This article continues my April 28th post about the failed friendship between sexy David Starr and cute young Jordan Devlin in Ireland’s adult-themed Over The Top (OTT) federation. Once best of friends (with a flirtatious homo-erotic vibe), their rivalry soon boiled over, turning them into bitter rivals.
The former friends met in a violent and dramatic Grudge Match to settle their feud at the 2/17/19 OTT event called Homecoming 2. The video of this hot match was recently posted to YouTube. (I want to thank OTT for giving us this Pay-Per-View quality match for free!)
Starr enters the arena to the tune”We Belong” by Pat Benetar — a song describing two lovers in a passionate love-hate relationship who just can’t quit each other: “Always I’m surprised how well you cut my feelings to the bone!…”
This tactic, this manipulation, enrages Devlin. I felt the psychology behind this entrance song was brilliant, the lyrics adding to the implication of a behind-the-scenes love affair between these two buddies that I described in Part 1.
Then Starr removes his sweet leather jacket to reveal a t-shirt depicting he and Devlin at a happier moment in their relationship, all smiles and puppy love. By wearing this shirt, Starr seems like a jilted lover torn between wanting to destroy and, at the same time, hopefully re-connect with his wayward partner. The shirt further enrages Devlin who proceeds to rip it violently off Starr’s body, exposing his bare chest so the two can get down to some sexy wrestling and suffering. Am I the only viewer sensing some sexual tension here??
Jordan Devlin is clearly the Fan Favorite, beloved by his rabid Irish countrymen. So of course Starr (the foreign bastard) gains the upper hand and proceeds to torture the Hometown Hero for most of the match as the fans get all hot and bothered by their laddy’s suffering.
It’s all fairly arousing, I must confess. In his bulging trunks, Starr plays the perfect cruel but enthralling Bad Guy that we just love to hate.
As described in my earlier article, the reason behind their break-up involves a third wrestler named Walter — a big brute whom Starr could not defeat after 10 tries. When Jordan tried to become the first wrestler to pin Walter, Starr perceived that his “friend” was trying to steal an opportunity from him.
This scenario creates a modified love triangle between these three men, with Starr and Devlin competing over Walter.
They’re not competing over who gets to fuck their prize as in a traditional love triangle, but over who gets to wrestle and defeat Walter (same thing, basically.)
And similar to any love triangle, the focus of the narrative is on the two rivals and their feelings for each other, with their quarry (Walter) serving as an object of exchange, a prize for the Alpha.
And then there is the matter of Starr’s trunks, in the colors of the Irish flag. Printed across his hip in bold letters is the Irish word “Dilseacht” which the audience will know means “Loyalty” in their native tongue. Starr is co-opting the Irish flag and language, using them to imply that he (the conquering foreign Heel) is actually the loyal hero while Devlin (the hometown lad) is the traitor. I read an excellent Blog article describing this match, the cultural significance of Starr’s trunks, the themes of love, loyalty, and selfishness at play in this match. That blogger describes it all better than I ever could, so check it out.
The commentators also talk at length about Starr’s trunks — how angry they feel each time they look at them. (I get quite a different feeling each time I look at Starr’s trunks…) Here is what they said: “Green, white, and orange tights — the tri-color of this proud nation of Ireland. And emblazoned across those tights, the Irish word dilseacht — “loyalty” — thrown in your face! We’ve had plenty of foreigners trying to weaponize our language against us before…”
This is the kind of outrageous mind-fucking that the Heels used 40 years ago to rile up the audience and sometimes incite riots. The intensity of the emotions and white-hot hatred when a talented Villain is allowed to go off the rails, when the crowd wants to rip the fucker limb from limb, really can be a huge turn-on. I miss this sort of adult oriented story-telling that was common in the 1970’s — this sense of passion and violence that stirred up powerful feelings in wrestling fans like me.
Starr turns their rivalry over Walter into a question of love, shouting in Jordan’s face: “Why are you taking this opportunity from me, Jordan?? Don’t you LOVE me?” But Starr is actually a sleazy manipulator, using Jordan’s affection for him to selfishly keep Walter for himself.
It’s not every day that we hear former Tag Team partners verbally expressing their love for each other in the ring, but this seems to be a trend lately in pro wrestling, another baby-step toward revealing the homo-erotic underpinnings hidden within this hyper-masculine performance art.
I really enjoyed this cool Power-Bomb move converted into an OTK Backbreaker applied by Starr! Nice one — holy shit!
What a delightful Heel and performer Starr has become. You can view a longer and better clip of Starr’s abuse leading up to this sweet OTK Powerbomb in that other blogger’s article.
Devlin reaches out at one point, affectionately placing his hand on Starr’s heart, as if to say:
“Stop hurting me. I love you. Can’t we go back to being friends / lovers?”
But Starr removes that hand of friendship from his heart and breaks Devlin’s thumb. Oh David Starr, you are a naughty boy — I think I love you too.
Great camera-work as the OTT crew offers us these dramatic images of Jordan’s pretty face coated in sweat and contorted in agony. It is beautifully done — WWE ain’t got nothing on OTT. The other blogger posted an animation of this scene too — Jordan spitting in disdain as he gets up to attack.
Jordan’s killer move, which nobody can survive (not even Walter) is his deadly Package Pile-Driver. He teases us with it several times, inverting Starr for the kill, but the sleazy bastard wiggles out each time.
You can go watch the last 90 seconds of this match to see Devlin finally inflict his killer move on Starr twice in a row to defeat the bastard once and for all. I didn’t bother making GIFs but its great stuff.
Rather than focusing on their animosity and rivalry, I decided to conclude today’s article with this tender moment between these former partners. Just before destroying Starr, Devlin cradles his head in his lap almost lovingly, again placing a hand on his heart and patting him gently. Starr looks up submissively at his young protege’ who has bested him.
It’s beautiful, it’s so blatantly queer and wonderful — openly depicting what Tag Team wrestling has always implied. Damn, I just love pro wrestling these days!
Starr and Devlin are two of the greats of present-day pro wrestling. Thanks for a superb plot analysis, as usual!
Devlin and Starr are sizzling hot. Great gallery!! Thanks so much. Their chemistry is tremendous.