No Holds Barred, part 1 of 2

At Ring of Honor‘s Homecoming 2012 show on January 20th, Roderick Strong (one of my favorite wrestlers) was scheduled to face Eddie Edwards in a “No Holds Barred” match.  When Eddie was unable to compete, Roddy assumed he would be declared the automatic winner.

But then young Adam Cole bravely entered the arena, his long hair flowing like a young Musketeer, his baby blue trunks just screaming “Vulnerability!”   Adam boldly offered to wrestle Roderick to the delight of the fans, including this fan.  Roderick couldn’t back down to this cocky young lion, and Rookie vs. Veteran, No Holds Barred match was underway.

I’ve featured Adam Cole in an earlier article (in the exact same fancy-pants trunks, by the way) and I think he’s one of the hottest young talents on the Indy scene.  But does this pretty-boy really belong in a “No Holds Barred” match against the dangerous Roderick Strong??

Scenarios like this — the out-matched rookie, the unfair agony he will endure, the apparent brutality that Ring of Honor veterans dish out by the bucketful — are why I love this federation.  They get the psychology of good old Pro Wrestling.  They push all my buttons.

And Ring of Honor delivers the excitement, especially the great Roderick Strong.  He commits a series of violent crimes, dragging the long-haired Baby-Face around by the hair (apparently legal in a “No Holds Barred” match) and chopping his bare chest, his hand smacking like a gun-shot against the handsome young man’s exposed, meaty pectorals.

If you want an even, back and forth chess match; if you want Adam Cole to have a fair fight; if you want Roderick to suffer for his arrogance, you came to the wrong place.  Cole gets to apply a few holds, but for the most part, he serves as a pathetic Whipping Boy for my Roddy.

A “No Holds Barred” match offers the Heel even greater freedom to brutalize his opponent.  Roddy brings a chair into the ring to bust up Cole’s leg, and repeatedly yanks the poor kid’s hair.

I haven’t seen cruel punishment like this by an Alpha Male jock on an adorable-but-awkward Sophomore since High School gym class.  Just as my gym teacher looked the other way and permitted the bullying, so too does this Ref stand back and allow Roddy to be as nasty as he wants to be.  Young Adam has agreed to a “No Holds Barred” match after all, and we can’t help it that he’s so gorgeous and vulnerable looking that Roddy (a bully by nature) is just itching to make him suffer.

To Be Continued…