At Year's End!

My street tonight! Already waaaay too much snow!

It's been a hectic few weeks my dear readers! Between changing day-jobs and adapting to some new rhythms in my life, I've been a tad busy to be blogging much these days. It's also been very cold and snowy here in Montreal. Winter is hitting us pretty hard and earlier than usual this year. Most years the big heavy snows hit in January or early February but we're already a few feet deep this year! And it's only December! It's making for some pretty scenes near my place but it's making getting around harder. Oh well, at least it's already the solstice! But back to the point, I did want to chime in and let everyone know, yes, I'm still here and yes, still wrestling :)

Last weekend in fact, I had the chance to welcome up to my humble home a BG East blast-from-the-past: Slade Groman! Let me tell you guys, like a fine wine, this guy got way better with age! Man he muscled up like hell! A true little tank of a man! We had been chatting online for a little while and after a good exchange, we managed to meet up here in the Great White North. There was so much pent-up desire to wrestle that it took all of...10 seconds or so after we entered my place before we started locking up and slamming each other around.

I was expecting it to be a total squash given his edge with experience, muscle and such...but then I remembered I was younger and heavier! All in all, the matches we had over his stay here were all very back and forth and all very hot. Poor guy though was not used to the Canadian winters and it was very very cold the weekend he came up! It was pretty consistently around -25 Celsius the whole time! The souvenir he went home with was a pneumonia (and a few action shots too for his global profile)!

We both spoke and thought it was time for a return to the camera for Slade! We cooked up some ideas for a Slade Groman vs Ben Monaco match that we could film at BG...What say you internet readers? Good idea? What kind of match should we have? What would you love to see in that match? Let me know and I'll see if I can make it happen :)

On that note dear readers, I hope you all have a very safe, fun and happy holiday season with your family, friends and loved ones! I'll be seeing you all in the new year and I'll keep the matches and the news coming for you to share in! :)

Just in Time for Winter!

As if on cue for the winter time weather, I have a new match out under another monicker: Glacier Blue! Yes, in case you weren't able to guess it from the pics, it is indeed I, Ben Monaco, under that aqua colored mask :P

Now some of you may not know this about BG East but we don't always have our matches released in the order that we filmed them. There are sometimes long delays between filming and you guys getting to see it. This explains miraculous phenomena such as Lon Dumont growing a full, shaggy head of hair from one catalog to the next or other wrestlers intense weight and muscle mass fluctuations. This match was one of my first, filmed back in early 2012.

Filming with masks is a tricky little bit of business. First off, they don't breathe. At all. Lycra, as some of you are aware, isn't known for it's breathable qualities. Result? It gets very hot and sweaty under there! In fact, in some of the shots taken during the shoot, you can notice my sweat turning the mask from light aqua to a darker turquoise hue. Secondly, it's a bit hard to make noise or even speak in those things. Any exaggerated mouth movements tend to stretch the mask and warp it around causing it to get all crooked on your face. It's especially fun trying to deal with eye sockets getting misaligned!

Those difficulties aside, masks are a lot of fun! I know both I and "Gold Shaft" seemed to take on different attitudes with our shields of anonymity adorning our faces. Masks, in a rough sense, take away your face. They force you to communicate with your body. In wrestling, where so much is already said with your body and the way it moves and reacts to an opponent, the mask is like giving your body a megaphone to speak through! It draws your focus to the wrestler's chest, abs, arms, legs...It can get distracting...in a very good way ;)

On a funny note, while trying to figure out what gear to wear for that match, we had gone through a slew of different colored speedos and found nothing that looked good with any mask on hand. When I spotted the aqua colored one I thought "I brought a pair of underwear that's about the same color!" and that ended up being my gear! I do still think of that match every time I wear that pair of undies!

With that, I hope you guys enjoy the match and who knows! Maybe Glacier Blue will make a return match in the future ;)

Halloween Hangovers!

So after my last post talking about Halloween and my other fall adventures, Halloween actually happened for me this year after all! Rather than spend it alone and doing nothing fun or interesting, I decided to step things up a bit...Now most of you don't know about this, but other than wrestling, I do have many other hobbies and interests (shocking, I know). One of those activities is being a back-up dancer/performer in a drag bar here in Montreal. And before you ask, no, I don't actually perform in drag...though there was that one show that time...but that's another story.

On Halloween I was actually helping out a drag friend of mine by doing this crazy little featured part in her number. Essentially, I was a dead body for most of the number and ended up getting revived by a dildo-slap to the face. I know. Crazy. This though is somewhat tame next to other performances I've been in. The whole thing went off as planned and the number was a big success.

