Aftermath
There was no applause or cheering when the torture of Dick Hodges was finally ended. The three brutes did not solicit the crowd's approval or derision. They merely exited the ring and headed for the locker room, followed closely by the worthless referee and MC. Whatever arrangements had been made, whether monetary or simply mutual agreement, their goal had been achieved. Dick Hodges was no more. Professional wrestling as a legitimate, sporting contest was no more.
As the fans slowly filtered out of the arena, those close enough threw their paper cups and other trash at their former hero, who still laid motionless on his back in the center of the ring. The remnants of wrestling's past was now stripped, humiliated and defeated before them, but they seemed satisfied with this result. Wrestling had become a new and exciting entertainment for them. Now everyone knew the matches would be pre-scripted, while the drama would come from bold and exciting new ways to see men beaten senseless. The old guard, true wrestling fans were gone forever, to be replaced by a more youthful, thrill-seeking crowd who yearned for passion plays of violence and brutality - people who had tasted blood and savored it.
The owner received a phone call from the MC, filling him in on the events of the evening. Initially, he was angry about what had transpired in his absence, but soon got a second phone call that changed his mood. It was from the TV producer. They had been flooded with calls from people who wanted to know how the match had ended and soon all of Chicago, plus the other cities where the broadcast had been seen, were abuzz about the wrestling game. When the overnight ratings came in, the results were through the roof and so subsequently, a new formula was inserted for the TV broadcasts.
Each week a new group of patsies was sacrificed for slaughter in the ring. The bad guys were now good guys, inventing ever more innovative methods to beat down, humiliate and destroy their opponents week after week. It was as though the ancient gladiatorial games had been reborn, but now it was called wrestling. The arena was sold out every night weeks in advance and television stations all over the world clamored to pick up rights to the broadcasts. The owner became a very wealthy man.
The "Loser Leaves Town Challenge Match" was a watershed moment in the history of professional wrestling. Because of this match, many years later Steve Austin would be displayed in a staged crucifixion to promote a pay-per-view event. Because of this match, Val Venus would be attacked in the locker room by a gang of men, then suspended by the wrists, stripped naked and terrorized, as his penis (pixeled out, of course) was sliced off with a sword in another mock scene of absurd theater. Because of this match, Bret Hart would not only be taken away on a stretcher, but attacked again by the same man who had injured him in the first place - this time in the ambulance taking him to the hospital.
That night, nobody could have predicted how professional wrestling would evolve into what it is today - a scripted, lavishly produced entertainment of drama, sex and comedy, which can take place in the ring or any number of places outside the ring or even outside the building where the event is held - but Dick Hodges' last stand set the foundation for all of it. The crowd's reaction and subsequent enthusiasm told the promoters all they needed to know and a multi-million dollar industry was born.
When poor Jimmy was finally able to pull himself up to the ring floor what he saw was a pitiful sight. His idol's naked body was battered, bruised and bloodied. Somehow, Jimmy was mesmerized by this. The poor man had been ruthlessly beaten for over two hours, stripped of his clothing and dignity, forced to have orgasm against his will in front of hundreds of people. Dick Hodges had lost everything - the fans he thought adored him, the wrestlers he thought were his friends, even Jimmy, his devoted assistant, all had participated in the total destruction and humiliation of this magnificent man. Now, his broken carcass lay limp - a shell of what once was.
And yet, Jimmy saw beauty in this tragic scene. His hero had endured unspeakable torture and degradation, but had never given in. They had beaten and drained him until his strength was gone, but his defiance had remained. Even though he lay naked, broken and abandoned in the center of the empty arena, in Jimmy's eyes, Dick Hodges was still magnificent. To him, Dick Hodges was the ultimate example of the human male - a man of principles and integrity, he had sacrificed his glorious, powerfully masculine body to these principles. Now, stripped of everything, Jimmy was all he had left in the world.
The ringside assistant began to gather his hero's clothes and bundle them inside the robe. As Hodges slowly regained strength, Jimmy helped him stagger naked to the empty locker room, where he lovingly dressed the man in his street attire and then they left the arena for the last time. Jimmy drove his friend to the hospital and stayed at the fallen man's bedside for every hour of his recovery period. No visitors came.
