This Rookie vs. Veteran pissing contest appeared on the 4/27/18 episode of Ring of Honor wrestling. Flip Gordon is the rookie with his high-&-tight military haircut and smooth chest. Silas Young is the Veteran with his meaty, hairy, manly dad-bod. Mmmmm.
If you missed it, you may still be able to catch it on the ROH website where they post the prior week’s episode for free.
The gimmick of the match is clearly Old Guy Champion (Silas) defending his position against Eager High-Flying Rookie (Flip.) This is an on-going trope in ROH right now: all the hot young talent whom the fans adore being shut down and bullied by the ugly, abusive Old Guard.
The match also plays around with our concepts of masculinity, as Silas Young — the “Last Real Man” — often does in his matches. Silas portrays the classic, hairy chested, hard-ass style of masculinity that was mandatory back in the 1970’s and 80’s. He is channeling (and spoofing) that uber-aggressive gym teacher who made your dick feel about the size of a peanut when he shouted at you.
After playing grab-ass back and forth for the first few minutes, Silas decides to get rough, as toxic masculinity does.
The hairy brute levels Flip with a killer Forearm Smash off the ropes, flipping him ass over applecart, and now this match is getting interesting.
Man, those little black trunks on big Silas, what a sight to see. They’re allowed to show images this sexy and arousing on national television??
Silas asserts that he is more masculine by telling the younger dude to “fight like a man.” This is a key feature of toxic masculinity, as any guy knows: you must constantly prove you’re Man Enough, at least as swaggering and horny and aggressive as the guy you’re with. Silas riffs on that theme as he out-muscles Flip while pussy-shaming him.
Another theme of this match (at least in my kinky, twisted brain) is a Father-Son vibe. I mean, they look similar.
After Flip dared to strike Silas in the face, Silas knocked his boy out cold to teach him a lesson. This is like a redneck family, where the dad and son brawl in the dirt out behind their trailer on a random Wednesday.
Young Flip gains the upper hand in the middle part of the match, thanks to his flashy High-Flying offense.
You have to let Flip perform his gymnastics at some point — this is what the young fans really came to see. I suppose if you can’t go to the Circus any more, you can still eww and ahh over crazy acrobats at the rasslin show.
Flip Gordon has these expressive features and big eyes that broadcast his emotions — it really works in the wrestling ring. When he is in agony and cringing in pain, you almost want to cry with him. And when he’s excited, he makes you feel excited. He really wears his heart on his face.
It’s funny — I went to the Beefcakes of Wrestling Blog to see if he posted any images of Flip I could use here. Um yeah, he has blogged about Flip Gordon 36 times! — including this nice black and white photo. I mean, I get it that Flip is a gorgeous dude, but how obsessed with pro wrestling can someone be ?!?!? Jeesh. (SMH)
I almost didn’t include this animation of Flip poised on the top rope and looking spectacular. I mean, they’re not really wrestling, he’s just showing off.
But then I thought, fuck it, leave it in. It’s hot. Who cares if I end up with like 250 images in today’s gallery?
The fact that both men are wearing skimpy black trunks with white lettering on the back adds further to their Daddy-Son vibe. It makes them look even more the same, like they’re Ifamily.
I picture a son complaining that he wants to wear red boxers, only to be told: “No son — we wear black briefs in this family. They’re what daddy prefers.”
“If you’re gonna live under my roof, you gotta wear black jockey shorts!” Like I said, my brain is a bit twisted.
I like this dude at ringside, a little gray in his beard. He plays the Real Man game too, challenging Silas to go rough up the kid, teach him who’s boss.
He’s like that drinking buddy with no kids of his own: “You gotta spank a boy if he talks back to you — otherwise he’ll never respect you. My daddy whupped me and look how I turned out!”
Their wrestling styles are very different which accentuates the Old Guy/Young Guy dichotomy. Flip runs and jump and flies off the ropes with his kick-pads flailing. Silas uses brawling and grinding, his classic wingtip boots seldom leaving the canvas.
Check out Silas just owning the young man. Now are you noticing the Daddy and Son roles being played out?
You don’t see this tactic used in many pro wrestling matches. Or street fights for that matter. I’m just sayin’.
It’s like when your old granny would snatch you by the ear to get you to stop strangling your brother and sit back down at the table to finish your cereal.
Well it looks like the old man still rules the roost. Junior will have to Man Up and try it again when he’s a little more grown up and daddy is more decrepit.
Even without all these Oedipal themes that made this match seem hot to me, it really was great wrestling and selling by both men and plenty of exciting visuals. Televised wrestling still can be a turn-on apparently, even with all the other options we now have available.