The interesting part came after the show though. Rather than go home and sleep I decided that I would stay out for a while and see where the night would take me. I needed a costume however...luckily, I happened to bring my wrestling singlet and boots with me (you know, just in case) when I left the house earlier in the evening. Of course, I couldn't resist so I strapped it on and hopped from the drag bar to another club that was having a big Halloween party nearby.

Apparently, wearing a singlet gets a lot of people's fantasy motors running! A bunch of guys came up to me during the night...Some would rub the singlet, some would pull the straps, others would point their toy guns at my bulge and pretend to shoot (there were an alarming amount of cowboys in the club) and a few would just shyly tell me that they loved my costume. I was even entitled to a morning-after A++ for my costume on Grindr! All this to say that I finally got off my ass and did something about Halloween this year!

Since Halloween I've had a very busy little life though, many things happening at once so I do apologize for being sparse with my blogging this month! I did notice though that the blog is hitting new highs as my view total since it's launch has just passed the 15 000 mark and is well on it's way to 16 000. In fact, last month I got over 3000 views! I'm a bit touched that you're all reading up on me and am inspired to keep writing because of it :)

When in Natick...

As Halloween is upon us this week, I want to wish you all lots of fun times and great parties! I usually end up, believe it or not, never really doing anything spectacular. I always want to come up with some crazy costume and have a killer time at some fabulous party. What always ends up happening though is that I end up aiding other people in the preparations for their festivities and end up doing nothing at all. *Sigh* Oh well, there are worse things in life :P

Though Halloween is usually a bust, it doesn't mean that I don`t end up having a great time in the fall! Far from it, the fall tends to be a season where I have more things going on than I can handle at one time. This year though, I did take time to reconnect albeit briefly with some buddies of mine who live down in Natick, Massachusetts. They welcomed me down to their place for a few days, just a brief little visit. I had lots of fun with them as they are always super nice and very friendly whenever we get to spend time together...

The Shaggy Monster himself, Morgan Cruise :P

Did I mention these friends are none other than Morgan Cruise and Damien Rush?

Indeed, these muscle beasts are fine hosts and super nice guys in and out of the ring (well, except for those times they decide to get you in a nasty hold). As an added bonus, I got to meet and hang with their gang of roommates/co-workers from MDW: Tony Law/Pennington, Bryce Barrigan and Muscle Master Kevin.

Between rumbles, meals, drinks and giving Morgan a much-needed haircut, we did manage to gallivant around the lovely little town of Natick. At one point, we ended up going to a store which I do not have here in Montreal (unfortunately) called Party City! The boys threw on some random things and, little shutterbug that I am in these scenarios, I managed to snap some pics that I thought I'd share with you, my dear readers, for this Halloween!

Here, some little monster latched onto the head of the brutal Mr. Cruise! Given what it`s got under it, no wonder that monster is grinning ear-to-ear :P

Batman-wannabe Damien is looking for a good Bane to toss him around. Any takers for demolishing this hunk?

 

Of course, never wanting to seem like too much of a wimp in front of the cameras, Damien decided to throw on some viking garb to show that he can also be a mighty warrior! I mean, look at that bicep! Yummy! :)

Continuing his manly displays, Damien shows what to do when you're attacked by the living dead, corpses or other such creatures...The answer being the full nelson of course!

Morgan's freshly shaved head fits nicely into his very own pharaoh outfit. Don`t think that pharaohs used to be this buff or cocky but you won't hear me complaining!

Finally, I had to sneak in one pick of myself! Here I take a sneak-selfie with Mr. Rush in his room while I sport a very cool Cesar crown! Seriously! Loved that thing! Solid metal! Makes one feel quite regal!

On that final note, who needs Halloween when you got friends like these! Hope my pics inspire you guys to find cool and creative costumes for your outings if you haven`t already got one in mind! Which one of these pics inspires you most? :P

Visitors of the Late Summer

As mentioned in earlier posts, it was a very busy summer for me this year. Not so much working at my day job but in the wrestling and visiting departments it was almost non-stop. During the month of August, I received two very special visitors at my place. One of them is a BG East veteran and the other is a BG rookie! I'm talking about Brendan Byers and my friend from the west coast Sean.

Big studly Sean!