Dick Hodges faded into history with the likes of Dale Lewis and Patrick O'Connor, true wrestlers who were no longer wanted. Occasionally, he would pick up odd jobs around the country by tutoring high school students who wanted to learn the scientific art of wrestling, but Hodges himself never entered the ring again. Jimmy was with him until the end. Dick Hodges would forever be his hero and Jimmy would always be his ringside assistant.
The End
The time had come. These wrestlers would now prove what they already suspected.
Shirtless Jimmy's arms were held behind his back and he was brought towards the center of the ring. Forcing him to kneel between his hero's stretched thighs, they grabbed Jimmy by the hair and shoved his face into the tortured wrestler's belly. Then they ordered Jimmy to lick it. He slowly placed his tongue into the man's navel and began leaving trails of saliva on the flattened muscles around it. Hodges looked up over his chest to watch the humiliation of his friend, then lowered it, wanting to see no more. Jimmy tasted the briny sweat coating the man's skin and felt the power underneath, while concentrating on the trail of fur that connected his idol's belly button to the pubic hair, leaving tiny beads of spit mixed with the manly sweat.
The belly worship was suddenly interrupted, as Jimmy's face was cruelly rammed into Hodges' crotch. They demanded that he suck this man's dick. His nose was buried into the pubic hair and lips pressed against the flaccid penis.
Hodges flexed when he felt his manhood being touched, but didn't bother to look up, because what he heard told him all he needed to know. Jimmy was being verbally taunted by the sadistic bastards, as his head was maliciously turned from side to side and face ground into Hodges' sweaty pubic hair and spongy cock. They began to chant for Jimmy to suck it... suck it... suck it. The pathetic fans soon joined in the chant to further antagonize poor Jimmy and his tormented hero. Suck it... suck it... SUCK IT!
Reluctantly, he engulfed the prone wrestler's penis into his mouth and began to work his tongue around the head of the organ. The helpless man groaned at Jimmy's forced worship of his manhood, as it seemed unimaginable to him that this could be happening in front of all these people. How could it be that not one person in the entire arena was outraged enough to stop this obscenity? He cried out for someone - anyone to help him and his friend, but his pleadings went unanswered. The referee, the MC, the people in the stands and even some of the wrestlers themselves, all were silently mesmerized by the unbelievable proceedings in the center of the ring.
Jimmy slowly began to realize why he had idolized this man for so long. Subconscious thoughts that he had kept suppressed for years began bubbling to the surface and as the tortured man's unit began to grow larger, Jimmy's excitement also grew. He could feel the incredible power that he had so long admired. The strength, the defiance, the masculinity, all were being summoned from the furthest reaches of the man's body. From the manly feet, the ruggedly handsome face, even the powerfully thick hands and hair-covered, muscular forearms, the essence of Dick Hodges was now rushing to one place and Jimmy could feel the power of it. Every quality that he adored, every trait that he worshiped was now concentrated into this man's magnificent penis.
Jimmy increased the intensity, as what he had always secretly dreamed became a reality. His tongue now began attacking the head of his hero's cock each time he brought the moistened lips to the end of the unit. Taking his mouth back to the base, Jimmy tried to engulf the fully erect organ down his throat. The very being of Dick Hodges was under his control and he wanted all of it. Jimmy was now oblivious to those surrounding him, because he was totally focused on one goal, and that was to take Dick Hodges to a place he had never known.
Hodges was flexing as Jimmy's enthusiasm grew. He no longer could feel the pain of his tortured body, because the entire focus of the nervous system had been channeled to one specific place. What he was feeling in his penis had never been experienced before - not like this. The revelations that had overwhelmed Jimmy were being transferred to the sensitive organ of this man and Hodges absorbed it. He too was oblivious to everything and everyone - except for Jimmy. This was no blow job, but something divine, something that traveled far beyond hero-worship. Jimmy was taking him somewhere unknown before to either of them and he transferred what he felt back to Jimmy, making his mighty cock grow harder, longer and more powerful than it had ever been before.
