RhodyRaybo's blog

So we were at it, me and Jim-Bob (not his real name) in our 16th
wrestling match since we first met 2 years ago. He's not able to come
over more than once every couple months, so it's always special when he
makes it over. We always begin in complete silence, he lets himself in,
I'm waiting in my basement on the mats for him, he strips down to his
gear, then approaches me. We hug for a bit then we begin struggling
saying not one word.

The struggling this time went on as it has so many other times. He's
considerably bigger and stronger than I am, so I get my butt kicked.
Anyway, it got to a point where once again I was on my back and he had
my head caught between his thighs squeezing and easing, squeezing and
easing, and we still hadn't said a word to each other.

Next thing I knew, I felt as though I heard sounds going through my head
sounding like app signals from a smart phone, and then I find my self
"waking up" for a split second forgetting where I was and what I was
doing. Then I notice a pair of legs engulfing my head. "I must have
dozed off" I thought still disoriented. Then in a few more seconds I
realized what happened, Jim-Bob had put me out. Once again I had been
accidentally sleepered. I said nothing and kept wrestling, or getting
my butt kicked as the case was.

When we finally finished this round we began talking and I told Jim-Bob
what had happened. He appeared a bit surprised to learn that he had
managed that. But, nonetheless, it was a special match with him for
many reasons. But this was the first time he had actually succeeded
in putting me to sleep for a few seconds. Kudos, "Jim-Bob"....you're
still tops!

Most of my wrestling semi regulars have a favorite line they've said to me, here are the best ones. Most of the names are changed to protect the guilty.

"You seem to like it down there"...said by "Carlos" when he put my head between his thighs the first time we met.

"Don't make me break my toy"...also said by "Carlos" when we first met.

"you are the Energizer Bunny"...told to me by "Todd" when we used to wrestle regularly.

"You're an animal!"...told to me last Sunday by "Buddy" when we were wrestling.

"If you struggle I'll just squeeze harder" told to me by "Kevin" when he had me on the floor in a rear naked choke.

"I've created a monster"...told to me by "Stanley" because I consider him my mentor in wrestling. I've come a very long way since we first wrestled.

"I have to hurt you now" told to me by Wrestling Beast when I had just made him tap out. Something that rarely happens with him and I.

And finally from "Michael"...."you got me". I'll let you use your imaginations there.

Most of my matches these days are spur of the moment. There are very few guys that I plan anything in advance with the exception of maybe 3 guys. Everyone else is "are you around?" or "are you gonna be home later on?". Well, this happened to me last night through my Craig's List ad and heard from a guy who had read my ad and asked if he just come over. I said yes, and I knew I was taking a risk because we had not really communicated prior to my agreeing to a match, so needless to say, I was really nervous. Turned out, he was a young married guy with 2 small children at home and a graduate student. I felt instantly at ease. Turned out, seeing that he hadn't wrestled before, he was far more nervous than I was. In fact, when I offered him some water (filtered from the fridge, put in a large water bottle) he nervously asks if I laced it with anything. I had to put some of the water from his bottle into mine and take a sip to put his mind at ease. Anyway, despite his paranoia, he was a strong guy who had great reflexes and instincts, though needs to learn some actual moves. We had a great time and I very much hope to see him again.

I am approaching my 300th match since I began wrestling in July 2011. I have thoroughly enjoyed most of them, very happy to report. Though there were a few that came close to making give the sport up completely. But, in chatting with a guy I have never met nor wrestled recently, I got to thinking, does the WAY you wrestle each guy indicate if you like a certain wrestler more or less than others? I've wrestled close to 70 guys in all that time. Each opponent is different with his own style, his own personality, and his own chemistry. And each match, if the chemistry is right, sometimes just takes a course all its own.

Example, I had the privilege of wrestling two of my favorites this week, "Ron" and "Kevin". I hadn't seen Ron in a few months because of schedule conflicts, illnesses, and a very tough winter with one snowstorm after another. He's my best jobber. When I went to see him, I thought of possibly taking some pics of us. Because of the absence we had of each other, I began attacking him and just went at him for 2 hours, just beating up this jobber with long, intense holds. Didn't get a chance to do much else. Later in the week, I went to see "Kevin". He's more competitive and I was very different with him than I was with Rob. More intense, longer breaks, more conversation. Did that mean I like one more than the other? It simply meant I have different friends that I play with differently on the wrestling mats. Going through a "checklist" can really take the spontaneity and the fun out of a match. I say, let's just enjoy the matches, enjoy each others' friendships and not worry about what we do with the other guys we wrestle. Peace out!!!

After having been sick off and on for a a few weeks, AND having match after match cancelled from illness and snow, I had an unusual wrestling week. I actually wrestled 3 guys from outside my immediate area that I had never met before all in the same week.

Last Sunday, after a cancellation, I went to "open mats" at the garage of a wrestler in Providence. I was told a guy from the New York area was passing through and looking to wrestle. It was a good thing I was able to come. The guy did show up, he weighed about the same as I do and the only other guy to show up for open mats was a smaller guy who does not wrestle anyone over 200lbs. The host in Providence would have really been spreading himself thin between these guys had I not been there. The guy from New York really knew how to scrap, and was specialized in knowing how to use his weight to his advantage.

Monday I took the day off to wrestle another guy from the Albany area who was not too far away due to his work. We both went to the home of MAwrestler who graciously let us wrestle for over 2 hours. But Mawrestler and I did do some wrestling before the guy from Albany arrived. It was quite the blast. 2 plus hours of rolling around, getting sweaty, and maneuvering in and out of his grasps. Who could ask for a better time?

Then today, a guy from the Hartford area came to wrestle. Big guy, fairly inexperienced, but quite strong and has great instinct! When he is able to build up his stamina, this guy is going to be a very desirable wrestler. But the icing on the cake was that one of my semi regulars whom I have previously called "Stanley" was able to join us, so we took turns wrestling each other. It was the first time in over a year and a half I was privileged to host a group match.

Man, why can't more guys do this?