Ian Rotten Perverted Me

Ian Rotten vs. Tarek the Great IWA-MS 10/4/02 - GREAT

JR: Maybe about ten years ago someone wrote an article on boxing for Triple Canopy that I believe is now lost to time. It tried to use Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse as a metaphor for something I can’t really remember, but one of the more cogent points that was made throughout was that while individual fighters are generally compelling because of their greatness, fights themselves are often more compelling between two fighters who have distinct and obvious weaknesses. At some level in boxing, everyone is good enough to exploit an opening, repeatedly and with profound cruelty, but only a very select few are able to do so without having a similarly glaring weakness themselves. So while watching two tremendous fighters play a game of mental chess, cautiously circling, pressing incremental advantages, and having wondrous and lightning quick footwork is perhaps beautiful, the fights that drive the popularity of boxing as a whole, and the fights that we think of when we picture a quote-unquote prize fight, are the ones that are more about flaws, and the inability to mask those flaws.

I thought of that article and its potential application to pro wrestling while watching this match between Ian Rotten and Tarek the Great. Often, extended mat sequences, and even the amorphous and general idea of “strong style” can come across as overly cooperative when in the hands of talented performers. They work with a speed and fluidity that can only be accomplished in a universe that is fictionalized, and their work serves to highlight the idea that the universe is fictionalized, that what they are doing is agreed upon on some level. A back and forth strike competition, even if the performers are “actually hitting each other”, one where no one gives an inch, one where the speed increases in such a way as to bring applause to a fever pitch, is a design. It is a choice. And after the moment is gone, the viewer is left with the knowledge that it is a choice that was made to play upon their emotions, to play upon the general want to participate and to acknowledge performance.

So really, there is something refreshing about this, about watching two performers who have that same general agreement, that they will pound upon one another for the theoretical enjoyment and engagement of the crowd, but have to do so in fits and starts, without the polish and veneer that others have. Their attempts to lock in holds are slow and clumsy. Strikes are wild and deadly looking affairs, looping and wide swats that look all the more dangerous due to their unexpected nature.

I speak a lot about what I call “dynamics” when I discuss wrestling critically; for me, matches are compelling when there are moments of work that shift gears, that change speeds, that make a narrative experience beyond escalation. Ian is tremendously naturally gifted as a dynamic performer, and the matwork here is a solid example. Throughout the match thus far, the work has been cautious and guarded, the work of two men who are consciously trying to defend themselves, aware of their own shortcomings in some way. And then! Out of nowhere, Ian reserves something with speed and grace and power, and it creates such a meaningful narrative transition out of what could have easily been a moment done for polite applause, a moment for the crowd to follow the bouncing ball. Instead, he changes speed and forces the audience to pay attention, as the work has gone against the natural rhythm of what we expect from these matches.

Tarek, for his part, is a capable and understanding performer, and is able to work in a way that shows off the size difference between the two. On things like pinning combinations out of counters he shows clear struggle at having to leverage someone who probably has 40 pounds on him. Whereas the Hero match we did last week looked uncooperative in its desperation and cruelty, this match finds ways to create the same energy while establishing a clear hierarchy. We aren’t supposed to buy Tarek on the level of Hero, and we don’t. He looks game but overmatched, with enough skill and shine to push Ian, albeit not to the same point of no return that Hero brought out. While Tarek may be lacking as a credible opponent, he does have skills that serve to bolster Rotten’s work; namely his inherent stillness. Rather than always flailing and grasping for ropes and escapes, Tarek is comfortable not moving while Ian has things locked in. It again reinforces the size difference, and creates a stark contrast to when they do finally get off the mat towards the end, and Tarek’s brief flurry looks like it truly shocks and surprises Ian. It’s not enough, but it creates contrast, both to the earlier segments in the match and to Ian as a performer.

There are moments toward the end that are a bit cute, a bit more cooperative than anything we see in the early stretches here or in better matches like the Hero one. But those aren’t enough to undermine what is otherwise compelling work. I am pleasantly surprised by the tonal differences that Ian is capable of within the same style, and his natural affinity for transition. As Phil pointed out last time, he is capable of enveloping the whole of his match in this extremely sinister aura, but here he proves he doesn’t have to rely on it to create good work. He has tools beyond what someone would expect.

PAS: I thought this was excellent, compelling, violent wrestling. It was clearly worked in the same style as Hero vs. Ian, but while that was something truly separate from pro-wrestling, this felt more like an interesting stylistic outlier, but within recognizable boundaries. Part of it may have been that Hero vs. Ian was without commentary, all you could hear was the cursing and shrieking in pain, while this had Jim Fannin and Dave Prazak just dribbling out inane nonsense. This also had a bit more of a wrestling ending, Ian sugar holding Tarek asleep was pretty cool, but it wasn't as visceral as Ian quickly tapping as his knee tendons shredded like coleslaw. 

It is hard not compare the two matches, but this had a lot in it to love. I thought the bear hug from the bottom by Ian was especially nasty, you could really see him digging his knuckles into Tarek's spine. There was some really slick counter wrestling here, Tarek is able to reverse a leglock from the bottom. Not to be outdone Ian reverses a Tarek leg lock, by grabbing and pulling Tarek's head to Ian's chest and rolling into a small package, totally cool almost Solaresque counter work. We had our bits of violence too, Ian and Tarek exchanging CTEbutts and Ian landing a sick open cuff to the ear.  The first match we reviewed felt like a pinnacle of a style, this feels like more of a great representative example, you may learn more from a representative then from a peak.

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