LRW Wrestling's "Triple F" vs. Kyle O'Connor: Rope-A-Dope

     Triple F deserved to win this fight.

     The top photo was taken seconds after the bell rang, signifying that the match had reached its fifteen minute time limit. Kyle isn't injured; he's merely exhausted.

     The video below the photo features Muhammad Ali after utilizing his "rope-a-dope" strategy to defeat the physically more powerful George Foreman and regain his heavyweight championship title. There's a clear parallel between the two matches, but first let me impart some boxing history to you young whippersnappers.
     When Old Freddie was a mere youth (a towheaded lad in high school, actually), Ali attempted to make a comeback after being stripped of the heavyweight title for refusing to serve in the military during the Vietnam War. The current champion was George Foreman, a devastating puncher who was sort of like my generation's Mike Tyson.
     The fight took place in Kinshasa, Zaire and was billed as The Rumble in the Jungle. Ali was basically a finesse boxer who relied upon speed and superior boxing instincts to bob and weave and avoid punches. The common wisdom was that, if Ali had any chance of victory, he would spend the entire fight dancing, slipping punches, and dazzling George with his fancy footwork. Foreman was expected to try to "cut the ring in half" and trap Ali in a corner. Everyone pretty much agreed that if Foreman had Ali in the ropes, the fight would be over in a few seconds.
     Even Ali contributed to this scenario, asking his fans if they were ready for "the Big Dance" during pre-fight  interviews. Then, to everyone's shock and amazement, Ali began the fight standing flat-footed in the ropes, daring George to hit him. Of course, Foreman went crazy, throwing punch after punch, pummeling Ali as hard as he could, as Ali leaned back in the ropes and taunted him.
     This went on for seven rounds. By round eight, the stronger, more muscular Foreman was so arm-weary that he could barely swing his fists. At that point Ali, with his superior cardiovascular conditioning, danced away from the ropes, threw a few powerful jabs, and sent a thoroughly fatigued Foreman plummeting toward the canvas. Against all odds, Ali regained his title and Foreman began selling grills.

     Of course, years later, some ethical questions arose concerning the fact that Ali's ring crew loosened the ropes before the fight, allowing Ali to lean back, far away from George's powerful punches, but the issue is relatively moot. Ali was always a Machiavellian character, loved by many and despised by many, who believed that the ends justify the means. Ali had George pretty much psyched out before the match anyway, hiring a witch doctor to sprinkle "hoobie dust" in the ring to rob Foreman of his power (when asked how to spell "hoobie" during a post-fight interview, an exasperated Foreman exclaimed, "How can you spell it when you can't even see it?").
     That brings us to the Triple F vs. Kyle O'Connor fight for the first-ever LRW Wrestling Super-Star Championship. Truthfully, I didn't believe that Triple F, the lean, wiry, boastful kid from Fairfield County, had much of a chance. Kyle O'Connor is your stereotypical jock, a former varsity lacrosse captain, high school soccer star, and surfing instructor in Southern California.

     Kyle has a muscular physique of which he is justly proud. By contrast, Triple F has what would commonly be called a swimmer's build. As you can see by the stats posted at our newly created "LRW Wrestling: Locker Room" page, Kyle is 5'10" and weighs a solid 176 lbs. while Triple F stands 6'0" but weighs a mere 142 lbs.

     When I wrote the rules for the LRW Wrestling federation, my goal was to create fast-paced matches (and marketable videos). For this reason, I imposed a 15-minute time limit and allowed matches to be won via a point system similar to that which exists in high school wrestling. In the absence of a referee, a wrestler would have to make the call himself when he was forced out of bounds, and his opponent would have to break the hold and back off within five seconds or lose the match. Furthermore, in order to eliminate long, boring, ineffectively executed submission holds, I awarded points whenever such a hold was executed. A wrestler could pile up points by trapping his opponent in multiple, rapidly released, submission maneuvers.

     Unwittingly, I created rules tailor-made for a Triple F victory.

     The first half of the match is fairly even, with Triple F dictating a fast pace and Kyle attempting to match his slender opponent's speed and stamina.

     Time and time again, Triple F manages to apply pro wrestling submission maneuvers, letting go of Kyle quickly, and then continuing his attack. The strategy (whether planned or instinctive) was wise for two reasons: a contest of endurance favored Triple F, and Kyle wasn't about to say "I quit" while in the clutches of any painful hold (that was obvious to me when I was going through some routines with Kyle before the taping began).