Sean was the first one in town. He came around mid-August which actually timed out to be Montreal's Gay Pride (there are actually 2 Gay Prides in Montreal, one at the end of July and the other in the second week of August). Sean is a very special friend of mine that I made earlier this year in San Francisco. He's actually from Sacramento but he originally came to San Francisco to meet me while I was visiting there.

When I met him, Sean was a closeted wrestler in many ways. He hid his passion for wrestling from most in his surroundings and claimed to be straight/bi-at-the-very-least. One of my favorite statements he originally made about his sexual desires was that he liked "muscular women". Yeah. Right. Sean even had a girlfriend who was having a "girl's weekend" while Sean came into San Fran to hang out and wrestle with me for 3 days of my week in the city.

After many long conversations that filled in our gaps between touring and wrestling, Sean managed to have a personal epiphany. After lunch on our final day together, his girlfriend called him and he did his coming out live in front of me! This big 6'2", 215lbs muscle stud melted into a puddle of tears in my hotel room and we hugged and celebrated the beginning of his new life as a gay man. Since then, he and I have been texting virtually every day.

Super Muscled Brendan Byers!

All this to say, this big muscle man was my first visitor here in Montreal during the summer season. I showed him a good time (I hope) as he toured this great city. He met a bunch of my friends including Alain LeClair during the Sunday evening T-Dance. While he visited me, we even managed to make a quick trip down to BG East and filmed his first ever match! Seeing his pic here, my dear readers, what do you think? Looking forward to our battle? ;)

My second visitor was a long time coming as well. Brendan Byers is certainly not the little twinky looking jobber he appeared to be on BG East. No sir! This guy has bulked up big time! Gone are the days where he would take abuse and beatings in the ring! Now he's a 215lbs heel who loves to piledrive and tombstone his opponents repeatedly before he squeezes them in his thick thighs. He also give the most solid torture rack you'll ever be put in.

Brendan beating Sebastian

Though a big nasty heel, he's also a big cuddly sweetheart with a big sexy brain. He's smart, talented and a lot of fun to hit the dance-floor with. I reciprocated his Labor Day visit with my own tour of his home in Orlando in late September. One thing he taught me quite easily is that the boys down in Florida sure do know how to hold their liquor! Ugh! I think my liver got as much of a pounding as the rest of me did! We even got our little buddy Sebastian Rios to show up for a 3-way match in Orlando! To tell you how strong Brendan has become, he managed to stand up with both me and Sebastian scissoring him and shake us both off! Crazy strong! If you think you can take this guy down, get ready to have your ego knocked down a few pegs as this BG jobber whoops the mats with your sorry ass :P

Needless to say, these guys are great fun to wrestle and hang out with! If you're on the west coast, hit up my buddy Sean and if you're in Florida, try and get some mat or ring-time with Brendan and/or Sebastian Rios. All these guys are a lot of fun and are more than welcome to come back and see me again up north ;)

Sean gets a lucky victory flex :P

BG Effect

Now that the Top 10 has been revealed, it's time to talk about other things in the life of Monaco. Like I said before, there are many things that have happened in the past months that bear mentioning. Let me start however with a little parenthesis on my life dear readers...Looking back on my past posts about my beginnings at BG, I noticed that I never really addressed exactly how wrestling for them has changed my life. So how exactly has it changed my life? Let me tell you...

Something I immediately noticed when my first match came out is that being a BG East wrestler certainly has an effect on your popularity in the underground gay wrestling scene. People sometimes view you with an aura of wonder. I once welcomed a guy to my place to wrestle in private and it took him about 30 minutes to calm down and get down to the wrestling. It befuddled me a bit, but then I recalled how I reacted when I first met my first BG East colleagues.

Matches I'd have with friends and strangers usually now included a routine what-is-it-like question and answer period. People are always curious to know what it's like to be one of the guys. How do matches get filmed? What happens off camera? Who's my favorite wrestler? What matches are coming out soon? Do you think they'll put you against (insert wrestler name here)? Usually this period was followed by a "Man, I wish I could wrestle for them too"

A lot of guys I know tell me they wish they could wrestle for BG, but for personal, family or work-related reasons, they can't. That's why I started this blog. To be the voice for those who wish they were there in my place. In the end, I'm a sort of Cinderella story: the fan-turned-pro who gets to live out his fantasies on film.

There was a moment when I was down in Florida for my first shoot where I ended up going for a late dinner with a veteran from BG, Scott Williams. Scott very touchingly said at one point during the dinner "I'm so happy you're part of the family now!" which seemed a very odd thing to hear. "What family?" I replied a tad confused. "The BG East family, you're one of us now." One of us now. Awesome.

