Denis Gauthier wrestled in Canada in the 1970’s. He was a friend of the Rougeaus and even married a sister of Jacques and Raymond. As a professional bodybuilder and former Mr. Canada, Gauthier helped to start the trend that pro wrestlers ought to look muscular and powerful instead of thick and beefy.
It’s just a given nowadays that wrestlers are supposed to be built and ripped and massive, but Gauthier was one of the first pioneers to cross from body-building into wrestling. Obviously it makes sense that wrestlers ought to look powerful and in shape, that they can lift heavy objects in order to be able to throw their opponents around. It makes wrestling more believable. But Gauthier also revealed another very good reason why pro wrestlers ought to have perfect, powerful physiques — the sex appeal of muscle and strength will draw more viewers to the product.
This article appeared in one of those nearly-pornographic wrestling magazines from the 1970’s. The purpose of the story was to compare and contrast the two buffest, most powerful men in the sport at the time: Billy Graham and Dennis (or Denis) Gauthier.
The female readers of the magazine weighed in on which man they’d prefer to sleep with — presumably to establish which stud was the true Alpha Male. The sexually suggestive comments made by the female readers were paired with photographs of the spectacular males flexing their bare torsos to ensure the readers would equate wrestling with sex (if they didn’t already) and would picture both of the men making love (if they weren’t doing that already.)
What I find a little shocking about this article is the frank admission by the female readers that they are aroused by pro wrestling, that the muscular men make them horny. They use phrases like: “magnificent lover,” “worshiped,” “weak from pleasure,” and “turned on by… savage sexuality.”
I guess I didn’t realize women in the 1970’s were this open about their sexual appetites and turn-ons, nor that a magazine could publish comments that so blatantly elude to sex and arousal. They, too, were ahead of their time.
Another interesting thing about the article is that it admits that pro wrestling is sensual and salacious, that the viewer is meant to receive a sexual charge from looking at and thinking about the wrestlers’ “bulging muscles” and the “splendor of their bodies.”
I always thought the truth about wrestling (that it is intended for sexual pleasure) was kept on the down-low in the 1970’s, but here this article basically says: “Yes, we viewers are getting off on pro wrestling and the buff bodies in the ring.” Pro wrestling is being outed as an aphrodisiac, a source of sexual fantasy.
At this point in history, the sexual revolution is underway and pro wrestlers are no longer seen as simply athletes. They are also being cast in the role of eye-candy enjoyed for the sexual pleasure of the viewer. Wrestling fans no longer want to watch a good fight — they now expect the “magnificent male” in the ring to turn them on too.
Also at this time, society was adjusting to a new definition of Manhood. In this article, Billy Graham is cast in the role of traditional masculinity, aggressive and controlling. He is described as “the caveman, the dominator, the protector.”
Denis Gauthier, on the other hand, embodies the new kinder gentler man of the 1970s. The article mentions his “sensitivity and tenderness.” He is described as “lover, partner, sanctuary.”
So a contrast is being drawn between the two He-Men (and contrasts are what make pro wrestling feuds interesting.) The villain is the traditional Male Chauvinist Pig that feminists were trying to eliminate, and the hero is a modern, sensitive, caring male willing to share his power with his partner.
Young Denis is described as “sheepish,” and shy around women. Graham, on the other hand, arrogantly expects women to be his slave, to fulfill his every wish.
According to the comments by the female readers, some women prefer the brute power and domination offered by Graham, and some are more turned on by Gauthier’s sweet shyness.
The wrestling fan has to power to choose which man is favored: the traditional dominating man or the sensitive modern man. The nice thing about pro wrestling, then and now, is that it offers the whole buffet of beefcake to sample and enjoy. The viewer can cheer for the cocky, arrogant, boastful bad-asses, or for the cute, eager, sensitive young pretty-boys. They discovered back in the 1970s that both types of men have their fans, so these two archetypes of masculinity have frequently been paired up in the ring and forced to battle it out ever since.
