osakarob's blog

The number of past opponents in a person's profile can be a pretty good indicator of wrestling skill. A profile with a dozen or more past opponents would suggest an individual is pretty skilled athletically, wouldn't you agree?

Yet, the meaning of a small number of opponents might be less clear. The individual could be new to the sport, or they could live in an area with few opportunities. Perhaps they don't travel much. Maybe they are looking for a particular "type" of match.

Perhaps their matches tend towards erotic play instead of sport and thus they have had fewer partners. Or, quite simply, maybe they've had a small number of partners because the hobby itself ranks low on their priorities list in life.

That's all pretty easy to understand.

But what are we to make of a profile that says:

"O past opponents in.......two years"

Should I assume that guys who haven't had an opponent in that long really aren't looking for a match?
Are they engaging vicariously in wrestling through others? Is it all cyber? Did they join with an interest but maybe lost that interest after reviewing the site?

I'll certainly admit that I'm one of those participants who is more than satisfied by 2-3 good matches a year. That's about all I need and it's probably all that I'm willing to invest in. I was really active when I was younger and wrestling plays less importance now, but I still come onto the site to check things out.

But I am curious what the motivation is for those who have "0 opponents in......"

No malice or judgement is intended by asking this question. Just curious.

I have a secret to admit to you.
I can't take my eyes off of your junk.

With every profile photo that you post, it's the first thing I look at.
I gaze at it. I fantasize.

Looking at it makes me wonder what kind of a man you are and what kind of a match we might have.

That's right....I'm talking about all that junk behind you in your profile photos. Ha ha ha....

Take a cursory glance through member profile photos or galleries and you are certain to find some very interesting objects in the backgrounds! I get it...most of us aren't expert photographers. And maybe when the moment strikes to snap a selfie of us flexing, we are concentrating more on sucking in that gut than tidying up the crap in the background. But it's amazing what we forget to remove.

Pill bottles.
Dirty sponges.
Curious wall hangings.
Piles of dirty laundry thrown next to the bed (?!).
Lamps without lampshades.
Antiquated audio equipment.
Movie memorabilia on the walls.
Is that a medieval ax?
Your wife's tchotchke collection - glass bells, figurines, etc.
Your dog walking into the frame.
All manner of hair gels and product.
"Wait. Do you use beach towels everyday in the bathroom or was this photo taken at your beach house?"
Industrial grade metal file cabinets. (In the living room?!)
Photos of your kids.
Makeshift hangers with clothes dangling. (Perhaps because of lack of closet space?)
A bag of Doritos.
"Folk art".

And let's not even discuss the rat-packed antiquities piling up next to the makeshift fighting spaces in the basements of our homes. Good lord, you would think that half of the members here were boxed up and ready to move house next week!

Obviously, this is a tongue in cheek blog post. I mean no disrespect to anyone's galleries. I'll be the last person to cast stones because the rooms in my house either look like A) I just moved in and haven't unpacked or B) Fratboys live here.

But I am curious.....what have you seen in a profile photo that made you think "Um, no thanks. I'll pass."

I live in a city, Las Vegas, which has over 150,000 hotel rooms. In theory, this should make it very easy for wrestling meet-ups.

But strangely, for my last two matches with a local wrestling friend, I found myself specifically reserving the "accessible" room of a budget style chain hotel. (Neither one of us is equipped to host at our homes...)

The accessible room, designed for guests with disabilities, offered a bit more space at the otherwise standard rate, but I felt guilty reserving it. To be frank, I only reserved it because the extra space provided us with a bit more room to open up a tarp for an oil match.

Just curious whether you think that is ethically poor judgement?

There's such an interesting diversity of nicknames on this site. And the meaning behind many of them is probably self-evident - especially the names that reference preferred holds, match styles, or geographic location.

But, I'm always curious about unique narratives. And there's no doubt a few of them here.

So, I'll pose the question: "How or why did you choose your particular Meetfigthers nickname?"

"Which do you prefer: Meeting up in a hotel for a match, or going to a wrestler's home?"

A number of years ago, I lived in Japan - a country notorious for cramped living quarters and crowded urban cities. But it was also the place where I was first able to connect with other wrestlers.

Naturally, finding suitable places to grapple in privacy was no easy task.

I was fortunate to meet Cobra, the nom de guerre of the owner of Japan's most famous (gay) wrestling video site, WrestleFactory. In those early days, before his video company grew to the success that it is today, he used an extra room in his house outfitted with jigsaw mats. My first matches were there and, looking back, I was really fortunate to have met someone kind, welcoming and accommodating to share their private space at home. Later, Cobra invested in a full-sized ring housed in a garage, but I only wrestled there a couple of times because it was more suited for his video production needs.

During subsequent years in Japan, I took advantage of meet-ups in "love hotels", Japan's version of short-stay hotels used for intimate rendezvous, high-school mat rooms, regular hotels, and the well known rentable ring space in Shibuya. But my most enjoyable match-ups were in the small tatami-style living room of my apartment that I outfitted with mats. The enjoyment of welcoming several wrestlers over at a time for an afternoon of different opponents is probably something I'll never replicate again. It was just one of those "right times in life" when everything came together: Japan is an incredibly safe country and as a single guy at the time it was easy to even welcome strangers into my home after setting up a wrestling date online. (Like the ancient image from the archives included in this post) What a huge evolution it is now to have a sight like MeetFighters with verifiable members and dossiers of confirmed opponents!

I repatriated myself back to the USA some years ago and eventually settled down. These days, I've been more selective about matches, opponents, and venues. My wrestling preferences have also changed over the years and now after a couple of submission style tries, I prefer to end with oil matches on a tarp. Naturally, hotels are easier for that than hosting at my home. But as with everything in life....there are tradeoffs: cost and availability being the most significant. But also, safety and comfort - establishing enough trust and "relational capital" with a prospective opponent to meet at a hotel feels different than it did back when I was younger. Maybe older and wiser just means more cautious.

All of these thoughts got me to thinking:

"Given that everyone has individual circumstances, generally speaking which do you prefer - meeting up in a hotel for a match or going to a wrestler's home?"

I'd be quite interested to hear why members of this site have the preferences that they do!