You may have heard of this hot Tag Team from Australia — Mikey Nicholls (the hard-ass looking brawler with the buzzed hair) and Shane Haste (the prettier stud with the abs and tattoos.) They call their tag team “The Mighty Don’t Kneel” or “TMDK” — which is a fairy cocky, fairly arousing name for a wrestling tag team.
They are very fun to watch in the ring. They’ve even been mentioned by the Beefcakes of Wrestling blogger (who has great taste in wrestlers) no less than 11 times — including some great photos from their 2012 match for Ohio Valley Wrestling.
Of these two wrestlers, Shane Haste is the more charismatic, entertaining, and exciting. He’s got the body of a model and the athletic face of a pro baseball player. He likes to dance to the ring and grind his hips while his no-nonsense partner looks at him as if to say: What the hell are you doing, ya pervert?!
Haste is the young show-off whose arrogance gets him in trouble, then it’s up to his tough partner Mikey Nicholls to rescue him and protect him. That’s always a nice vibe for a Tag Team.
Earlier this year, the two Aussies went to Japan to pay their dues. Here they are in a February match against an experienced Japanese team.
One thing you can’t help but notice about TMDK is their matching black briefs, made of skimpy silky material with the letters “TMDK” printed boldly on the ass. If this is the sort of gear that pro wrestlers are wearing in Australia, then I think I need to start watching more Australian rasslin’!
By the way, if you want to check out the video of this match, it is available on YouTube with the commentary in Japanese.
The match begins with TMDK — especially Shane Haste — showing off what they bring to the table. Haste mounts Marufuji in a pose of dominance and yanks his head back with a handful of his long curly hair. Then Haste clamps a gorgeous Body Scissor on the muscular Japanese wrestler, who puts over the Australian’s leg power with some gorgeous poses of agony.
The fun really begins when the Japanese studs gain the advantage over Haste. They deliver a series of loud karate kicks to his skull and stomach to weaken him. They trap him in their corner and slam a whole bunch of elbows to his face. The punishment continues for a good five minutes (I looove sustained Tag Team abuse, what a turn-on!).
And handsome Haste knows how to sell both visually and verbally. As he wrinkles up his face in a cringe of misery, he makes groaning noises like “OHHHHWW” and “AAAHHH!“, and he kicks his feet on the mat in impotent frustration.
I wasn’t too sure which team was meant to be the Babyfaces (or if Japanese wrestling even casts one team or the other as the Faces). I assume the foreign team is usually the villains, and Haste was sure acting like a hateful dick early in the match. But his punishment is so ruthless, so sustained, and so pathetic to watch, we are soon pulling for Haste as a beloved hero.
All the elements of great Tag Team wrestling are in play as the Japanese cut the ring in half and proceed to massacre their helpless boy toy with all sorts of cruel bullshit. The Safe Partner meanwhile is all desperate and angry, stepping into the ring several times so the ref must rush over and restrain him. (Meanwhile, I’m going crazy loving to see it…)
The tension and the suffering builds until we aren’t sure whether we would rather see poor Shane reach the tag, or whether we want this torture scene to keep running for another five minutes at least. Poor Shane’s humiliation is amplified when he is forced to kneel on several occasions, in contrast to the proud name of their team: “The Mighty Don’t Kneel.”
This is the kind of tag team that makes tag team wrestling interesting and exciting. Damn!
I usually prefer singles matches but this tag match is extraordinarily hot! Thanks for posting on it…