Jimmy shook when he felt the reverberations being sent to him. Now he knew - Dick Hodges was everything he had ever hoped he would be. They had discovered one another. He frantically attacked the man's dick to increase the tempo and all he could hear were sounds of ecstasy, moans and groans coming from the center of the ring, as the naked hero was lovingly serviced by his ringside assistant. Hodges flexed every muscle in his powerful body and the mighty cock recoiled to fire its seed into Jimmy's mouth. One huge gob of semen after another came rushing out as the young man continued sucking him with an uncontrolled gusto. Years of subconscious yearning came rushing up Dick Hodges' shaft and Jimmy eagerly received every spurt of this man's fluid, frantically swallowing again and again, wishing it would never end.
Finally, Hodges was totally spent. He emitted guttural exclamations of pain and pleasure as Jimmy continued to suck on him long after the orgasm was finished. The constant attack on the sensitive head of his penis caused him to writhe and twitch his beaten down body, but soon the wrestlers had seen enough and they pulled Jimmy away, casting him over the top rope and crashing to the floor.
Hodges' body collapsed as he was at last released from this incredible oral praise. The orgasm and aftermath had taken what few ounces of strength he had left and now the realization of his battered, broken body began to return.
As the crowd remained in a mesmerized silence, he was lifted up by the wrestlers holding his four limbs and they began pulling in four directions. Killer Manjaro rolled out from underneath him, while Hodges howled in agony - his naked body now horizontally suspended and quartered, stretched in mid-air. Simultaneously, they released the man and sent him crashing to the mat flat on his back. One by one they began to exit the ring, each stopping along the way for one final, revenge-filled stomp onto either the chest or belly, but Hodges did not even react to this. The strength was gone - energy drained to the point that neither his arms nor legs could be lifted to defend the battered torso. This once glorious, powerfully compact and masculine form was abandoned - now by the very man to which it belonged - to absorb every ruthless blow, until their lust for vengeance was finally exhausted.
Soon the ring held only the five. Hodges lay naked and spread eagled in the center of the ring - eyes closed; pitiful groans drifting up from the twisted mouth; mighty chest heaving majestically into the air; flattened belly rising and falling at a torturous pace - as the referee stood silently in the corner, where he had remained during this entire abomination. Now Bucksaw waved him over. Khan pinned Hodges' ankles, Manjaro his wrists. Bucksaw stepped up onto the chest with his crushing logger boots and the referee counted slowly.
One... two... three.
final post in a week
The cameramen, producer and announcers started packing up their gear to leave. They were union members and, as far as they were concerned their shift was finished and the match over. The MC pleaded with them to continue the broadcast, but they refused and headed for the locker rooms, soon to exit the building.
Meanwhile, Kruil Li Khan, Bucksaw Jones and Killer Manjaro were uninterested in the TV broadcast, but instead were furious that Dick Hodges had survived their tortures, so they all three began stomping his body into the mat. Oblivious to this, the referee conferred with the MC to decide what should happen next. With the fans nearly in riot-mode, these two men were a bit nervous about what might take place if this match was left undecided, so with a fermenting and dangerous situation surrounding them, a decision was made and the referee signaled the timekeeper to ring the bell.
With his public address microphone in hand, the MC made the announcement, "Ladies and gentlemen, this match will continue!"
A huge celebration erupted in the stands, while the brutes lifted the broken man by his arms and dragged him to one side of the ring. First, they stood him up on the mat outside the ropes, then, locking his limp arms between the top and second ropes, they kicked his legs off of the mat and left him suspended on the outside of the ring as though crucified.
Now a chair was brought and placed in front of the victim, as the audience strained to see what was happening on that side of the ring. Killer Manjaro stepped up onto the chair and reached into his loin wrapping. The mysterious object was soon in his right hand and he began pounding on the man's forehead, while Bucksaw and Khan each held an ankle and pulled down to increase the agony of Hodges' stretching.