The Top Ten: #1

Finally, after many months of anticipation and suspense, the time has come to finally reveal the NUMBER 1 guy from BG East that I'd definitely love to wrestle above all others if given the chance! Though defining the list overall was an arduous process, the number 1 guy in my mind was never really in question. As one astute reader managed to point out when he guessed the answer to my riddles about my number one, I did mention his identity in an interview some time back. And trust me, I swear this all somehow just timed out perfectly with his resurgence in the most recent catalog! I'm talking about my numéro 1, the one and only, BRAD ROCHELLE!

Now, why him? There are many things to consider in why he is the ultimate one for me. First off, he's cute as a button. That smile, I'm sure, can light up a room. Second, that body! I mean over the many, many years he's been at BG, he's kept a stellar physique. Sure it has varied from time to time, sometimes leaner, sometimes more muscled, but he has consistently been in great shape. The third and main reason I chose him however as my overall number 1 is simply his skill as a performer.

Brad is amazing as a jobber or a heel. He can do ring or mats and make it look effortless in any setting. Against good opponents, he makes the match sizzle. Even against the greener or less-experienced ones, he manages to shine as you clearly see him helping out his fellow wrestlers to be better within the match. To me, he is the wrestler that all of the guys at BG should aspire to be and should consider themselves lucky to encounter if and when they do! 

My sincerest hopes is that one day, one day I might be so lucky to just encounter him and pass on my appreciation for his work. Even if I never get to wrestle him, I'd want him to know that he is my idol from BG East. He is a great inspiration to me and I try hard to incorporate his style into my own when I can. When other wrestlers

ask me who they should study from BG to learn moves, ways of wrestling, I always mention him first.

That being said, if I do get to wrestle him one day, I think I'll just explode. I could die of a heart attack two minutes later and be fine with that (so long as I get a quick blog note to let you guys know it actually happened and post and obituary for myself or something to that effect).

So that wraps it up for the Top Ten! Finally the list is complete and it's all out in the open! Yay!

What's next for the blog then? Well, don't you worry dear readers, there is plenty more to come! To write up my Top Ten I sacrificed telling you all about my adventures this past summer and fall. I wanted to be sure not to clutter my blog with different threads from different topics. But now, rest assured, there is much to discuss! Stay tuned because I have a slew of topics to talk about and trust me, all of them are juicy ;)

The Top Ten: Honorable Mentions

As the Top Ten nears its final reveal of my number 1, I've decided to post an entry that I call my "Honorable Mentions". Now, what does that mean exactly? Trust me, when you're trying to decide your top 10 from BG East and realize that there are over 580 wrestlers to pick from (yes, go and count the profiles on the site, you'll see there are at least that many) you have a hard time narrowing it down to a top 10. I thought of doing a top 20 or 50...but yeah, that's just a tad too much. Nevertheless, I decided to give you, my dear readers, a look at those that nearly made the cut. Those guys that could easily jump right in and take the place of one of my men on the list any day now. They're just one hot match, one extra moment shy from doing so...In no particular order, here they are:

Vinny Trevino

Eddy Rey

 

Jaxx O'Doul

Damien Rush

Tyrell Tomsen

Troy & Brian Baker

Kurt Eriksen

Wade Cutler

Austin Cooper

Zack Coleman

Kid Brock

What do you think readers? Did I make any big omissions? Should any of these guys have made it into the Top Ten and if so, why? For me, like I said, they're all a breath away from knocking out someone in my existing list. These were tough guys to cut from the list, but necessary to keep it at a nice round 10.

Coming up next time, I FINALLY reveal the top of the top, my true number 1! Hopefully I've given you enough clues in the past entries for you to figure it out! And trust me, after all of this Top Ten business is over, I've got so much stuff to catch you guys up on! Stay Tuned, keep reading Monaco Off the Mats and leave me comments and e-mails! Love hearing from you guys! :)

The Top Ten: #2

We're finally at number 2! The guy who almost, but didn't quite get the title of my most desired wrestling hunk from the BG East roster. This stud, however, has all it takes to make your mouth water and get you weak at the knees! His muscles are pumped, he's ripped to shreds and has one of the most inflated cocky egos in the ring and on the mats! And with reason too! He's certainly one of the most cocky wrestlers in the roster! When you hear the name, you'll agree I'm sure. Coming in at number 2 is the man who demands to be called Mr. Joshua Goodman!

