In what feels like a loving homage to the raw and ruthless nhb battle vids of the past, our Mat Rats series gives you two dudes, a mat, and a raw space in which to battle it out. Sometimes the simplest of formulas makes for the purest wrestling entertainment, and this time around it’s two scrappy dudes from Romania locking up and living the dream. 

Super lean Imtiaz takes on the aptly named, camera-loving hotbody Sammy Smiler, who looks like he should be in the Night’s Watch on Game of Thrones, flexes his perfectly defined biceps with a personal relish that seems to be inviting his slimmer opponent to try and smack the smirk off his face. 

A painful lockdown, Imtiaz finds himself on his knees, face in the mat, head aggressively clamped between the Smiler’s powerful thighs. While it’s mostly ground fighting here, the initial standing tie-ups are complicated, as each assailant cleverly anticipates his opponent’s next move, making it nearly impossible to gain the proper hold to bring anybody down. It’s a battle of wills as much as of bodies. There’s a tremendous amount of very obvious mutual respect between these two fighters. 

Smiler gains the advantage in a long-held leglock that leaves Imtiaz reeling and Smiler straining to keep his bare feel locked at the ankle. You can actually see the pain on Smiler’s face as he fights to keep Imtiaz a prisoner between those massive thighs. When he can stand it no more, he doubles back, plowing his upper body into the slimmer man, crushing his chest into his opponent’s face in a desperate effort to land a grapevine. Imtiaz has had enough, applying every ounce of strength he has left to roll Smiler over, only to find himself imprisoned once again between those powerful thighs.