I have been seeing many of these publicity photos of Tag Team partners posted recently to Tumblr. Clearly these photos were carefully arranged and composed to portray the chemistry between the partners — to express their mutual affection and delight in being posed together as a couple.
Here we see Gino Hernandez in the bulging red trunks with his arm wrapped protectively around his shorter partner’s shoulders. Tully’s finger points upward (symbolic of erection?) as both partners smile as mysteriously and suggestively as the Mona Lisa herself. They drape their matching belts over their shoulders as a sign of their sealed partnership — like wearing wedding rings.
When seeing these posed partner publicity photos, one is often reminded of those cheesy couples photos that traditional (hetero) couples send to announce their engagement. The same techniques used to express the adoration, sexual energy, and mutual attraction between the carefully posed man and wife are also used in composing a Tag Team Partner photo.
Check out Ricky and Robert in their kerchiefs and matching headbands, leaning in dangerously close, their chests (their beating hearts) open to one another. Can you look at this photo and not grasp that this is true love always?!
So I googled “tips for couples photos” and found numerous articles written by wedding photographers on how to create effective couples photos. You can see from the quotes taken from these articles that the same techniques used to convey romance between newlywed couples are also at play in the posing of these wrestling partner photos.
“The best couple poses capture the essence, interaction and emotions between two people in love. It is a great feeling to see sparks fly and even better to catch this chemistry on camera… Hands need to be natural and not look stiff or posed. Let their hands form naturally on their own and refine when necessary.” What message are Windham and Rotundo conveying with their hands??
“The difference between a good picture and a great picture is in the details. So don’t forget to add in some fun props for that little something extra.”
The props chosen by Steamboat and Youngblood let us know that they’re both into playing dress-up. You wonder what kinky cos-play these playful partners get into behind closed doors. Note the close physical contact, their hips turned inward, the toes of their red boots touching.
“Costumes are always a good way to photograph couples who are looking for that not so normal photo session.”
“Show not just the main action, but the reactions of the guests – particularly close family members. I often shoot through the couple to the faces of the parents in the front row when I’m allowed to be behind the ceremony. There’s often a lot of pride and emotion evident on their faces and getting the couple in the foreground ties the image together.”
“Pride and emotion” are evident on Bobby Heenan’s face as he poses between his matching pillars of strength and masculinity. The fact that Heenan is shorter, older, and fully clothed further emphasizes the powerful brawn and virility of the couple in this “wedding” photo.
“Using Black and White film or setting your camera to take Black and White photos is another good tip. This allows you to be able to capture couples with a timeless look to them.”
“Their bodies should always touch, it doesn’t have to be with lips. Unless the shot is intentional to have them separated of course, some poses can almost look incomplete. What could it be? The lack of touch… Let them hold hands with the other, bringing them together. She can lean into his chest, touch shoulders, or he can grab her waist, if you want them to look more like a complete unit, just have them touch in some way.” This masked wrestler places a hand on his identical partner’s shoulder to convey dominance.
“Before we direct the expression to create the soul in our images we look at our couple, carefully adjusting the position of their arms and hands to ensure we have created a flattering pose. We then establish the eye lines. Each person can have eye contact with their partner, eye contact with us the photographers, eyes closed, or two of the above. Finally we direct the expression using adjectives like; cool, relaxed, strong, powerful, confident, warm, excited, flirty, naive, and vulnerable.”
It strikes me that the perfect adjectives in the entire world for describing Baby-Faces like Roma and Powers are: “cool, relaxed, strong, powerful, confident, warm, excited, flirty, naive, and vulnerable.”
Just as an engaged or newlywed couple uses their posed photos to convince the world of the strength and authenticity of their bond, so too do wrestling Tag Teams often pose for these carefully staged, highly suggestive “Man and Wife” photos. As we see so often in pro wrestling, the homo-social, male-male pairing is presented as the ideal relationship.
The two men are portrayed as enjoying a successful and fulfilling partnership with no involvement necessary by any member of the opposite sex. Erotic energy creeps in when they can’t keep their hands off each other. The point of these photos is to present the team as something more than mere business partners, but as close as passionate lovers or brothers. This makes their trials and tribulations, their suffering and eventual betrayal, much more interesting and exciting to watch.