The image truly did resemble that of a Roman crucifixion. After three blows from Manjaro, blood began to trickle from the forehead and corners of Hodges' mouth. Adding to the drama, the victim's trunks (still lowered to just above his genitals) resembled a black loin cloth from all the classic paintings depicting this torture, while Hodges' labored breath and horrendous stretching caused him to moan in agony, which completed the picture of this tragic spectacle. The crowd was in awe, as this powerfully masculine form was mercilessly crucified right before their very eyes. Bathed in sweat, his gloriously defined muscles flexed, stretched and highlighted, Dick Hodges was now subjected to the ultimate punishment and - just as the Romans would have done in preparation for this sentence - the victim had been beaten down and tormented for hours, rendering his body a useless rag before this final agony was perpetrated upon him.
But he was not a useless rag - not yet. Although at their mercy, he continued to defy them. He strained against the ropes and clasping of his ankles, which only further enhanced his manly form. The chest heaved and expanded, while the belly caved in to highlight every masculine curve, ridge and muscle. Not even the brutal pounding of the loaded fist onto his forehead could sway him to concede defeat. Despite this relentless and agonizing torture, Dick Hodges refused to be broken, instead taking his punishment as though he were an indestructible force.
Jimmy had now recovered and he slowly staggered towards the tortured wrestler to see the crazed African beating on his forehead. The channels of crimson now trickled down from the face, past the neck and onto Hodges' battered pectorals. Jimmy wrapped his arms around the maniacal beast's massive leg and tried to pull him down from the chair, but Manjaro easily kicked aside this annoying interruption.
The sight of fresh blood whipped the crowd into a frenzy and they began taunting the stricken man, just as would have been done in days of old. The National Guard Armory Arena in Chicago had become the Colosseum of ancient Rome.
As Manjaro tired of the beating and paused to rest, some of the other wrestlers came down the aisle from the locker room to a chorus of boos from the crowd. Finally, someone was going to end this pitiful man's suffering. They all stood before the crucified victim, while Hodges forced a smile of relief, his labored breath increasing as the crucifixion slowly began to suffocate him. Rescue had come at last. He flexed his mighty chest and scowled in defiance at Manjaro, who still stood on the chair in front of him, panting with exhaustion.
Suddenly, the other wrestlers began to taunt and spit on the crucified man.
"Well, well, look at the tough guy."
Some even threw punches into his gut, as the three brutes and the rest of the crowd watched in amazement.
"Think you're mister wonderful, do ya? Slater ain't here to protect you now."
They released years of the pent-up frustration they had felt from having to play second fiddle to the owner's favorite. Seeing him helplessly displayed before them, they now unleashed their anger with cruel words and punches, as Bucksaw and Khan continued to torture him in their make-shift crucifixion.
The fans roared their approval, while Jimmy forced his way through the wrestlers to stand between them and his tortured hero, but the brutes immediately pounced on him, tossing the young man into the ring and ripping off his shirt in the process. Soon he was pinned in the corner by one of the wrestlers, his frail body standing and crushed between the turnbuckle and massive backside of his captor.
After the men had satisfied their appetite for revenge, preparations were made for returning him to the ring. Khan and Bucksaw released him from the ring rope torture and the others lifted him up and over the top rope. While they held him steady, Manjaro was coaxed to lay in the center of the ring face up and fold his arms across his chest, then four wrestlers grabbed four limbs and lifted Hodges into the air. They turned his body until it was parallel with Manjaro's and laid him on top of the 400 pound mountain. Pulling him in four directions, they stretched the man as tight as possible, then brought his wrists and ankles down, pinning them to the mat.
Stretched spread-eagle and face up with four limbs held by four men, raised from underneath by the 400 pound slab of meat Manjaro, massive African forearms pressed against his back, Dick Hodges was again cruelly displayed for everyone in the arena to see. His majestic, but bloodied chest rose high into the air, while the muscular belly was dramatically caved in and gasping for air.
