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HIGH GEAR

MARCH 1976

PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING

By Rudi Haaken

TV wrestling as we have come to know it originated before television around the turn of the century in European traveling circuses and shortly thereafter found its way into parlors and public entertainment. (You may recall such a tournament between two mud-slinging women in Cabaret). With the advent of modernity, bloody combat became increasingly unconscionable as a delightful pastime and was replaced by dramatic reproductions of brutality.

Dramatic wrestling, then as now, bore only vague resemblance to Greek or Roman struggle. It was, and is, calibrated to deliver maximum impact on an expansive range of senses. Theatrical grappling was patronized by such diabolical human drives as

fascination with competition, violence, and sheer spectacle, and especially by the less than diabolical sexual instinct.

rare

Wrestling by its very nature requires either tightfitting or minimal restrictive clothing and in an era in which nudity (especially male) was indeed, enacted wrestling which in addition to bare chests demanded no protective equipment, became a focus for expressive same-sex bodycontact.

The entertainment potential of wrestling-by-script was soon realized as actors perfected their routines, so that rather uneventful and

limiting

traditional and genuine wrestling (and for that matter, boxing) could not, and still cannot compete with it.

"Professional" wrestling has been recognized only recently as a genre of folk theatre but it has never been successfully identified as a colloquial gay art form. No one has yet solicited a public admission from wrestling promoters that their "sport" is not authentic, much less that it is homosexual. Nevertheless all carefully choreographed bouts profusely exude gay eroticism and if carefully arranged by a talented dramatist, represent exemplary sado-masochistic ballet.

A match is generally preceded by excessive boasting on the part of one or both combatants. This necessary prelude heightens the humiliation of the ultimately defeated party. Humiliation is essential in advanced professional wrestling and incorporates several standard techniques. The foremost of these is the subjecting of a slim, muscular hero to physical abuse from a slightly flabbier villain. In. the reverse situation, the disadvantaged villain totally lacking in honor and selfrespect, may supplicate the hero for mercy while planning some illegal and unexpected retaliation. The strugglers may initiate a round by clasping hands, each attempting to force the other to his knees by bending his knuckles painfully back.

In tag-team matches, a favorite device for humiliation

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involves ramming two allied partners against each other or a "rowing" configuration in which one team tortures the opposing team by stretching the legs of both men simultaneously concentrating unbearable pain in the crotches of their enemies. Triumphantly stomping a bedraggled opponent into the mat or grasping his hair and grinding his face in the turnbuckle or canvas is frequent and effective.

This orchestrated sport is not above including common s/m paraphernalia, as for instance leather boots, thongs, belts, and chains. From time to time a "chain bout" is heralded in which two fighters are bound together by a length of chain which compels them to remain in close proximity to each other and which may be used as a memorable weapon. In one

"chain bout" the exhausted and utterly helpless hero was forced

to assume a kneeling position for an extended period of time while the villain variously strangled, blinded, beat, and bruised him. Toward the end of his torment the chain was wrapped about his forehead and tightened to "cut off his circulation," leaving him in an obscenely decadent "crown of thorns" stance.

TV wrestling holds are devised for their erotic impact. Most of them would be worthless or non-applicable in actual competition. Virtually all matches begin with a "headlock," evoking primal sexual interest in the arm-pit and pectoral regions. After the defeatee is softened up against the turnbuckle and doubled over by a series of "body smashes" (blows administered by the elbow and forearm) while he remains tangled in or bound to the ropes by means of opportune "loose threads," he is

compelled to lie prostrate on the mat (tress?). He is then punished via ensuing sensuous full-nelsons, crushing scissorlocks, bear-hugs, "rocking chairs" and more. The "master" may elect to bring him to a wobbly standing position, then grasp him beneath his genitals gripping his buttocks, lift him, and slam him against the rather thin padding underfoot. The "master" infrequently chooses to prolong the "slave's" agony by deliberately refusing to pin. him.

TV wrestling is billed as "family entertainment" and is supplemented by gimmicks aimed at appeasing children and morally sensitive fans. Various stars are assigned glamorous names and exotic costumes plus a distinctive trick (example: the "cocoa-butt," the "sleeper," etc.) In this innocent context the closeted voyeur is provided with a pornographic spectacle in the very presence of his unknowing family. Also, since wrestling is a "butch" activity, his masculinity is left unscathed while he collects material for his fantasies.

Lately, the popularity of TV wrestling has faded. Two local UHF stations which carried Saturday ,'Professional' wrestling have phased it out of their programming. Its downfall may be due to several factors, among them the recent proliferation of more direct gay alternatives for sexual expression, a dearth of young wrestlers (who pursue more rewarding dramatic roles), and the sharp increase of prime-time violence, luring away straight adventure-seekers from the predictable violence of TV wrestling. This art may be resurrected in the future as it has been many times in the past, but those of us who grew up with it will retain a warm spot in our hearts and elsewhere for "Big Time" wrestling.

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