OOOFFF!! Poor Gable is in the wrong part of town.
A few days ago, I wrote about this recent match between American Alpha and the Revival from the July 6th episode of NXT. Today’s article is dedicated to my favorite part of the match — my favorite part of any Tag Team match — when the Face-in-Peril is abused, mistreated, cheated, and double-teamed by his cruel opponents.
Time to show Chad Gable who’s boss.
Oh the things these Baddies do to poor Chad Gable, like how they’re just windmilling away, pounding him down like a nail. They keep him at their mercy for a good long time and just harm him over and over.
Gable is the Jannetty of his team, often playing the Damsel in Distress to Jason Jordan’s Prince Charming. Gable must suffer the bulk of the punishment while awaiting rescue by his swoler, tougher, manlier partner. Gable’s long hair, which the Heels always pull and drag him by, further feminizes him and makes him all the more likely to play the Abused Victim.
He’s not a man, he’s a punching bag.
This was a fun moment of humiliation. Gable’s body is helplessly trapped between the ropes as Dawson forearms his chest, causing him to bend forward. Then a stiff kick to the sternum stands him up again for another Forearm Smash. Repeat.
Gable enhances his vulnerability by keeping his right arm hooked over the top rope and letting his left arm flop around loosely, so his body is open and exposed. His utter helplessness, his inability to defend himself or to escape the ropes, is highly emasculating . Soon Dawson wins the second fall by pinning his long-haired victim.
You can tell Jordan wants to peel that singlet off ASAP.
Does Dash feel bad, even a little bit, for doing this?!
Another enjoyable aspect of this match was Jordan’s anger and frustration from watching the beat-down from his corner.
Here Jordan enters the ring, which serves to distract the ref so Dash can cheat.
The 2-on-1 bullshit continues.
We get the sense that Gable and Jordan just want to wrestle, you know, amateur style. However, Dash and Dawson don’t play that way. They like to hurt people.
So we now see what happens when Wrestlers try to fight Rasslers. The Wrestlers suffer and the Rasslers dominate.
It hurts ten times worse when done on the ring apron.
The action gets rough as American Alpha try to fight back, so the Revival increase their degree of brutality. Here the Heels destroy Gable with their patented “Shatter Machine” maneuver.
This move is devastating enough when performed in the ring, but the fact that they’ve shattered Gable on the hard steel edge of the ring makes this cruel and unusual punishment. Now Gable is utterly drained of any masculine strength he had in him, and is defeated.
Time to celebrate!
This match was so nice, it got me twice before I got to the end. Dash and Dawson (the true Alpha Males) hold onto their belts and each other.
These guys are so talented and exciting that some fans are claiming they ought to move up to the big shows — Raw or Smackdown. However, that tends to ruin a Heel team and drain them of their power and mojo. Tag team dominance doesn’t really work on those shows. So I hope they stay right on NXT where they can keep up their excellent Tag Team performances and total domination.