Well it is a trip seeing a young sprightly Alfred Hayes, not yet the Lord he would become some decades later. He works this as a tall handsome babyface with effortless technique, escaping holds with enough nonchalance that he might as well have been smoking a cigar at the same time. It wasn't arrogance, he didn't do it to show up his opponent, he just had the finesse to make it all look easy. In contrast, Guy Robin is a short balding little fella, and while skilled, didn't have the chops to make it look effortless. None of it came easy and at the root of it he was a cheapshot artist, aggressive and craven in equal measure. He was the perfect foil for Hayes, a menace who will literally jump all over you and pepper you with forearms, stomps, punches to the kidneys, eye rakes, nose rakes, whatever he can get away with and plenty he shouldn't. The commentator found all of this endlessly amusing, properly losing it a few times when Robin was shown up. At one point they engaged in a knuckle lock and Robin threw a little slap at Hayes' temple, not the most painful strike, probably more of a comedy bit than anything else, but you knew Hayes would tag him back and when he did the commentator let out a squeal. It was kind of infectious. The longer it goes the less amusing Robin's tactics become, throwing meaner punches behind the ref's back, taking Hayes down with these shoulderbreaker things and stomping on his neck, basking in how much this was pissing people off. Hayes had never complained throughout the match, never once had a word with the referee, always went about his business and put Robin in his place without rising to the bait. When Robin pushed him too far and Hayes got up to his knees blowing steam the place erupted, and holy fuck did Hayes obliterate the wee bastard with those uppercuts. These were honestly some of the best uppercuts I've ever seen, then he'd snapmare Robin over and twist the boot in his face like he was putting out a cigarette. After one particular uppercut Robin was left staring at the ceiling, nose bloodied, and you knew HE knew he should've stuck to playing the goofball. I did think the heat started to peter out a little towards the end and Robin maybe went back and forth with Hayes a couple times too many after the comeback, but Hayes certainly put him away emphatically so I can't knock the finish. This was great.
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