While watching the June 3rd episode of NXT, I saw this stud get in the ring wearing that sexy purple mask and that gorgeous cape. I was like Damn, who’s that?! I got that age old feeling of excitement the first time you see a new wrestler and you’re instantly drawn to him and want to know everything about him. His purple mask really looks good on him.
His name is Hijo Del Fantasma or “son of the ghost” (in honor of his father, a Mexican Luchador who wrestled for many years as Fantasma.) Hijo Del Fantasma has a solid, muscular physique that just belongs in a wrestling ring. I think his chinless mask goes perfectly with his dark beard, and I always love when a masked guy’s long hair flows out the back of the mask (another weird little wrestling thing that presses my buttons…)
Hijo Del Fantasma’s opponent is a handsome little dude from Britain known as Drake Maverick (formerly known as Rockstar Spud.) The story behind the match is that WWE needs to downsize their roster due to lost revenue in recent months, so if Maverick loses this match, he will be fired by WWE. This adds a bit of drama and importance to the situation — a sense of pending doom for the Baby-Face, which is an important ingredient that should be included in any pro wrestling match.
Maverick is a good looking dude with a tight body. With that carefully manicured hair and handsome face, he resembles an aging Frat Bro to me. However, he’s just too small and pretty to be a rough, tough wrestler. His body looks fragile and petite compared to the other wrestlers, including Fantasma. So we automatically feel sorry for Maverick and we want to cheer for him, or at least give him a big hug after he loses.
The rasslin begins and I’m just losing it over Fantasma — he’s so crisp and graceful with his moves, while also managing to look very powerful. I think that purple mask is sexy as hell and he’s sporting an impressive bulge in his shiny pleather trunks too. Maverick loudly and dramatically sells everything Fantasma does to him as the worst pain of his career, putting Fantasma over as one amazing, powerful wrestling beast.
Fantasma focuses his attack on Maverick’s back, using a series of classic Spine Crushers like the Power Bomb. He also applies a devastating Boston Crab and this spectacular Mexican Ceiling — all classic moves that we don’t see very often these days, but that I miss and appreciate very much.
Maverick is ruined by the skillful and relentless devastation of his spine, while the commentators repeatedly remind us that poor Mav’s career is over if he can’t manage to somehow defeat this Mexican Power-House.
I suppose they want me to focus my attention on Maverick as the suffering Baby-Face, but in this case, I’m more drawn to Fantasma and can’t take my eyes off his strong body and that kinky purple mask.
Fantasma finally slams Maverick to the mat one too many times and the pretty-boy is finished. They announce Hijo Del Fantasma as the winner and new Cruiserweight Champ — which thankfully assures his place on the roster because I want to see much more of this masked hottie!
So Maverick begins to cry and limp back to the dressing room, but Triple H comes out and lets him sign a contract anyway. I guess the promoters figured this little cutie can never win any matches, but if the audience gets turned on watching him take beatings like an old school jobber, then they might as well keep him around as eye candy for us.
It was a good match with some classic holds and the guys were both very easy on the eyes. I sure can’t wait to see more of this Fantasma — I hope they keep him around for a nice long while.