On his personal Blog and video store website, underground brawler Jonny Firestorm recently posted one of the most unusual wrestling matches I’ve ever seen. It is available for download for $25.
The video is called “Point of View 1” because the action is filmed from the visual perspective of the two combatants. I believe they took turns wearing Google Glass, which is able to record whatever you’re seeing. The result is some of the most extreme close-ups of bodies and holds I’ve ever seen, and the most effective delivery of the feeling that you, the viewer, are in the ring participating in the match.
Jonny wears spectacular blue trunks and he seems to know they look great on his ass, because he pushes those bulging blue briefs into his opponent’s face (our faces) about a dozen times.
His opponent is named Jake Lowe, a lean, young (and well- endowed) welterweight in yellow singlet.
Jonny wastes no time before attacking that prominent bulge to emasculate the pretty boy. Watching this video from inside Jonny’s head, looking at that foot pressed into Jake’s crotch, it almost seems as if that is MY boot.
Jonny’s video download page describes this as a “first of its kind concept match.” I agree — very cool idea, Jonny!
<– Check out this image, filmed from between his thighs, staring up at the stud as he cranks on a Headscissor. He gazes into the camera and asks whether we are enjoying his power, and my heart skipped a beat because it felt like he was addressing that question directly to me.
The same scene is then presented from Jonny’s perspective, looking down at that handsome victim, cringing in pain between my — I mean JONNY’s — powerful legs. Whether you imagine yourself in the place of the Heel or the jobber, you get to experience both points-of-view.
Both wrestlers look fantastic, as you can hopefully see from these images — Jonny the icon of power and bulging masculine muscle, and Jake the lean, vulnerable, adorable Face. The on-going trash talk by Jonny is especially provocative as he flexes his bicep and repeatedly commands his boy-toy to fully submit to his power.
I think what makes the running commentary between the wrestlers especially effective is that it is delivered directly into the camera, face-to-face with us the viewer, making us feel as if he is ordering us to beg for mercy (or he is pleading with us to stop hurting him, depending on whose perspective we’re watching from.)
This video had to be a pain to create, repeatedly swapping the camera (glasses) and re-enacting scenes from both viewpoints, struggling to keep the other guy centered in your field of vision to capture a compelling image. I really give Jonny and Jake credit for attempting this, and I am overall impressed with the outcome.
Now of course, no ground-breaking innovation is perfect and polished the first time out of the gate. This video contains some frustrating moments when all you can see is the ceiling fan or the blank wall. You know some great wrestling is happening just outside of your field of vision and you crave a better look, but for some reason, the wrestler looked away or maybe the glasses slipped.
Also — obviously — this point-of-view gimmick limits the types and the complexity of wrestling moves that can be used, so don’t expect highly technical death-defying moves. Please don’t let these critical statements dissuade you from checking out this match — it is an ingenious idea and very engaging. I just want you to know what you’re getting if you decide to download this so you don’t feel like I over-promised.
And there are plenty of moves in this match that work very effectively to transport you into the ring, like when Jonny climbs up on the turnbuckles to splash down on the cameraman (on us) — it’s genius! As we look up at him poised above us on the ropes (from the position of flat on our backs in the center of the ring), it actually feels perilous and threatening. You feel helpless and exposed for a moment as he gets ready to take flight to flatten you, and you think: “NO! Don’t do it! Don’t Super-Fly Splash me!”
If you enjoy rassling around with other dudes, this video will feel very authentic and familiar. If you’ve never wrestled anybody (are there guys out there who’ve never wrestled anybody??), this video will give you a sense of what it feels like.
I believe Jonny is planning to create more Point-of-View matches and I’m definitely on board to check them out. It really has a unique look and feel compared with the typical wrestling video filmed from 10 or 20 feet away.
Oh, one more disclosure — this video took hours for me to download and kept timing out repeatedly, so I had to restart it. Maybe I had a bad internet connection that day or something, but I don’t think it was me.
Fortunately the browser I used (Safari) lets you resume a file download from the point at which it left off, so after clicking the orange “Continue Download” button (see below) about a dozen times, I finally received the entire 39-minutes of footage and I loved it. Enjoy!
