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>Over time, “Friction” became something of a legend at Decadence. His presence lent the club a strange kind of celebrity allure—though few ever connected the quiet, stocky man in the dim back rooms with the flamboyant figure throwing bodies around in the ring on TV. “He was respectful, intense, and totally committed to whatever was put in him,” recalls another regular, known only as Jim C. “If you went with Friction, you had to be ready—he didn’t mess around, and he didn’t slow down.”

>Despite the roughness of his preferences, Race’s partners almost universally describe him as conscientious—a man who understood the line between consensual brutality and actual harm. “He checked in, always,” says Dutch. “He had this way of locking eyes with you mid-act, like, ‘You good?’ It was silent, but you got it. That was his way.”

--Off the mats and out of the dark, he was rarely seen. “He came and went like a ghost,” Joe F. says. “I don’t think anyone saw him arrive or leave—he’d just appear. Towel slung low, drink in hand, already scouting.”