brendan halpin

Art really is a balm for the soul in dark times. (I’m not going to try to convince you that pro wrestling is an art form, though it definitely is, because I don’t need to justify my love for it by trying to elevate it.) And so I went once again to the Sons of Italy hall in Watertown, MA, for a Chaotic Wrestling show on Friday night.

I’ll tell you what I love about this (apart from the violence, of course). It really does foster a sense of community. The vibes in the crowd were warm and welcoming as always, and the crowd is a bigger part of the action in pro wrestling than almost any other art form. So people start chants, call out taunts to the heels, and become an essential part of the show. So much so that when Spike Nishimura’s match against Trigga The OG started, it felt weird because it was nearly silent because both wrestlers are popular and so no one was jeering at the participants. (It did heat up later as the action got pretty spectacular and Spike and Trigga teamed up to beat the stuffing out of …um, the guy who ran into the ring who was Spike’s ex-boss and possibly boyfriend? And then Trigga took advantage of the chaos to pin Spike when she wasn’t paying attention.)

(After this match my friend Greg said, “They ought to hire these writers to do the next Star Wars movie because they actually understand how to build drama!”)

Chaotic really has a great roster of heels right now, from former babyface Brad Cashew to sneering prettyboy Ricky Smokes, and when the heels are hateable, the faces are even more likeable. I was happy to see Aaron “Evil Gay” Rourke (a face, despite the nickname) team up with Armani Kaos, though they did lose their tag team match. The partnership between Paris Van Dale and Dante Drago is actually getting very sweet over time as Paris continues to warm to Dante whom she originally disdained and only reluctantly teamed up with. (Though this face turn on Paris’s part means she doesn’t get to do her fantastic egotistical influencer heel gimmick, but I guess we all have to make sacrifices for the greater good.)

The Ricky Smokes vs. Seabass Finn main event was epic, if perhaps five minutes too long, and Tyree Taylor announced that he’s got next, and the idea of the tough, charismatic Taylor beating the stuffing out of Smokes really makes me happy.

Ladies and gentlemen, I enjoyed three hours of top-notch entertainment for twenty dollars. Once again the best theatrical bargain in Greater Boston, and, more importantly, it brought joy to a couple hundred people during a pretty dark time.