Oliver Twisted

Continuing our review of the 11/14/12 episode of WWE NXT, this lean dude in jeans, Corey Graves, sauntered to the ring for the next match.  His gimmick is that he is into the Indie rock scene, as evidenced by all his tattoos, cool rocker hairstyle, and the fact that he wears denim.  He loves denim so much, he wrestles in jeans (with the suspenders hanging down like a promise) rather than stripping down to trunks like most grapplers.

Graves was formerly known as “Sterling James Keenan” and has been wrestling for a dozen years on the Indy scene and even served as a jobber several times in the WWE ring.

His opponent is a clean cut British hottie-with-muscles named Oliver Gray (formerly known on the Brit Pro scene as Joel Redman.)

Several clues tell us that cute Oliver Gray is going to suffer a one-sided beating in this match:

1. He was already waiting in the ring when we returned from the commercial– they didn’t bother showing him walk the aisle
2. He is wearing trunks and boots, very common gear compared to his opponent’s torn up jeans
3. He has no real gimmick or nick name whereas his opponent is rocking tattoos and attitude
4. He is handsome and muscular, just the sort of pretty-boy the fans enjoy seeing bullied by a Bad Boy like Corey Graves

Bufflover, as usual, was able to perfectly capture Oliver Gray’s most intense leg agony in this animated GIF:

Corey Graves treats us to a series of gorgeous, complex Leglocks, focusing his offense on his screaming victim’s left leg.  He wraps his legs, clad in denim, around the victim’s bare leg and cranks on the pressure.

Now THIS is just the sort of pro wrestling I have always enjoyed — the bad guy working one body part relentlessly.  Leave it to WWE NXT, with its old school vibe and classic mat-wrestling style, to deliver some leg torture worthy of Ric Flair back in the mid-80’s.

Oliver Gray, meanwhile, channels the muscle jobbers of yesteryear in his tight red trunks and shiny white boots, slapping the mat and gasping in agony.  Great job, kid!

Graves applies that hot leglock where you roll him onto his back and pull down his foot to bend his leg across your own shin.

They’re calling it the “Fuller Lock” after Ron Fuller who used his hold.  I think Corey Graves needs to give it a hotter name like the “Roll and Rock” or the “Graves-Vine” or something…

Anyway, the pretty boy is forced to tap out, the repeated leg torture more than he can handle.  Nice use of leglocks — I hope Corey Graves inflicts leg abuse all the time.

Yeah, slap that mat, pretty boy!

Check out the Bufflover Loves Hot Wrestling Blog if you want to see even more animations of Oliver Gray suffering in leg torture like an 80’s jobber…

A nice, basic jobber squash; both men knew their roles.  Because Oliver Gray was muscular and thick looking, Graves came off seeming even more powerful and dominant.

The ringside boys sure bought into his Alpha Male persona, eager to slap hands and establish a homo-social bond with him.  He ignores them all, which is the Alpha Male’s prerogative.