Still crunched into the corner turnbuckle, Jimmy looked at his idol's tormented body, as it was mercilessly pulled apart in four directions. He begged the wrestler securing him to show mercy for this beaten down man, but was greeted only with taunting laughter. There would be no end to his suffering until he conceded his defeat, something which Jimmy knew would never happen. These men, like the three who started this atrocity, wanted Dick Hodges gone forever and since the other three couldn't get the job done, they were ready to do it themselves. If torturing him with pain didn't work, perhaps something else might persuade him, so they waved Khan and Bucksaw aside, then prepared Dick Hodges for their plan of attack.
The audience watched in stunned silence, as the other wrestlers began to unlace Hodges boots and remove them from his feet. Next came the socks. After his feet were brought close together, someone grabbed the helpless man's trunks to pull them past his ankles and the jock strap soon followed. Unwilling to surrender to the relentless beatings, Dick Hodges was now stripped, shamed and humiliated before the throngs gazing to the center of the ring.
The remaining wrestlers strutted about the ring and solicited the crowd's approval. Some held their hands to their ears, asking the crowd to participate in this man's degradation, which they did with a crazed enthusiasm. These fans loved the spectacle being presented before them and a deafening roar reverberated throughout the arena, while many were signaling the thumbs-down as though they were Roman emperors, screaming for more blood, more punishment, more humiliation.
Hodges turned his head from side to side, scrutinizing the bloodthirsty crowd and all those in the ring surrounding him. He had been betrayed by all of the wrestlers he thought were friends and abandoned by all of his fans save one. Thirteen men had descended upon him and all hope for rescue was lost.
He raised his head to scan what he could see. Anger rose up in him as he saw the sweat, the blood, the ruthless fans, the stalking wrestlers and worst of all, his precious genitalia, exposed for all to ogle. He furiously strained every beaten down muscle to break free of his tormentors. With his powerful chest expanded and lower jaw jutting forward, he gallantly struggled with all his might to escape them in yet another display of manly strength and resolve.
This caused the wrestlers and fans alike to mock and jeer at him, as the sight of this helpless man straining to break free filled them with a sadistic cruelty, as though he were some sort of captured enemy, no longer a threat, but kept alive merely for their entertainment. Taunting phrases could be heard, such as "Look at Dick's dick" and "He's just a weenie, now," but suddenly, all ridicule stopped. The left ankle escaped from the man holding it and Hodges immediately kicked that man in the face, sending him to tumble towards the ropes. Then he planted his bare foot onto the mat and tried to leverage his other limbs loose, twisting his body to the right with all his strength.
The scene was heartbreaking. Despite the brutal beatings; despite the damaged organs inside that powerful, but hopelessly racked body; despite having been punched, crushed, kicked and relentlessly tortured for hours, somehow this amazing man was able to launch one final, desperate attempt to escape his tormentors - to thwart their plans for his ultimate degradation. It was useless. The other wrestlers immediately pounced on him. Two grabbed hold to re-pin his ankle and spread the legs wide apart, while the others ruthlessly attacked with not only stomps and kicks to his vulnerable chest, but also devastating punches to his stretched and flattened belly - until he struggled against them no more.
Now all was lost. His futile attempt to escape had been a monumental effort, but again he lay exhausted and pinned in their torture rack. Gasping for air, trails of blood painted onto his face and chest, this broken man now awaited his fate. Dick Hodges had made his last stand.
Encore part 2 in a week
Round 3
Jimmy rushed into the ring to help his fallen hero, pitifully struggling to drag the wrestler back to his corner. Somehow, Hodges managed to crawl that direction and Jimmy helped him onto the stool, where he immediately began massaging his idol's pulverized chest and belly. In a dazed stupor, Hodges sat there gasping for air, while the audience watched, most of them figuring that he was finished - maybe not yet - but soon, because Round 3 would introduce a third opponent for him to deal with. Surely this daunting task would be too much. After all he had suffered, how could he possibly take on three at once?
Meanwhile, the TV announcers were in a quandary. Their producer was worried that the brutality of the match was getting too heavy, so they signaled the MC over and explained the situation to him. He in turn stepped into the ring to approach Bucksaw and Khan. "Get this over with quick. Just go ahead and pin him, because the TV people are getting nervous."