     Kyle's fatal error in this encounter was wrestling in accordance with Triple F's style. Whenever Kyle trapped Triple F in a painful hold, he failed to go for a submission. On more than one occasion, Triple F seemed to be in desperate straits, then displayed huge relief when the hold was broken.

     As a matter of fact, during one such episode near the end of the match, Triple F is in so much pain that he reaches for his frat paddle while locked in a modified Boston crab. Kyle prevents the deliberate disqualification by dragging Triple F to the center of the mat. Then, inexplicably, Kyle releases Triple F. By then, Triple F had accrued an insurmountable lead in points via multiple takedowns, escapes, near falls, and reversals. There was no way that Kyle could have won on points that far into the match, and his only hope would have been to torture Triple F into quitting. However Kyle, a consummate gentleman, seemed to lack a "killer instinct."

Triple F feeling immense lower back pain while being bent in half

     That was the about the only offense that Kyle was able to muster during the match's latter stages. Early on, Kyle began breathing heavily while Triple F seemed fresh and full of energy. By the time the match had reached its time limit, Kyle was really huffing and puffing while Triple F seemed ready to run a marathon.

     When the bell rang, Triple F didn't even wait for me to officially announce a winner. Triple F just strutted across the living room and claimed his championship belt. The match had been so lopsided that Kyle didn't utter a word of protest.
     Triple F pulled off a stunning upset victory and he almost earned my respect (and Kyle's, too, for that matter). However, in the proverbial manner of "snatching defeat from the jaws of victory," Triple F then chose to conduct himself in a thoroughly boorish manner. Grabbing the frat paddle (which Triple F had assured me was only a theatrical prop) he struck Kyle with a few light (almost timid) but humiliating blows as Kyle tried to collect himself following the unexpected loss.

     LRW rules clearly state: "Any action which deliberately embarrasses or humiliates an opponent will be considered unsportsmanlike conduct and will be grounds for disqualification at the referee's discretion." However, the rules also stipulate, "A wrestler's prematch and postmatch conduct will certainly be considered when determining future bookings, but such conduct will have no bearing on the outcome of the match." Triple F's actions were disgusting (Kyle later typified the incident as "childish"), but the champ adroitly waited until after the bell rang to figuratively rub salt in Kyle's wounds. Therefore, the decision couldn't be reversed and Triple F now represents my federation.
     It's rather ironic that I formed LRW, in large part, as a reaction to UCW's anarchic "no rules" approach to wrestling and the championship reigns of notorious "heels" like Eli Black and Quinn Harper. Of course, Triple F would be considered a saint by UCW standards (even UCW's "faces" behave more like "heels" than anyone I would ever allow into LRW); the Fratboy is a "heel," but he's a classy "heel." Still, Kyle would have been a dream-come-true as my first LRW champion and Triple F was unbearably bratty during his post-match interview (during which I dutifully presented him with the title belt).

     As for Kyle, he initially seemed somewhat distraught when I talked to him, but began to brighten as I assured him that he still represented an ideal champion in my eyes, regardless of who is wearing the belt. Kyle had kind words for the state of Connecticut (which he was visiting for the first time) and promised me that he'd continue to compete in LRW.

     On a side note, I would like to point out that the more I learn about Kyle, the more impressed I am. Only one city or town had two schools listed in Business Insider's "24 Smartest Boarding Schools in America," and that was Ojai, California -- Kyle's hometown (and yes,one of those schools was Kyle's alma mater). Oh, it breaks my heart that Kyle isn't my champion.
     In typical fashion, it was Kyle who took initiative to resolve his differences with Triple F after the taping. The two young men had a long and generally cordial conversation and both agreed to pose for a series of still photos (which were included in the DVD recently auctioned on eBay). If you want photographic proof of just how much of a "class act" Kyle O'Connor is, simply take a glance at this:

     At any rate, as I said in the last blog entry...
     "This piece of underground wrestling history is now available for download as a standard definition, 1920 x 1080, 1.41 GB video in the popular .mp4 format. The video is 19 minutes, 10 seconds, featuring 15 minutes of wrestling (including ring introductions, in accordance with the LRW rules) plus post-match interviews with both wrestlers, including the awarding of the LRW Wrestling Super-Star Championship belt!!!
     All this for only $9.95, people -- so click on this BUY NOW button and download this amazing match between two awesomely photogenic wrestlers now!!!

Enjoy the match, people!!!