.
Like I said, there are tons of great visuals in this match.
Look what Rodz does here when Roma tries to get back in the ring — sails over like Superman and Drop-Kicks his pretty ass right back down to the floor!
Johnny Rodz totally owned the ring at the Spectrum. He told his opponent what to do, told the ref what to do. He even gets to decide who is allowed to get in his ring!
I’m going to end the story here, with Johnny Rodz pinning Roma under that thick, hairy chest. Actually Roma leap-frogged over the ropes to Sunset Flip Rodz and pin him for the surprise victory (this was the start of Roma’s big rookie push.) And an angry Rodz attacked Roma after the bell, what a sore loser!
I prefer to think of Rodz as the true winner here, the real talent in this match. Even if Johnny wasn’t granted many victories in his day, he can have his victories here on my blog.
Paul Roma is my all time fav muscle man wrestler.
These photos remind me why I ‘enjoy’ his matches today just as much as I did when I was a teenager & first started ‘enjoying’ wrestling in the late 80s. (ok, I might not need to ‘enjoy’ his matches as often as I did when I was a teenager!)
Johnny Rodz got me rock hard when I watched his matches. Really got into his meaty hairy pecs. Always imagined my face buried in his hairy pec valley or in his hairy pits while held in a dragon sleeper. Got me leaking and unloading every time.
How is this boring? Rodz uses so many creative ways to fuck up Roma’s various body parts. Actually Roma’s nice to look at but somehow a bit bland until he is ground and pounded by torture masters like Rodz.
Oh I agree with you, it wasn’t boring to me. I found some of the long “rest” holds like the Armbar/Scissor to be the most exciting parts of the match. Some people in the audience (and maybe they were ahead of their time?) wanted more jumping around, kicking, and flipping I suppose. Give me Johnny Rodz and his methodical approach any day (or night.)
I had read in a “ shoot” (tell all) interview that Roma had such an experience that he called Alex Wright when he was new and warned him “these promoters, they want in your pants, guy. Remember that.”
The greatest muscle jobber ever, his old tag team partner, a great second. *drool*