Back on Thanksgiving, I blogged about a Heel in red trunks who rudely assaulted and injured the Baby-Face (Johnny Moran) just before he had to wrestle another dude. God I love illegal pre-match assaults!
Well I was curious about this long-haired, sleazy brute in red briefs, so I did some research. His name is John Wes and I found a really nice YouTube match between him (in those hot red trunks) and Johnny Moran that took place back in August.
Moran wore snug green trunks and a butch military vest to the ring. Given that Moran calls himself “The Man,” this match will be especially focused (more so than every other pro wrestling match ever) on themes of masculinity, Alpha status, and the male pecking order. Their manly competition begins with the big bulging cocks that both wrestlers put on display in their tight trunks. We could almost have a dick measuring contest to determine who is “The Man” here!
Moran outwits and out-wrestles Wes for the first few minutes, showing masculine competence and power. The Heel then resorts to cheating — gouging the eyes while begging for mercy, which is a bitch move. The story being told here is that Wes has co-opted the title of “The Man” and assumed the dominant role through effeminate trickery and deceit.
Wes applies a Headlock and shouts; “He said he quits! The little boy quits!” This name-calling, meant to strip Moran of his adult manhood, stirs up the audience because Wes is again acting like a bitch by using a nasty choke while inventing a falsehood about “The Man” to manipulate the ref. Johnny Moran would NEVER say he quits, the crowd is assured, because he is a Real Man and Real Men are not quitters.
Moran sells his vulnerability nicely throughout the match (really playing up the helpless bitch gimmick), but I thought his work in this Headlock sequence was especially compelling. His face contorted, he reaches out blindly, clutching desperately and pathetically at thin air — nice jobbing!
These ribcage shattering Elbow Drops are just as rough and brutal looking as the old-school Elbows that I grew up on (or got off on) 40+ years ago! His flowing long hair just adds to the drama of the move. I am digging Wes as a red-assed Heel.
The archetypes of masculine and feminine are coded in their appearances. Moran is clean-cut, short haired, with a stolid and gung-ho military vibe. Yet this flamboyant John Wes, with his long flowing tresses and skimpy red panties, is dominating the Man. Who is really The man here, indeed??
John Wes loudly asks the crowd, “Now who’s The Man?!” as he pulls hair (like a bitch) and stands over his kneeling prey.
Thrusting his crotch toward Moran’s face, Wes performs a sexual gesture, a Crotch Chop, to assert his sexual mastery over Moran, as if he could force himself on the kneeling man.
The ending of the match takes an odd twist when the ref gets knocked out. Another cheating Heel then rushes into the ring and attacks John Wes (the Heel?!), enabling the good guy, Johnny Moran, to win. I didn’t Screencap all these shenanigans, but you can go watch the video to see what I’m talking about.
This is rare — for the Baby-Face to benefit from illegal interference, which is not truly a manly victory. But at least it explains why a red-assed John Wes would then take his revenge by attacking Moran at the October show as I blogged about last week. Their feud will roll on as they try to sort out the oldest and most critical question in any male-male relationship: which of us is The Man over the other?
