Yesterday we considered the effects that a female valet (or girlfriend) can have on the psychology of a wrestling match when she watches her man from ringside. For a modern take on this phenomenon, let’s take a closer look at Mike Bennett from Ring of Honor and his girl-toy, Maria.
Normally, a female valet serves to “masculinize” her male wrestler by contrast, to cement his apparent hetero-sexuality. However, pretty-boy Mike Bennett, with his smooth muscular build, tan flesh on display, and cocky stance is every bit as spectacular and eye-catching as Maria. Note that he wears bright pink briefs, just as she wears bright pink briefs. The only difference between their bottoms is that his has a bit more fabric and a cross symbol (meant to resemble his erect male member…) So one might argue that Mike Bennett, by dressing in pink similar to the undeniably female Maria, has ironically further feminized himself by likening himself to her in attire.
When the hyper-masculine ring-veteran Lance Storm enters the ring, Mike and Maria begin to blatantly kiss and grope one another right in front of him while he watches. It appears they’re trying to excite Lance Storm and make him jealous that he isn’t involved in their pleasure (either jealous that he isn’t kissing Maria, or perhaps jealous that he isn’t kissing Bennett?!?)
Who are they showing off for, exactly? Could it be that they’re trying to entice and excite the man in the singlet, the voyeur Lance Storm, who they’re clearly aware is watching them?
In a love triangle situation, the men are actually performing for each other, trying to impress and out-shine the other male, to win the Dick Measuring contest. Keep in mind that the woman in a love triangle is just an object of exchange, a measuring stick.
The two men (after having been stimulated by sexy Maria) next turn their sexual energy and attention on each other, utterly ignoring the spectacular female.
Now it is Lance Storm’s turn to press his face close to Bennett’s face in a threatening stare-down, replacing Maria as the object of Bennett’s attention.
Now it is Lance Storm’s turn to grab and grope Bennett’s flesh, just as Maria was doing earlier during their make-out session. It seems Lance Storm has his choice between the two people in pink. He can either dominate and ravish Lance, or Maria, or both of them.
Throughout the match, Bennett and Storm play around with masculine and feminine role reversals, switching off which man is in the behind (mounted) position, exchanging the dominant role. Now that Maria is out of the picture, the two men are depicted as trying to determine which one will be the Dom and which one will be the Sub in their Homosocial relationship. Neither man seems willing to accept the submissive, or female, position which has been vacated by Maria.
THIS is what the wrestling fans truly want to see! We want to see what Bennett can do to subdue Lance Storm, not what he can do to subdue Maria!
Pro wrestling is meant to depict men interacting with other men — purely Homosocial situations. The addition of a female into the story often feels like a distraction — unnecessary noise.
I believe most wrestling fans, even straight fans, would agree that pro wrestling is meant to be a show of Men, by Men, and for Men. The female valet seems to detract from the pleasure of the Stag Party — the immersion in pure Homosocial Desire.
It’s like when your sister and her girlfriends invaded your tree fort, interrupting you and your pals from the male bonding you were enjoying before they barged in with their dolls and ribbons.
Note that a wrestler with a female valet is usually a villain. This is because, by pairing up with a female, he has broken the “No Girls Allowed” rule. He is like your buddy who brings his lame girlfriend to Boy’s Night Out and ruins all the fun. Bennett has rejected the purely Homosocial relationship that the wrestling fans prefer to see.
In the end, hyper-masculine Lance Storm defeats Bennett, which humiliates “The Prodigy” in front of his woman. Storm peels down the straps of his singlet to show off his chest and further flaunt his masculinity.
Bennett will not accept the subservient role in his Homosocial relationship with Storm due to the presence of his judgmental female companion. For a moment, he pretends to submit by shaking Storm’s hand, but then he Choke Slams the veteran on the back of his head, utterly destroying him.
Bennett has firmly and violently rejected the preferred (at least for wrestling fans) Homosocial relationship in favor of his heterosexual pairing with Maria. He is therefore a villain in the eyes of the fans.
Mike Bennett has re-established his dominance over Maria, taking her by the hand and leading her backstage to celebrate — and excluding the fans and Lance Storm from seeing or participating in that pleasure, thereby rejecting all of us dudes. He has refused to participate in our Homosocial fraternity. Lance Storm, on the other hand, continues to give the fans the Homosociality that they crave. With his bare chest exposed, he shamelessly drapes his arm around the male referee.
So our take-away is that, if you want to be seen as a villain in the eyes of wrestling fans, get a female valet and pay more attention to her than the opponent and the crowd.