He decided to get the third man into the ring so that everybody would be ready to start as soon as the TV advertisements were over. Returning to the center of the mat, he announced the next wrestler.
"Ladies and gentleman, this is the third and deciding round. The loser of this round must leave Chicagoland forever! Presenting to you, weighing in at over 400 pounds, from the darkest depths of Africa, the immovable object, Mount Killer Manjaro!"
And what was this man's claim to fame? He was huge - not only huge, but also fat. He spoke no English. He wore only a brownish buckskin wrapping around his loins. Not one opponent had ever knocked him off of his big, nasty feet. Quite simply, he crushed people. If an opponent ever got trapped in a corner turnbuckle or flat on the mat, the outcome was inevitable - but that would never be enough, because this mammoth always brought a mysterious object with him that would be hidden in his loin wrapping. Placing this object into his enormous hand, he would pound the opponent's head until the victim was unconscious - and this always occurred after the match was over.
The audience was now subdued. They had no idea what would happen next, but they all stood to anticipate something exciting - something never before witnessed. The lights on the TV cameras came back on and the live broadcast was resumed, but as the bell sounded to begin Round 3, Dick Hodges collapsed off of his stool and onto the mat face up. Jimmy ran to kneel beside his fallen hero, massaging the chest in an attempt to rally him, but it was useless.
He turned to the referee and pleaded with him to stop the match. Jimmy tried to declare a forfeit, which would allow the three opponents to win, but at least prevent the man's body from further damage. This referee would have none of that, explaining that by rule only Hodges himself could forfeit the match. It was the first time throughout the entire ordeal that the rule book had actually been enforced, which only added to the insult and injustice of this absurd drama. The referee obviously had agreed to do everything in his power to help these three monsters and even though it was now clear that they no longer needed his help, he certainly had no intentions of stepping in to stop the massacre of this beaten down man.
Khan grabbed poor Jimmy by the throat and lifted him high into the air, then casually tossed him over the top rope and down to the floor, where he banged his head and lay unconscious.
By this time, Hodges had summoned enough strength to roll over and rise to his knees. Seeing Killer Manjaro approach with both arms raised, Hodges reached up in desparation to punch the beast in the groin with an uppercut. Manjaro bent over in pain, as Hodges moved his hand under the loin wrapping and grabbed the behemoth's bare testicles, crushing them in his powerful fist. For the first time in his career, Mount Killer Manjaro fell to the mat, uttering wild animal screams as he crashed down like a bullet-stricken hippo.
Dick Hodges' domination of Manjaro lasted but 15 seconds, however, because Khan and Bucksaw simultaneously pounced on him with kicks, fists and forearms, forcing him to release the crushing gonad grip. While Manjaro rolled around the mat in agony, Khan and Bucksaw played tag with Hodges' battered body.
Khan stood him up, then Bucksaw landed a fist to the forehead, turned the victim around and pushed him towards Khan. The giant greeted Hodges with a kick to the belly, which bent him over. Then Khan lifted his knee and planted it into the victim's jaw, causing him to crash onto the mat flat on his back. Now he picked the wrestler up and sent him staggering back to Bucksaw, who landed a devastating kick to the center of Hodges' chest.
The dazed wrestler stood there teetering on the brink of collapse, until Bucksaw grabbed the man's arm and slingshot him towards Khan, who leapt into the air and delivered a devastating side drop kick, one size 14 boot landing on Hodges' chest, the other into his gut. The hapless man staggered backwards and received another drop kick from Bucksaw directly to the middle of his back. Finally, they allowed Dick Hodges to collapse face first to the mat in the center of the ring.
By this time, Killer Manjaro had risen to his feet and was ready for revenge, so Kruil Li Khan rolled Hodges over onto his back, then grabbed the man by his wrists. Placing each of his boots onto Hodges' shoulders, he leaned back and fell to his seat on the mat, bringing the arms with him. Meanwhile, Bucksaw Jones spread the ankles three feet apart and pinned them to the mat with his enormous hands. Exposed face up in the center of the ring, Hodges began to moan as they pulled his limbs in opposite directions, torturing him in their make-shift stretch rack.