Even when he's not trying to, his face exudes this arrogant, look-at-me-I'm-so-hot kind of vibe. In other guys, such self-confidence would seem excessive or misplaced. However in his case, Joshua can back up the attitude with a gorgeous, mouth-watering body and skills to match. As a heel, he constantly berates his opponents and primps and poses over his victims. I think we've all seen him "re-adjusting himself" many times in each and every one of his matches. As a jobber, he's constantly talking back to his tormentor, refusing to concede defeat with clever quips. His matches remain some of the most entertaining and captivating ones that BG East has ever produced simply because of the charisma that he exudes.

One of my favorite matches of his has to be his battle with the Rick the Prick on Ringwars 12. Both fighters are so cocky and so confident about their prowess in the ring that the match sizzles in every moment. Joshua getting smacked around, tossing the smaller Rick around. The opening strip/pose-down alone is a real feast for the eyes as Joshua shows every last ripple on his body off for the viewers to see.

To look at his list of matches on the BG East website as well, you'll see that he's faced off with the who's-who of homoerotic wrestling. The variety of styles and opponents, the number of settings, there's a little bit of everything for everyone in his list of matches. For a guy who made his first appearance in catalog 38, he's managed to keep us all hot and bothered for many, many years past and hopefully many more years to come!

Coming up next time on the countdown, I'll take a break from the formal list for one entry to give you a peak at what I call my "honorable mentions". All those delicious slabs of beef that didn't quite make it into my top 10, but who still deserve acknowledgement for being as sexy as they are. And I'm telling you, there is some sexy in that bunch.

**Spoiler Alert! Rather than give you new clues about my number 1, I figured I'd remind you about what you already know so far as well as update some of the other facts. First off, my #1 has faced off with 4 guys on my top ten (updated from the mentioned 2 since the list has grown); he's wrestled in singles, tag-team and 3 way matches; his most common colored speedos are yellow or white; he and I share 3 common vowels in our full names: A, E and O. Keep on guessing guys!

The Top Ten: #3

We're down to the top 3 in this countdown of the hunks I'd love to wrestle most! So far We've seen Kieran Dunne, Z-Man, Cameron Matthews, Morgan Cruise, Alexi Adamov, J-Rock and Gil Barrios grace the countdown with their presence. Today we enter the top 3 with a hunk who spent the most part of his earlier matches at BG East getting the crap beat outta him, but who recently is starting to kick some asses of his own. He's gone from total beefy jobber to solid heel in a few short matches that show off his wrestling prowess. He's a meaty pack of sexy goodness, who's body always leaves me drooling. I'm talking about the stud of studs, the super sexy and sexual Braden Charron!

This gorgeous man certainly grabbed my attention with those pumped pecs and sculpted abs when I first saw him. He's just ripped to shreds! He's not sculpted like a lot of the smaller guys you see everywhere online. You know those guys with gorgeous six pack abs that only have six pack abs because they starve themselves? Look at the rest of their bodies and you see flat chests, skinny arms and legs, etc. But in Braden's case, that's certainly not the case! His bodybuilder physique is reminiscent of those Greek statues from antiquity.

The last time I was down at BG East's HQ, I had spent a long weekend there filming some matches and having fun with a bunch of the boys down there. Upon my return home, I found out that the day AFTER I left, Braden made an appearance down at the house! I was so pissed that I missed a chance to met him and possibly even wrestle him! So aggravating! I keep telling myself it's because it's meant for another time...

My all-time favorite match of his is the encounter he had in Fantasymen 30 against the one-time drop in Bart Barron. He takes a beating, dishes out punishment and comes out looking amazing every way, every angle, every scene! My favorite part is where Bart takes some shots at those abs of his after he submits only to have Braden flex them hard and contemptuously snarl "That's it? That's all you have? You are pathetic!" without even flinching once.

 

Needless to say, in my fantasies, Braden and I have fought it out on the mats and in the ring many, many, many, many, many, many, many times! Hopefully one day I'll get to live out that fantasy like the others I have so far in my BG East adventures!

Up next on the countdown we enter the final 2! The runner-up in my list of sexy men from BG East that I'd throw down with! Not just a mouthy stud, he could easily fill your mouth with...many things...should you ever dare to talk back! Stay tuned little readers!

** Spoiler Alert! Ok, this is a really, really hard one. Both I and my number one have 3 different vowels in our full name: A, E and O. Only the most astute BG East fans will be able to piece it together by this point! Keep on reading!**