DVDs came out in 1997. YouTube started in 2005. During the years in between, lots of guys with a wrestling fetish (like me) would buy, sell, and trade DVDs of pro wrestling matches online and ship them to each other. Some guys created and sold compilation videos, such as The Best of Tommy Angel Squashes or Ric Flair’s Bloodiest Cage Matches or whatever. And you could send a whole big stack of DVDs in the box your new toaster came in — far easier to ship than those bulky old VHS tapes.
One of the DVDs I purchased and greatly enjoyed was called Sleeper Hold Matches. It was just match after match that ended in the Sleeper Hold which some dude with a Sleeper Fetish had cobbled together, probably from matches he had recorded on DVD for future enjoyment. His DVD features primarily Brutus Beefcake and the Z-Man, who could both be counted on in those days to apply their Sleepers at the end of nearly every match.
Now that I have video editing software and I’m finally learning how to use it, I’ve taken my old Sleeper Hold Matches DVD (now digitized as an MP4) to the next level. I’ve distilled the 2-hour video down to less than 20 minutes of hot footage by cutting out everything but the Sleeper Holds.
This new version is all Money Shots — the sexy moments after the Sleeper is clamped on as we watch the jobber go limp and fade off to a submissive slumber. To really turn my crank, I slow it down and zoom in to savor and prolong each jobber’s helplessness as the dominant man puts him out. And sometimes I go back and repeat the same footage again because that repetition, as if the Sleeper is being re-applied, sometimes puts me over the edge.
I’ve uploaded my Sleeper Hold montage to YouTube for your viewing pleasure. It was too long to post in a single video so I created a Part 1 and a Part 2 — each about 8 minutes long. Here is Part 1 which contains the Sleeper scenes depicted in the above 4 images (and more):
I think we can all agree the Sleeper is probably the most erotic wrestling hold, or at least it’s way up there, so I’m sure I’ve gotten my money’s worth out of this DVD over the past two decades no matter how much I paid for it! Like many fans of Classic Pro Rasslin, I miss seeing these Sleepers and other titillating holds on television each week. Fortunately, after mainstream wrestling became very socially distanced and hetero, the Underground companies quickly sprang up to fill the gap and to continue scratching our collective itch for sexy wrestling. And boy howdy, did they ever!
The Wrestle-Porn producers have the artistic freedom, thanks to the overtly queer nature of their products, to prolong and sexualize their Sleeper scenes, to fetishize the hold thru relentless repetition, and to really zoom in with the camera so we can fixate on the beautiful scenery. They’re able to create IRL the same vibe I’m going for with my editing software. For a small fee, they have more than filled the Sleeper gap in my fantasies caused by the Big Companies adopting more family-friendly content so I’m not complaining.
Actually, if the mainstream wrestling federations had NOT gone straight about 20 years ago, many excellent Wrestle-Porn companies probably wouldn’t exist today. We wouldn’t NEED to purchase wrestle-porn if we could get it for free on TV each week. So I’m happy with the outcome, actually. I’m OK with having two types of pro wrestling to choose from — one for them and one for us.
These clips reminded me how those kinky arm coverings worn by Beefcake, usually in the brightest colors and patterns, added visual appeal to his Sleepers. They also seemed to convey a mechanical advantage, a tighter grip perhaps thanks to the non-slip fabric, that made Beefcake’s Sleeper Holds more powerful and devastating. This is akin to a loaded boot or sequined glove some wrestlers wore to gain a magic power over their outmatched victims.
Whatever the intended psychology of Beefcake’s beautiful gauntlets, I consider them a sexy addition to his already very homo-erotic costume.
I felt a pang of guilt for editing out most of the Tom Zenk – Joe Cruz match from my Sleeper Montage because both guys are so hot. Cruz even put Z-Man in a couple of cowboy-booted Leg Scissors which were great. But I had resolved to focus on Sleeper Holds only for my montage video. You can find the entire Zenk – Cruz match (and probably most of these other classic matches) on YouTube.
Apparently Brutus Beefcake joined WCW late in his career and changed his name to “The Butcher,” a stable-mate under the control of the domineering Kevin Sullivan. I don’t know if I was aware of that, or maybe I forgot that “Beefcake” was aka “Butcher.”
Anyway, no matter what strange gimmick he’s working, Beefcake always incorporates his favorite hold, which happens to also be my favorite hold, so I’m a big “Butcher” fan. Maybe he truly does get off on applying the hold! Anyway I captured several nice Butcher Sleepers toward the end of Part 2 of my montage, which you can check out below…
Nothing hotter then seeing Joe Cruz with his thick hairy pecs and deep navel caught in a seated sleeper. The only way this could look hotter is if it turned into a dragon sleeper to show his great bulge as well.
Who had more beautiful arms than Beefcake? And when he was concentrating, his sleepers were a thing of beauty. But even when he was a bit sloppy, I loved watching him.
I’m not sure I appreciated Beefcake as much as I should’ve back in his prime. His Sleeper Holds were very flirtatious and playful now that I look back on them. He often looks us right in the eye and makes these campy “O-Faces” as his victim fades away in his arms, as if to say, I know you’re getting off on this stuff. It’s good work.
Watching guys slowly lose their power and energy to fight back and get out of the hold was pretty erotic to watch. Face-to-face sleepers are pretty hot too. Similar to the sleeper is the iron claw, where the victim may be upright when the hold is applied, but he gradually weakens and sinks to his knees then on his back where he’s often counted out and knocked out simultaneously! One match from 1980 (I think) had David Von Erich bust open Harley Race’s head with an iron claw…it was wild!