Bucksaw and Khan had no intentions of following the MC's instructions. They were consumed with anger at Dick Hodges' continued defiance of them and their only concern now was to punish this man, until he fought them no more.
Killer Manjaro approached. He leapt straight up into the air and came crashing down with both feet - 400 pounds landing onto Hodges' stretched middle section. Launching himself from the man's helpless body, the tub of lard jumped up and down, repeatedly crushing Hodges' already pulverized abdomen. The tortured man intermingled guttural grunts with sprays of saliva and blood, as the organs in his lower abdomen were brutally crushed. Continuing his leaps, the African landed with one foot in the pit of the stomach and the other on the chest, while Bucksaw and Khan relentlessly pulled Hodges apart.
As for the audience, the tide had turned. All thoughts of fair play had long ago disappeared and those few remaining purists who were disgusted by the injustice they were witnessing sat there in a daze, unwilling to believe their eyes. They saw no "sport" in the ruthless beating of a helpless man, but somehow could not bring themselves to look away or simply leave the arena. Surrounded by jubilant, screaming-for-more-punishment spectators, they knew the sport they loved was being replaced by something new - something they desired to see play out, regardless of how revolting the scenario might be to them.
Whether revolting, tragic or maybe even stimulating, the scene inside the ring was becoming more and more intense. The stomping had ended and as Manjaro stepped back to admire his work, a huge roar of approval came from the crowd. Dick Hodges gasped for air, his chest and belly rising and falling at a rapid pace, while Khan and Bucksaw continued his merciless stretching. The tortured man turned his head to gaze at the audience and what he saw nearly brought tears to him, because a large portion was now cheering and shouting their approval. How quickly they had turned against him. Already writhing in agony from the pounding his body had taken, now his spirit also was under attack. He had made a grave error in his judgment of these wrestling fans and at that moment he nearly gave up everything - his beliefs in what was right and what was wrong; his faith in the overall goodness of human kind - but just as he was ready to concede defeat and submit to his tormentors, his eyes locked onto those of a father and son about four rows back. Both were crying, as the father clutched the boy in his arms to protect him from the frenzied crowd surrounding them. Hodges could see the boy's lips screaming the words, "C'mon... fight'em, Dick," and with one uncontrolled burst of rage, Dick Hodges yanked both ankles and wrists free from the grips of his tormentors.
With cat-like swiftness, he swung the right leg up and kicked Bucksaw in the side of the head, then continued to roll and spring to an upright position with his arms. Another kick was delivered to the center of Khan's chest, which sent him rolling backwards towards the edge of the ring. Before Manjaro could react to what had happened, Hodges landed a solid right to the mammoth's jaw, then another and another, as he staggered backwards to bounce against the ropes and return to meet one last tremendous blow, which sent him crashing face down onto the mat.
Then, the sickening sound of metal striking bone echoed from the ring. It was the chair. This time, Khan had delivered the foul instrument onto the back of the man's head and he immediately fell to his knees with eyes cast to the ceiling, then collapsed once more onto his back, dazed and nearly unconscious.
It was the end. The father and son, as well as the remaining fans who loved Dick Hodges could take no more. They left the arena forever, unable to stomach the sight of this merciless mugging. He now was abandoned to the enraged mob who wanted to see Manjaro finish the "good guy" forever and throughout the arena there was a strange atmosphere of anticipation - of witnessing an unknown. The stage was set and a chant began to ring out from the back walls of the arena. "Crush, crush, crush, crush." The volume began to grow as more joined in. "Crush, crush, crush, crush!"
Killer Manjaro heard the buzz and had learned from previous matches what it meant. He had heard it before in all of his bouts, but never this loud. Hodges also heard. The fans wanted to see Manjoro's patented, crushing belly flop delivered to a helpless man being stretched before them. Happy to oblige, Khan and Bucksaw grabbed Hodges by the wrists and ankles to drag him towards the corner and once again stretch him on their rack. With the victim's body and the corner of the ring forming a triangle, Manjaro began to climb the ropes in preparation for his belly flop onto the helpless man.
