Broken Bromance, part 1 of 3

I recently viewed a recap video on YouTube, produced by Over The Top Wrestling (OTT) describing the Bromance formed between Jordan Devlin and David Starr.  In a dramatic and well-edited fashion, this video describes their instant and mutual chemistry — how they both loved wrestling and loved to talk about wrestling — and how they formed a Bromance at first sight.

We are treated to a series of snapshots depicting the love and affection between these two Best Friends, embracing one another (all smiles of pleasure), nuzzling their beards together affectionately, and generally letting the whole world know they’re into each other and they don’t care what anybody thinks about it.

Eventually the two pals wrestled each other (on 9/2/2017) and that’s when they really fell in love.  I sure know how THAT feels.

This Bromance gimmick is a new trend in wrestling and I dig it — an intense friendship between two hot dudes that (spoiler alert) will disintegrate into a bitter rivalry.  We saw the long and beautiful love affair go wrong between Gargano and Ciampa.

And in Japan, Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi (the “Golden Lovers”) had a torrid and dramatic Best-Friendship and partnership, followed by heart-breaking betrayals and power-hungry competitiveness.  Now Devlin and Starr are giving the Irish fans a taste of this intense male bonding and eventual divorce.

As this 7 minute video unfolds, David Starr confesses that one of his greatest obsessions is to finally defeat Walter: a big Heel Beast who has kicked Starr’s ass 10 times.   A nice summary of Starr’s repeated beat-downs and growing obsession is posted on Reddit.

So Starrlin — aka the “Killer Product” tag team — battled Walter and his partner Loki on 6/2/2018 at OTT’s “Haven for Monsters” event.

Sadly, the Killer Product lost this fateful match, this chance for Starr to redeem his manhood by finally defeating Walter.  Devlin gets the blame for tapping out to Walter’s deadly Sleeper.

And with that, the Honeymoon is over — Starr tastes some disappointment in his mouth (meanwhile we get to enjoy some dramatic close-ups of these two bearded hunks and their pretty eyes looking all hang-dog and regretful.)  Come on boys, just hug it out.

Fast forward to August 2018, and the home-town lad, Jordan Devlin, has a chance to redeem himself in a one-on-one match with Walter at the “Wrestle-Rama 2” event.  Devlin asked his best friend to support him at ringside.  This excellent match (possibly the 2018 Match of the Year) is available on YouTube, and I blogged about it in my 10/3/2018 article, “Over the Top Abuse.”

Once again, big Walter put Devlin away in his patented Sleeper Hold while Starr watches.

Starr describes his best friend’s defeat as: “he quit.  I watched Jordan quit.”    Starr is increasingly disappointed in Devlin for not being man enough to defeat big Walter (even though Starr himself has been beaten by Walter 10 times.)

The more I see of Ireland’s OTT wrestling federation, the more I love it.  According to Wikipedia: “OTT was aimed at an over 18s audience with the intention of giving adult wrestling fans something grittier to enjoy, with a shift away from a PG product.” 

 Yes I need this:  rated R pro wrestling for adults, with adult stories such as dudes who love each other.

Devlin is then offered another Tag Team match against Walter and his new partner, Timothy Thatcher on 11/10/2018.  Instead of selecting “best friend” David Starr, Devlin asks Will Ospreay to partner up.  This implies a cheating scandal, a betrayal of his bond with Starr.  Starr admits that this hurt his feelings “a bit.”

However, in the ensuing weeks, Ospreay is injured, so Devlin asks Starr to be his partner after all.  Starr agrees (despite being the second choice) because he really, really NEEDS to defeat Walter (plus, who could ever say No to Jordan Devlin with those big puppy-dog eyes?!)

During the match, Devlin experiences a rush of super-human strength, enabling him to Pile-Drive Walter and knock him out!  Finally someone will slay this dragon!

But YOINK!   — the jealous David Starr pulls the ref out of the ring to interrupt the Three-Count.  His unhealthy obsession just fucked over his Best Friend and made an enemy for life!

This is great stuff — a taste of what pro wrestling should be.  It’s good ring psychology and good story-telling: dramatic, gripping, unexpected, and even sexy with the under-currents of homo-erotic tension between these really hot wrestlers.

Bravo to the Over the Top promotion, to the creator of this recap video, and to Starr and Devlin for perfectly teeing up their inevitable face-off that will determine who has the right to defeat Walter.

To Be Continued…