Matt Larsen vs Subwrestler2: NHB Grudge Match - WatchFighters

He's done it again.

I gushed about the last Matt Larsen match I reviewed. He's continued to post regular matches since then, a mix of competitive grappling (sometimes with oil!) and erotic stakes. However there are no erotic stakes here, just two serious opponents, no-nonsense wrestling, and the iconic Doom Maidens mat room—three perfect ingredients.

Subwrestler2 is a new name to me. He's only appeared in a small number of other people's videos on WatchFighters, so the man isn't focused on making content. Instead what I see is a man with years of experience bending people to his will using the art of wrestling. This match has been 10 years in the making according to the match description. It's clear these two can't wait to get their hands on each other.

Tentative beginnings

The nearly hour-long video begins with silent stretching. Only the occasional breath or light crumpling of the mat under shifting weight. Not a single word is uttered. It's five and a half minutes of calm before the fun begins. After a small amount of worship Larsen and Subwrestler get to their knees, ready to begin.

Subwrestler strikes first, trapping Larsen in a long headlock. This first hold tells you all you need to know about the nature of this match: it's slow, close quarters, and methodical. If you're looking for some crazy rough-and-tumble bout, this isn't for you. I can tell the opening exchanges are them testing the waters, but they both quickly find a level of roughness and energy they're comfortable with. Body blows and strangles are introduced, and Subwrestler actually bleeds early on, though that isn't even an inconvenience.

Cornered but in control

I recommend watching this match under low light, probably during a quiet evening. It's the best way to view in my opinion. That way you can focus on the sounds of the skin contact, squeaking mat, and heavy breaths. Each gets more pronounced as the match ticks on.

The second fall continues as the first started—Subwrestler with a quick headlock, followed by these two basically glued together, struggling for control. Their skin is noticeably shinier thanks to the increasing amount of sweat, especially on their faces and arms. Lots of time is spent jamming forearms into necks.

Halfway into the video, still in the second fall is one of my favorite parts because the sweat coming off these two becomes a prominent feature. It's when the slapping of skin-on-skin turns into squelching. They even stop rolling across the mat, they slide. The second fall concludes with an Ezekiel choke followed by the victor dripping sweat onto the loser. Avid readers will know I love this.

Locked tight

There's no animosity between Larsen and Subwrestler, which is great. But that doesn't detract from the feeling of desperation in some of the intense scrambles they find themselves in. Each choke and clinch is hard. They're not pulling their punches, even 30 minutes in. As the match name suggests, this does feel like a grudge match.

Subwrestler locks Larsen in another headlock to start the third fall, and you can tell its taking extra effort to keep it held amidst the sweat, which literally flies off them both in the ensuing grapple. The cameraperson does a great job of capturing the action with occasional glimpses of the mat, covered in pools of sweat (I'll try to stop saying sweat, I promise).

If I am to be smothered, can it be like this?

As the exhaustion sets in the match's erotic subtext becomes more evident, as does the winner. Static body-to-body clinches make way for light frottage. The falls come quicker too, a couple in quick succession. Some friendly competitive banter is exchanged, but they can hardly form a full sentence without panting.

The match ends with a bit of a victory parade/punishment round. The loser's waning resistance isn't enough to fend off the onslaught of holds the winner wants to try, giving us some more chokes and a few headscissors to boot. 

Larsen and Subwrestler are well-matched in this bout, which I highly recommend to any fan of sweat-soaked, hard fought mat battles. Matt actually has a few "to exhaustion" matches on his WatchFighters channel like this one. If this one is anything to go by then I need to check out the others.

"NHB Grudge Match: Matt vs Subwrestler2" has a runtime of 53:38 and can be viewed here.