As the fans continued their chant to "crush," Manjaro reached the top and stood facing them. He raised his hands high, but just as he was about to launch himself into the air and down onto the victim, someone shook the top rope, which caused the behemoth to lose balance. Unable to recover, he looked to the left and saw Jimmy, then swayed to the right and crashed down to the floor below. Manjaro writhed in agony from the impact of his own weight landing on the hard surface, while Khan and Bucksaw released Hodges from their grip and stalked the ringside assistant.
He leapt to the floor and ran to the other side of the ring. Bucksaw gave chase with Khan close behind him and they forced Jimmy to circle to the third side, then the fourth, where he was greeted by the hammering fist of Killer Manjaro. The blow sent him flying backwards and down flat on his back. Once again, Jimmy lay unconscious below the ring.
Seeing the frail and puny body of this young man flying through the air only further excited the crowd. They resumed their chant to "crush" and the three brutes returned to where they had been before the interruption. Hodges, still dazed from the blow to his head, was again ruthlessly stretched and presented to the African giant. Manjaro climbed the ropes, then leapt back from the turnbuckle and came crashing down onto the man's chest and abdomen with his own. A crimson plume of spit and blood spewed up from the victim's mouth as his vulnerable innards were crushed by the 400 pound belly flop.
The merciless fans continued to chant, as Manjaro again climbed the ropes. Hodges raised his head and shook it side to side, then pulled with all his strength to break out of the make-shift stretch rack, but it was useless. All he could do was helplessly watch as Manjaro launched himself from the top turnbuckle, this time crashing down with his greasy buttocks onto the chest of Dick Hodges. With another ungodly red fountain spraying upwards, the tortured man's spit now resembled the final, bloody exhale one sees coming from the blow hole of a harpooned whale - the macabre signal that death is eminent.
Wildly cheering their approval, the crowd urged Manjaro to climb again, but the MC approached ringside and frantically motioned to Khan and Bucksaw, while pointing at his watch. The TV time was about to run out.
The two men released Hodges from their stretch rack and dragged him back to the center of the ring, leaving him to lie motionless and spread eagled. Only the rise and fall of his chest and belly was seen, while tormented moans wafted from the blood-stained mouth. He was finished. The moment everyone was waiting for had finally arrived and the crowd stood in silence, fully prepared to see Dick Hodges pinned, defeated and banished forever from the National Guard Armory Arena.
Khan waved Killer Manjaro over to finish the deed and the 400 pounder planted one nasty foot onto Hodges' chest, the other onto his belly and the referee counted. One... two... ... but the count never reached three.
Dick Hodges lifted his knees and pushed upwards with his powerful calves, sending Manjaro tumbling to the mat. This amazing man had kicked out! Khan, Bucksaw and every person in the arena were stunned. How did this beaten down man find the strength to jettison 400 pounds off of his battered body?
For a few seconds, the arena was silent, as every person there marveled at the amazing resolve of this tortured man, but even though you might think that this display would perhaps win them back to his side, you would be sadly mistaken. Sure, there were a few who saw the heroic strength, the masculine defiance as a rallying cry. They began to cheer the fallen man, while coaxing others to join them, but these attempts fell on deaf ears. The mob was no longer interested in heros. They were only interested in seeing heros destroyed. Soon, little by little, the support for Hodges was drowned out by a new chant and as others joined in the volume increased, until the arena was filled with the deafening din of, "Kill, kill, kill !"
Nothing would satisfy their bloodlust. They demanded the three brutes continue pounding the poor man into submission - or worse. They wanted nothing less than his utter defeat and destruction, but at that moment the TV time expired. The producer signaled to the announcers, who alerted the MC, who in turn told the time keeper to ring the bell, bringing an official end to Round 3. Mass confusion swept over the arena. How could the match be over with each side claiming one round of victory? Soon the TV cameras went dark and the announcers started switching off their microphones. The Saturday night "Wrestling at the Armory" television program had come to an end.
next part in a week
