Shirtless Saturday: Phil Hickerson As PY Chu Hi

Here’s an old-school Shirtless Saturday post.   Phil Hickerson is a wrestler I discovered a few years ago thanks to the classic pro-wrestling matches shown on ESPN.  I missed out on his younger and furrier persona, so I just knew him as his villainous Japanese counterpart, PY Chu Hi.

Here is a collage I made of him.  My gosh.  I am so not missing analog TV…

He’s definitely sporting that chubby daddy look.  Since I wasn’t aware about his previous work, I was completely surprised at how agile he was for his age.  He also got beat up in the worst way possible.  He’s continually enduring gut punches and groin kicks, and despite my fetish, I actually feel bad seeing such a handsome daddy bear get punished that way.  😦  (Though I will probably one day post a compilation of his beatdowns, lol.)  As perfect timing would have it, here is a recent upload of a PY Chu Hi match where he got some pretty good beatings.  You can see how well he sells the “stunned look” after every hit on him.  As a bonus, there are 2 bonus big bears in it: Eric Embry and Gary Young.

Here’s a video of him talking about how he’s getting no respect.  He’s completely selling his act flawlessly.  It’s just so natural and ironically full of honest emotions.

Here are a few of his previous wrestling personas.  Even with the small photos, you can tell that his forehead wasn’t damaged yet from his later use of “blading” it.  I’m still amazed how these wrestlers would go to great lengths to sell their performance — even if it means spilling their blood for others’ entertainment.  But who am I to judge?  What’s the difference with my enjoyment of seeing PY Chu Hi get punched on the gut or seeing his forehead bleed?  I guess it’s just that gray area when it comes to live performances…